I consider myself to a long life learner, I realize this fact when I immigrated from my born country El Salvador and I started a life in the U.S. After, I few months in this country, I recognized how important was to learn the English language. But I also learned that some people had the same ambition of learning my native language Spanish due to the most recent immigration wave for Central America and Mexico. Do I consider myself a teacher or do I born to be a teacher? I do not think this is the case, if anything is true is that I was born a leaner, and on my way to achieve my education, I discovered how important is helping others to reach their educational goals. That is why my philosophy of teaching foreign languages comes from my own personal experiences as immigrant, student, and ally to those in need of education. But most important my passion for teaching is because I experienced the importance of learning a new language myself.
My goals as an educator are that my students develop and encounter their full potential in my classroom and in our society; moreover, help them to bring their unique and special gift to the world. To me, in a society like ours in which an amalgam of skin colors, customs, beliefs and styles are mixing in one place is essential that our education system fulfill the most essential civil rights, education. However, most important is that in my teaching goals include a multicultural education to help students to understand our unique differences, an inclusion for all students no matter which their race, color, or disabilities are, and cultural diversity in order to create a caring, accepting and tolerant classroom atmosphere.
Why a multicultural and inclusion education? The Fourteenth Amendment of ...
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...students recognize how much I love my culture and language and how much I enjoy spending my energy on their education. Indeed, I believe that for a teacher there is not greater joy that sees their students to thrive in this society and teach them how exiting is being a bilingual person in this multicultural world that we live in.
Works Cited
Giensen, J., (2014) Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. Retrieved from Northern Illinois University: http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/handouts/constructivism.pdf
Strategies for Teaching Culturally Diverse Students. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2014, from TeacherVision: https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-methods/resource/6039.html
Spring, J. (2014). American education (16th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill
Ventura, M. E., MA. (2014, February 14). [Personal interview]. Field Experience Interview
The multicultural movement in education is deeply rooted, and the movement as we know it today dates back to the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Stemming from the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) decision and out of the demand by ethnic groups to be included in public schools, colleges, and universities, the main thrust of the mo...
The Multicultural Education reform movement was designed to bring about a transformation of schools in order to provide an equal chance at success for all genders, cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. The movement required a variety of changes of the schools, including school policies, instructional materials, attitudes, assessment methods, and teaching styles. It is important that all major components of schools be changed in order to create a multicultural environment rather than only changing one or two components and expecting such a major change.
When visiting just about any school across America, students who attend come from all over the globe. This raises the question across America about bilingual education. This can create many challenges in and out of the classroom. The classroom should be a safe place for all students regardless of what native language they speak. In the essay Lost in translation written by Eva Hoffman, describes a foreign student who tries hard to fit in. Instead, Eva begins to feel angry, hurt and confused because people laugh at her. In Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education by Elizabeth R. Howard, Julie Sugarman, Donna Christian Center for Applied Linguistics Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary San José State University David Rogers Dual Language Education of New Mexico. Guiding principles gives great ideas to educators to stop kids from making other students feel the way that Eva felt. After reading several articles about bilingual education, it is evident that all children in school should learn English but never lose their native language. When all the students speak one language, students will be less likely to make fun of each other. A good educator should learn enough foreign languages to aid them in effective communication in their classroom although; if an educator does not speak a foreign language, they should recruit within the classroom students to be peer mentors. However, a teacher should be willing to listen and encourage the students. Above all a good educator should be a good role model to their students by respecting their heritage and their language.
The world is made up of many different types of people, each one having his or her cultural background. Over the years, the United States has become increasingly populated with cultural diversity. This influx has prompted school administrators to recognize the need to incorporate multicultural programs into their school environment including classroom settings, school wide activities, and curriculum as it becomes more evident that the benefits of teaching cultural diversity within the school setting will positively influence our communities, and ultimately the entire nation’s future. The purpose of this paper is to share the pros and cons of multicultural education in the classroom. Additionally, I will express my views compared to those in the reading requirements for this assignment, as well as, new knowledge obtained through the research. Finally, I will share situations where I was challenged introducing a multicultural issue during a class.
I remember that day when I received a call from Carteret Schools District, and the lady told me, “I was selected for the position of Bilingual teacher.” That day was the best day for me, and I was so proud of myself by choosing a teaching career as I always wanted to be a teacher, and this realization came to me when I was in the high school. However, when I started this career I realized that I have to travel this journey with strong vigor and motivation. In the end of every day, I love to reflect on the strategies that I used with my students were successful or not. If not, what are the reasons behind that? Every day is not the best day for me; however, as a teacher I can understand that a person can learn from her/his mistakes. I always consider my weaknesses, and try to turn into strengths as we all know hard work, motivation and dedication are three essential ingredients to become a successful teacher.
