Ways of Experiencing Diversity The term “diversity” is used within the educational community to denote the array of ethnic, gender, linguistic, ability, and cultural differences that can affect the way a student learns. More often than not, students are subject to biased attitudes on the classmates’ and teachers’ part because of the misperception of their differences as either weaknesses or strengths (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing, & Le Cornu, 2011). Educators must recognize the differences as such and confront their prejudice because it can exacerbate the way they teach. In other words, the task of the teacher is to be prepared to stretch their boundaries and step out of their comfort zone; by embracing diversity, teachers treat all students equitably as persons with unique sets of strengths, weaknesses, and learning requirements, not as a fixed collection of ethnically-, culturally-, linguistically-, and gender-determined attributes. There is a multitude of ways teachers can experience diversity in their classrooms. One of them is the difference in language use, which is a sequent of the family atmosphere and cultural background that is different for every child. Different families can use coded messages and vocabulary perfectly understandable within the family but indecipherable to an outsider. The usage of words can diversify as well: A child can utilize vulgarly and swear words without knowing their meaning. Overall, this variety of discourses constitutes one of the aspects of the diversity of knowing; indeed, a child knows the language (and the world as reflected by the language) differently than every other child. Recognizing the diversity of knowing and molding the children’s language into what is currently accepted as a societal norm without devaluating their difference can be a challenge (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing, & Le Cornu, 2011). Another way of experiencing diversity is by having children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in class. There is a whole spectrum of poverty issues currently experienced in Australia, and education is one of the sectors poverty affects the most. The equitability of access stands the strain of unleveraged economic status, remoteness of the students’ places of residence, and whether their families are intact. Although all these factors can shape the children’s educational experience and sometimes disadvantage them in commodity, resource, and motivation terms, regarding them as a group whose behavior is determined by a “culture” of poverty or any status-related “deficits” is a common mistake teachers make (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing, & Le Cornu, 2011, p. 52). Perhaps the most significant way diversity can be experienced is the difference in the students’ ethnic backgrounds. Ethnic diversity is referred to as the geographical differences of people’s ancestors’ places of origin. Ethnic competence obliges teachers to be aware of every ethnicity and its culture; moreover, teachers have to realize how the ethnic identity of the students correlates and manifests itself about gender, social status, and other variables. Competent teachers successfully eliminate their own biases and encourage students to regard each other holistically. They are aware