JALT2024 Plenary Speaker: Demonstrating Diversity: Reaching Beyond Stereotypes in the ESL Classroom

As foreign English teachers in Japan, we are often seen as cultural and racial ambassadors (Reed, 2015). This means that, whether we teach explicitly about cultural diversity and related issues or not, students often believe that we are typical examples of the racial and cultural make-up of our respective countries. I come from a country that prides itself on its multicultural population and, as a Black English woman, I admit that it irks me when people misrepresent my country as mono-ethnic and mono-racial. To illustrate, I will share an anecdote from early on in my teaching career.