Infusing a diversity perspective into human development courses.

Students of human development must be well versed in issues of diversity if they are to appreciate the importance of developmental contextualism, and comprehend policy and professional issues related to poverty and ethnicity. One difficulty in addressing diversity issues in the minimal empirical foundation, a fact that was confirmed in Study 1 by content analyses of research on child and adolescent development. More problematic, sampling patterns reinforce a deficit perspective on low-income minority adolescents. Study 2 describes evaluation findings from a curriculum enhancement project, in which multicultural content was infused into a sequence of human development courses. Significant changes in attitudes toward poverty and racial minorities were observed in targeted courses, relative to comparison groups. Evidence is presented that this curriculum project decreased ethnocentrism and increased critical thinking skills and awareness of poverty as a developmental risk factor. Implications for pedagogy, research, and the culture of higher education are discussed.