Inclusion is one of the very controversial topics concerning the education of students in today's society. It is the effort to put children with disabilities into the general education classes. The main purpose is to ensure that every child receives the best education possible by placing them in the best learning environment possible. Inclusion is a very beneficial idea, supported by law that promotes a well-rounded education while also teaching acceptance of others.
As an educator one must understand that the children you will be teaching will all come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different homes with different values. No one student will be the same, and no one student will learn the same. The role of a modern educator is to harness this idea of diversity and channel it into a positive learning atmosphere for children of all backgrounds. “I define culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (Gay, 2013, p.50.). The hope for all teachers is to capture the minds of their children, as educators we must learn how our students learn, adapt to their skill set and channel our curriculum to their strength.
My goal as a teacher is to provide children with a rich environment where they feel safe to explore, initiate learning, and feel free to express their feelings. My personal philosophy is to respect all children and their families’ cultures, ethnicities, race, and beliefs. I treat each child fairly to ensure that all children feel equally special, have families, communities, and educators work as one.
Education experts have spent many years planning and revising learning material and assessment tools to meet the demands of diverse learners coming into the 21st century. Educators have responded to this demand by becoming more aware of the need for a multicultural education program that helps meet the needs of each diverse learner, examining their own attitudes and bias opinions toward minority students, and acknowledging the important role every stakeholder plays in providing an equal education to every learner. However, in spite of these efforts, there is still a growing concern for the achievement gap that remains evident among students. Despite some evidence of success and strong progress by black, Hispanic, and socioeconomic disadvantaged students from 1970 to 1988, the education reform efforts of the last decade have not enabled significant numbers of students to become educationally competitive or to close the gaps in achievement (Lee, 2001).
Inclusion in classrooms is defined as combining students with disabilities and students without disabilities together in an educational environment. It provides all students with a better sense of belonging. They will enable friendships and evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion benefits students without disabilities by developing a sense of helping others and respecting other diverse people. By this, the students will build up an appreciation that everyone has unique yet wonderful abilities and personalities (Bronson, 1999). This will enhance their communication skills later in life. Inclusive classrooms provide students with disabilities a better education on the same level as their peers. Since all students would be in the same educational environment, they would follow the same curriculum and not separate ones based on their disability. The main element to a successful inclusive classroom, is the teachers effort to plan the curriculum to fit all students needs. Teachers must make sure that they are making the material challenging enough for students without special needs and understandable to students with special needs. Inclusive classrooms are beneficial to students with and without special needs.
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
As we proceed further into the 21st century, multiculturalism becomes more relevant to obtaining a truly global society. Dr. James A. Banks defines the meaning of multicultural education and its potential impact on society when it is truly integrated into American classrooms. In his lecture, Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice: Education in a Global Age, Banks (2006) defines the five dimensions of multicultural education that serve as a guide to school reform when trying to implement multicultural education (Banks 2010). The goal of multicultural education is to encourage students to value their own cultures and the diverse cultures of those around them without politicizing their differences but rather, as Banks passionately explains in his lecture, “to actualize the ideals stated in the Constitution” (2006) forming “civil, moral, and just communities.”
The world is currently undergoing a cultural change, and we live in an increasingly diverse society. This change is not only affect the people in the community but also affect the way education is viewed. Teaching diversity in the classroom and focusing multicultural activities in the programs can help improve positive social behavior in children. There is no question that the education must be prepared to embrace the diversity and to teach an increasingly diverse population of young children.
My interest in teaching started at a young age. I used to watch my teachers in awe as they were able to find new ways to get their students involved and excited to learn. Their enthusiasm to teach was so inspiring. I would often find myself using that same fervor as I grasped each concept. I, then, was able to relay it to my fellow classmates as a peer tutor. To this day, becoming a teacher is a passion that flows through me. However, my enthusiasm and passion are not the only reasons I would be a good teacher. I aspire to see a student’s ability to grasp the knowledge they never before understood. I aspire to see a student succeed at something they never thought they ever could. I aspire to not only support students with academic skills, but also with life lessons about the value of community, pride in one’s own ethnicity, good citizenship, sportsmanship, and more. I aspire to play a fundamental role in ensuring that all students from all cultures and learning abilities have the opportunity to be guided in a positive learning
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).