Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Strategic Plans of Regina Public Schools
The strategic plan for Regina Public Schools aims to incorporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles across all programs and facilities.
What does it mean?
The Regina Public School Board has developed a strategic plan aimed at implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies throughout its programs and facilities. The document states, "A consistent theme in all consultations was the need for the Division to exemplify the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and to incorporate DEI into both programming and facilities.
It is important to understand that DEI is not a neutral set of principles. The terms “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” are not typically used by DEI programs in the same way that we ordinarily use them in everyday life. This is because DEI is associated with a set of political and social views linked to what is referred to as “Critical Social Justice.”
DEI programs typically aim to elevate the significance of and place a strong emphasis on various types of social identity. This involves encouraging students to view themselves and each other in terms of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and other identities. As a result, this often leads to an increase in racial tension and friction, as students start to perceive one another as members of racial, ethnic, religious, and political groups rather than as individuals.
Furthermore, in most cases, equity is not viewed as merely applying the rules equally or ensuring equal opportunity. Equity typically focuses on achieving equal outcomes. This often results in treating students differently based on their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and so forth, in order to ensure that all the various groups perform similarly. In other words, students are not treated as individuals; instead, their different identities are taken into account when interacting with them at various levels.
Finally, inclusion does not just mean ensuring that everyone has access to the same resources and opportunities. In practice, inclusion means that no one is allowed to say or do anything that upsets, offends, or otherwise makes anyone else feel excluded. The result of this is that it limits what students are allowed to say or express. Any view, such as the assertion that one religion is true and others are not, would not be permitted because it may cause a non-religious student or a student of another religion to feel unwelcome. Disagreement with claims of transgender identity would also not be allowed because such claims might make a transgender person feel unwelcome.
For all the flowery language associated with DEI, it is not what it seems. It carries with it a set of political and moral views, as well as a series of claims that extend beyond what is appropriate for a school system. It is not the role of the school system to indoctrinate students into the ideology linked to DEI.
Instead, students should be encouraged to treat one another as individuals, to demonstrate liberal tolerance that allows for disagreement, and to assess their efforts and the efforts of others based on merit rather than identity.
Read about DEI in this Forbes article
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