“Schools are changing in ways that, up until a few years ago, we thought unimaginable. Today, schools are more diverse than ever, and those trends will continue into the future. Unfortunately, teachers and schools have not always met the challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity” (Laureate, 2014). We must take the opportunity to get to know our students in order to recognize and value their uniqueness. “Teachers must work to understand the cultures of their students in a meaningful way, which involves recognizing the beliefs, values, and behaviors that characterize the various cultures of their students. Students themselves can be a valuable resource in learning about a culture” (Trail, 2000). Observations are a valuable method of assessment. Through observations, teachers can take note on students’ development, learning styles, students’ needs, and cultural influences. Teachers can use these notes to make better choices that impact student learning. These observations and interactions will also help us learn about other cultures. Having the opportunity to observe and interact with the students will equip you with information that cannot be learned from a book.
“Culture consists of values, traditions, worldview, and social and political relationships created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion, or other shared identity” (Nieto & Bode, 2008). Now that we have identified the characteristics of culture in the definition provided above, we can discuss the upbringing of the student I chose for my observation. For this observation, I chose a third grade male student named Israel Oketunmbi. I gathered most of the information about...
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Works Cited
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to multicultural education. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural
education (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.
Nowlan, A. (2010). Creating a More Globally Conscious Classroom. Language Education in
Asia, 1(1), 147-157.
Trail, K. (2000). A changing nation: The impact of linguistic and cultural diversity on education.
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 11(2). Retrieved from
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedletter/v12n02/2.html
Zins, J. E., Weissburg, R. P., Wang, M. C., & Walberg, H. J. (2004). Building academic success
on social and emotional learning: what does the research say?. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
The findings did support the hypothesis that social and emotional learning, still has positive effects on students in grades K-8th. This study shows how important it is for students to have social and emotional learning. Social and emotional learning can impact every part of a student’s life; emotionally, socially, academically and mentally. Along with their regular studies, when students are taught productive social and emotional techniques, can become successful students. It can also help them to become well-rounded adults.
“Culture is often described as the combination of a body of knowledge, a body of belief and a body of behavior. It involves a number of elements, including personal identification, language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions that are often specific to ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups”.
Culture is a difficult concept to put into words. “Traditionally anthropologists have used the term culture to refer to a way of life - traditions and customs - transmitted through learning” (Kottak, et al. 2008: p.11). Children inherit their culture, as well as social norms and ethics, through a process called enculturation. Enculturation, in essence, determines who a person will become, because culture defines who a person is. More specifically, “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities or habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Taylor, 1971/1951: p. 1). In modern society, our traditions and customs come from a variety of different sources. Television,
As America’s demographics become more diverse and the issue of whether or not we should accommodate minorities arises, bilingual education has become a hot topic. Bilingual education has been discussed and connected to other controversial topics such as nationalism, racism, immigration, and adoption of English as the official language of the United States, along with minority rights, cultural diversity, and the goals of education itself. Here are some questions to be discussed:
The ideas of this article intrigued me because of the information presented in the beginning paragraphs. This article elaborates upon how important the ability of being able to distinguish between positive and negative emotions is. Through the faces presented in the start of the article, I learned that affective development “generally precedes cognitive and behavioral development, as children experience emotions and react to them long before they are able to verbalize or cope. However, social and emotional competencies do not unfold automatically; rather they are strongly influenced by the child’s early learning environment” (Kramer, Caldarella, Christensen & Shatzer 2010). As an educator, I feel as though this is a pertinent piece of important information. Oftentimes students will view school as their safe-haven, and, with all the struggles that they are facing at home, emotions are let loose in the wrong ways. This social-emotional learning program reportedly help...
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2004). The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University .
When we think about culture everyone has their own definition of what it means and what it should be like, depending on their background and where they came from. This will be a short description of what I think culture means, along with other information’s such as, which cultures I belong to and how they have influenced me. one person can belong to a lot of different cultures based on he/she’s race, ethnicity, music taste…etc., I have selected two of the major cultures that I belong to and tried to describe how they have influenced me along with other information’s about those cultures.
Culture is a powerful influence plays a big role in our interactions. Culture may also impact parenting style and a developing child. Having a strong sense of their own cultural history and the traditions associated with it helps children build a positive cultural identity for themselves. This also supports children’s sense of belonging and, by extension, their mental health and wellbeing. This class is crucial in understanding and working well parents, staff, and children. An effective educator understands how students’ cultures affect their perceptions, self-esteem, values, classroom behavior, and learning. As director, I need to use that understanding to help my students and staff feel welcomed, affirmed, respected, and valued. One way that I can do this is by using multicultural literature, especially children’s literature, to honor students’ culture and foster cross-cultural understanding. If cultural differences are not understood by teachers and management, it can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings on both sides. It will be my job to do all I can to overcome both language and cultural differences to ensure a positive learning environment for
Culture has a big impact on how we all fit in as individuals in today’s society, and since this assignment is about that I decided to include some of my own experiences to illustrate my point of view and compare it with those of my classmates and some of the readings.
Culture is defined as, “the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts” (Zimmermann, 2017). Furthermore, it can be defined as having a shared set of behavior patterns and interactions, as a kind of “group identity”. Culture includes having a complex learned set of perceptions as well, which range from person to person given their backgrounds.
1. What is Culture? What I personally think is that our culture is the foundation of who we really are in life. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we relate with in our society. In other words, an important concept to understand is that cultural beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth first at home, in church, and other places where people meet. Some practices and beliefs in human culture include religion, music, sports, food, health beliefs, and art which represent the values we have in life. Also, our own culture is diverse and it is significant to look with in and identify what we value the most, what is essentially needed, and how we see the world. It is our remaining tool and we don’t even realize it is needed to communicate and socialize with others.
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then expect students of other social classes and cultures to change perspectives on motivation and competition, learning styles, and attitudes and values that their homes and families have instilled in them (Manning & Baruth, 2009).
Language has pioneered many interracial relationships and historical milestones. Language is a necessity for basic communication and cultural diversity. Being multilingual is a skill proven influential to a successful future. Due to rapid globalization, countries all over the world are stressing the importance of learning a second, or even third, language. With the exception of time and lack of resources, adults have very few widely applicable disadvantages to learning multiple languages. However, language learning as a child presents more complications. Some of those include not having enough funding at the elementary school level to introduce a program for secondary language, academic overload for the youth, stress for both the parent and student parties, and the mixing of languages. Not all of these complications are true in any or all situations, however, and the absence of them provides multitudes of opportunity for future career and academic success. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the parents or the education legislation to decide whether they encourage the learning of a secondary language at the young age necessary for retention. “The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency,” therefore the younger a child begins to learn, the more likely they are to benefit to the maximum potential (Robertson). Keeping the language learning in high school or beginning the process earlier is a greatly controversial discussion that is important to address because of the topic’s already lengthy suspension.
In conducting her research, the author understood that she needed to describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In reading Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Issues in Education (2010), s...