The Values of Off2Class – Diversity

Off2Class encourages the inclusion of different cultures and from all walks of life. We love the richness that diversity brings. We understand that diverse people bring diverse experiences. These encourage a wealth of interactions which in turn promote tolerance and acceptance.

Foreword

This seventh blog in our series on the company Values of Off2Class looks at Diversity. Take a look at the previous entries exploring Entrepreneurship, Internationalism, Competitiveness, Progressiveness, Compassion and Inclusivity.

People across the world learn languages for very different reasons. They learn in very different contexts. They come from very different backgrounds, and they bring with them very different experiences and perspectives. It is therefore vital that Off2Class, a company that exists to promote language learning across the globe, reflects that same Diversity so that we can provide the best learning platform possible. We are proud of the Diversity of our team and we know that having such a wealth of different knowledge, expertise and experience makes us stronger.

In this blog, we look at some of the perspectives of Off2Class team members on what Diversity is and how it frames what we do.

Diversity and Off2Class

“It has to be said that we’d actually find it challenging not to be diverse. The co-founders speak a bunch of languages between them and have lived and worked across the planet. We have always valued diversity because it’s simply in our DNA. Just like an intelligent communicator, we avoid extreme adjectives; it’s the multiple nuances that reflect the richness of a language, and it’s the diversity of our team and customers that make our product invaluable to so many.“

James Heywood, Co-founder

“‘A toolkit full of hammers is a bad toolkit’, my grandfather used to say. At least, that’s what he probably would have said, if we ever spoke about hammers or toolkits. But his imaginary point still stands: any challenge becomes all the more challenging if the pool of resources we draw from is stagnant or homogenous. This is true on both a macro- and a micro-scale. A company may struggle to develop if it is composed exclusively of like-minded individuals, just as an individual may struggle to read Dostoevsky if all they know is Dr. Seuss.

Conversely, a diverse range of knowledge, experience, and skills not only puts us in the best position for overcoming challenges, but it also increases our capacity for understanding and communication about these challenges. Off2Class succeeds as well as it does due to the wealth of combined experience from their members. Diversity plays a crucial role in supporting this.“

Josh, Team Member

“Diversity is about creating an inclusive environment, accepting of every individual’s differences, enabling all employees to achieve their full potential. This has been the culture at Off2Class since the beginning. At Off2Class we have a diversified team across a number of different categories: Religion, Culture, Sexual orientation, Language, Educational background and Skills and abilities. One of the exciting things I enjoy about our diverse team at Off2Class is having different conversations everyday with my heterogeneous colleagues  and being able to exchange unique perspectives and spark fresh Ideas.“

Abdiqani, Team Member

Diversity-focused lessons

With over 1,200 lessons in our Lesson Library, there is content available that speaks to all nine of the Off2Class Values. For those looking to explore Diversity-related themes with their students, we recommend the lessons below:

R509 – I just don’t get sports (C1): While sports are hugely popular with large numbers of people across the world, there are also those who just don’t share the same enthusiasm. Diversity means respecting different points of view and this advanced-level reading lesson takes a light-hearted look at some of the reasons people may have for not getting excited by major sporting events.

R115 – Interview with a video game designer (A2): In this elementary-level reading lesson, students explore a career path that may strike some as somewhat less than usual. But what exactly is a usual job? And wouldn’t it be better if more of us were able to do things that we truly enjoyed? Again, this lesson presents chances for Diverse perspectives to be explored.

S555 – Being woke (C1): The greater importance placed on Diversity in recent years has brought with it increased awareness of another term, ‘woke’. But what does it mean to be ‘woke’? And how is it related to the concept of Diversity? This advanced-level speaking lesson explores a number of challenging topics that are sure to get students talking.

Over to you

In this latest blog entry in our Values series, we have looked Diversity and what it means to some members of the Off2Class team. However, this is not just our story to tell. We would love to know more about what Diversity means to you and how it informs your teaching and learning. What does truly Diverse language learning look like to you? And how does a commitment to Diversity shape the way you approach your teaching? Please share your stories with us in the comments section or our official Off2Class Facebook group!