Students at SPC’s Seminole Campus took a walk in someone else’s shoes – part of a class diversity experience designed to give them a better understanding  of others’ struggles.

Students who take the blended Diverse Populations course learn about various diversity issues such as family, behavioral, learning, gender, cultural, racial, socio-economic and religious differences. The course gets the participant to understand what it is like to live through the experiences of others.

In the sensory deprivation activity, students were first exposed to being hearing impaired. They placed earplugs into their ears and tried to conduct normal conversation and follow instructions from the teacher while very loud background noise blared. The students learned the frustrations of someone who is hearing impaired. After the first diversity experience activity, each student could better understand why the hearing impaired may not participate in conversation and ultimately isolate themselves.

For the pinnacle of the sensory deprivation activity, the students blindfolded themselves to simulate blindness or a visual impairment. They had a fellow class member guide them while navigating to various locations on campus. At one location, they received a mini lesson on JAWS screen reader. After the excursion, they had a new appreciation for navigating a bathroom break, an elevator and beckoning a stranger to ask for directions. Upon returning to the classroom, the challenges continued as they prepared their meal by.  Students had to get ice in their cups, fill their cups with fluid, use tongs to place their salad in bowls, add the right amount of dressing, choose from 5 different types of pizza, use a spoon to retrieve mints, and select a corner or middle brownie ALL WHILE SIMULATING BLINDNESS.

Much to students’ dismay, they had to remain blind to eat their food as well. The quote of the day came from Erica. She said, “But I can’t eat when I am blind.” The lesson became blaringly clear at that point. Students who are blind or visually impaired cannot choose to see again at any given point. As the students sat and ate with their blindfolds still on, they did not engage in a much conversation.

It is so easy to believe you understand others’ struggles, but until you really walk in their shoes for a while, you really cannot fathom their experiences. This activity was as enlightening, as it was messy!  True authentic learning in Dr. Jennifer Lechner’s Diverse Populations class.

For more info about the College of Education, email:  roper.pat@spcollege.edu