Recently we've been thinking about the term diversity and how it has been used by teachers, bloggers, publishers, writers and illustrators - especially in the children's book trade.
Personally we prefer the term Inclusive for many reasons:
a) The term itself is inclusive and is welcoming writers and creators of all backgrounds in as opposed to diverse seems to point to the differences amongst us.
b) Inclusive puts the onus on the collective - we are all responsible for being inclusive - culturally, by race, by gender and sexual orientation and abilities. It's an adjective that describes a collective rather than a single person.
c) Inclusive allows for the lists, the group, the circle to grow. It allows for including more people, however unique and different they are into the mainstream and say - you belong here.
Contrary to INCLUSIVE, Diversity is a relative term - it depends on whom you talk to and where. A diverse list in the UK might indicate it includes a list of people or books by and about different people. Whether that group is representative of the market or the audience cannot be validated.
So we went looking for academics, teachers and librarians across the world who are redefining their language and semantics to "inclusive" rather than "diverse."
Here are some wonderful articles for you to read.
Why diverse texts are not enough? by Tricia Ebarvia
Should we be use the adjective diverse, asks Alex Capitan.
We need everyone to check their generic use of words and give it some thought.
What do you think? Tell us.
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