Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
At the SDSU College of Education, we are commitedto diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Read below our diversity statement, see news that reflects our commitment to the vision outlined in that statement, and follow our progress in designing, implementing, and assessing college-wide and department-specific diversity and inclusion action plans. Also find COE-sponsored initiatives and resources related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
On December 17, 2020, the SDSU Senate and the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity approved the College of Education Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan that will guide DEI initiatives through 2025.
On September 3, 2019, the SDSU Senate passed a resolution to establish an official SDSU Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgment. The two versions below (a full version and an abbreviated version) were written by Michael Miskwish (Kumeyaay):
We stand upon a land that carries the footsteps of millennia of Kumeyaay people. They are a people whose traditional lifeways intertwine with a worldview of earth and sky in a community of living beings. This land is part of a relationship that has nourished, healed, protected and embraced the Kumeyaay people to the present day. It is part of a world view founded in the harmony of the cycles of the sky and balance in the forces of life. For the Kumeyaay, red and black represent the balance of those forces that provide for harmony within our bodies as well as the world around us.
As students, faculty, staff and alumni of San Diego State University we acknowledge this legacy from the Kumeyaay. We promote this balance in life as we pursue our goals of knowledge and understanding. We find inspiration in the Kumeyaay spirit to open our minds and hearts. It is the legacy of the red and black. It is the land of the Kumeyaay.
'Eyay e’Haan. My heart is good.
The College of Education at San Diego State University is a vibrant community of scholarly engagement and professional practice where diversity, equity, and inclusion drive innovation across our teaching, learning, counseling, research, and community service endeavors. We draw on our strengths as a college within a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) — uniquely positioned in the San Diego-Tijuana transborder region and ancestral land of the Kumeyaay Nation — to effect educational and social change at local, regional, national, and international levels.
As a diverse and interdisciplinary community of educational researchers and professional practitioners, we are committed to sustaining a responsive and supportive teaching, learning and working environment for all members of our community, and to establishing collaborative partnerships with local, regional, national and international universities, community agencies and organizations that embrace this mission, particularly with regard to educating, serving, and supporting students, faculty, staff, and community members across the spectrum of races, ethnicities, cultures, social classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, linguistic identities, body identities, religious or secular beliefs, spiritual traditions, creeds, political views, ages, abilities, citizenship, and veteran status.
We intentionally acknowledge the value of the diverse backgrounds from which we approach our work and endeavor to advance personal, educational, and social well-being drawing upon the variety of human experiences, perspectives, identities, and positionalities that enrich our university and college community.
We critically recognize that educational institutions and other related service organizations often function within extant neo-colonial structures of racial-ethnic, socio-cultural, and socio-economic oppression that systematically function to reproduce social injustices and inequality. In the same way, we also acknowledge the power and responsibility of these institutions to serve the ethical imperatives of social transformation.
As such, we commit to working to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, belongingness, and social and racial justice through the identification and implementation of democratic, transformative, and anti-racist practices in all our endeavors. In addition, we commit to harnessing the creative dynamism and power found in true participatory and democratic approaches to institutional engagement.
As a reflective and supportive community committed to social and racial justice, we strive to be socially aware, collaborative, mindful, and fearless in our inclusive, equitable, and democratic pursuits.
- Invisibles No More! Dismantling Anti-AAPI Hate and Racism in Education
- Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- I Can't Breathe: A Message to the College of Education Community
- COMMENTARY: Anti-Asian Hate in Light of COVID-19 Hurts All of Us
- CFA Statement of Anti-racism and Social Justice Demands in the Wake of Anti-black Racism, Violence, and Murder
- Open Letter from Commission on Teacher Credentialing to help move forward the dialogue on combating racism in teacher education
DEI Initiatives
DEI Planning
- School and Department Committee Members
These department-specific committees support the implementation of the College diversity and inclusion action plan and advance DEI goals (i.e. assessment of disproportionality in student achievement, curriculum review, among other tasks) at local levels. - Diversity and Inclusion Planning for Schools/Departments
- Resources for Student Academic Achievement and Curriculum Review
DEI Planning
- Committee to Promote Diversity, Equity and Outreach
The Committee to Promote Diversity, Equity, and Outreach (CPDEO) serves to support the College of Education in all its DEI endeavors, particularly, CPDEO serves to review, advise, and provide feedback to COE leadership regarding matters related to students, staff and faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion; provide guidance and support for the development, implementation and on-going assessment of unit diversity plans; and may be involved in coordinating DEI initiatives within and across units and contributing to campus DEI initiatives. - COE Diversity and Inclusion Planning Committee
The COE formed a temporary committee to carry out the work of diversity and inclusion action planning design as per specifications of Campus Diversity and the University Senate. The committee served in this function from fall 2019 until fall 2020.
DEI Development
- Diálogos Virtuales: A Lecture-Discussion Series (2020-2022)
Through this series, the College of Education promoted the continued development of a visible culture of intellectual advancement, critical dialogue, and community engagement and activism amongst education students, faculty, staff and other allied service professionals interested in advancing diversity, equity-justice, and inclusion in higher and PK-12 education at local, regional, national, and international levels.
CSU
- CSU Diversity
- CSU Inclusive Excellence
- CSU Black Lives Matter, Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Resources
- CSU DEI Teacher Toolkit
CA Department of Education
Other DEI Resources
The Paulo Freire Lecture on Education and Social Transformation
A bi-annual lecture in honor of Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher and pedagogue-activist, sponsored by the College of education and the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies. The lecture features national and international scholars and community-activists whose critical scholarship and/or advocacy promote educational and social transformation.
The works of Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire (Recife, 1921–1997) have had significant world impact in education, community development, and even community health. As a critical scholar- activist deeply committed to the work of humanization through conscientização —the development of a critical consciousness— Freire not only decried the role educational institutions often play in reproducing inequalities, but emphasized how education could instead be a tool of liberation.
Freire’s international influence grew after the publication of his seminal text, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), an educational manifesto translated into more than seventeen languages. Other influential titles in his oeuvre include: Education for Critical Consciousness (1973); Education, the Practice of Freedom (1976); Pedagogy of the City (1993); Pedagogy of Hope (1994); Pedagogy of the Heart (1997); Pedagogy of Freedom (1997), and Teachers as Cultural Workers (1998).
Spring 2022
"Re-inventing Paulo Freire: Experiencing a Childlike Pedagogy of the Question" by Walter Kohan, Ph.D.
"Affirmative Action in Brazilian Education: Challenges and Opportunities" by George Oliveira, Ph.D.
Fall 2020
"Social Justice in Applied Linguistics: Critical Perspectives on Language Teaching, Research, and Civic Engagement" by Uju Anya, Ph.D.
“There’s no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom.”
Contact Us
For further information on DEI planning, initiatives, resources and/or collaborations, please contact Dr. Samuel Song, Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the San Diego State University College of Education.
