Issues of Cultural Awareness in Curriculum Design

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Recommended: Cultural diversity addressed in the classroom

In order to conduct a proper learner analysis the population for whom the instruction will be created must be identified. Diverse cultures and backgrounds must be taken into consideration and curriculum developers need to be sensitive to those issues in their learning environment.

Instructional Setting

Chowchilla Union High School is located in the Central Valley of California. It was established in 1916 with just fourteen students and has now grown to approximately 1,000 students. As of November 2012, 57 % of the students “receive free meal benefits and 11% reduced meal benefits” (Directors, 2012). With a total of 68% of our students eligible for assistance it is safe to say that we are a school with a high percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

In addition to the challenges that a high level of underprivileged students brings, we also have a high percentage of students that have previously been considered a minority. Chowchilla Union High School, as broken down by Ethnicity: 47.3% Hispanic or Latino, 40% White, 3.67% American Indian, 3.37% African American, and a small percentage of Asian, Pacific Islander and Filipino (Directors, 2012). With such a high percentage of Hispanic and White students the cultural differences can be vast and challenging. Not only are the cultural differences an issue, but the language differences make a huge impact as well. “The Chowchilla Union High School District serves 18% English Language Learners (ELL). ELL students are in the process of acquiring and learning English Language skills” (Chowchilla Union High School District, 2010).

Another category of students that we cannot leave out are the students who are on Individual Education Plans (IEP) due to a speci...

... middle of paper ...

...osters it is our responsibility to look up our students and properly identify which CELDT level they are in. Then, according to what level they have tested at, we know what we should be able to expect them to do and how we should expect them to perform.

Bibliography

2012–13 CELDT Information Guide. (2012, September). Retrieved from California Department

of Education: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/el/documents/celdtinfoguide1213.pdf

Chowchilla Union High School District. (2010). Retrieved from education.com:

http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/california/district/chowchilla-union-high-

school-district/

Directors, C. U. (2012, December 18). The Single Plan for Student Achievement. Retrieved from Chowchilla Union High School District: http://www.chowchillahigh.k12.ca.us/Documents/CUHS%202012-2013%20SIngle%20Plan%20for%20Student%20Achievement.pdf

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