As diverse as the world we live in, so are the elementary schools our children attend. This diversity while challenging for adults can have the same effect on our children. Today’s schools have changed to reflect the diversity of our communities. Our schools have shifted far beyond a variety of sizes, shapes and incomes. Teachers and other staff have to find a way to make every student feel welcome. This can be a difficult task with a mixture of cultures, races, emotional, ethnicity, religions, learning capabilities, learning styles and gender related issues. Educators deal with much more than just the challenge of helping children learn the mandates of state standards. On a daily basis, the unwritten curriculum includes learning how to handle broken family …show more content…
In the book Christen Teachers in Public Schools, it tells a story of a girl that had been called fat girl growing up. She struggled with a lack of confidence, she tried killing herself and eventually ended up in the hospital due to an overdose. After receiving help it allowed her situation to change and she slowly came out of her depressed state and began to live. Dalene Vickery Parker writes, “Repeatedly God confirms to me that part of my job as a teacher is to share and instill compassion within my students. God means for us to share each other’s burdens and to help others in their time of need (50).” As the book reflects on a story about how teachers can use the misfortune of others to help trouble students get unstuck. While teachers create environments that are intended to help children partake in educational learning, they also develop socially. Teachers take children on educational journeys while they too tend to learn as the school years passes, many teachers have learn to care and love their
While differentiating instruction and being able to design lessons geared towards the needs of diverse learners are currently highly prized skills for teachers, this has not always been the case. The history of education in the United States is a history of segregation. Even today, schools and curriculum are designed to meet the needs of a core group of students, which does not include students with disabilities (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose, & Jackson, 2002). In the past, learners who were different, out of the mainstream, or did not fit into the mold to which teachers taught (were not part of the core) learned how or lost out on learning. This is not to say that teachers of the past did not care about their students, about being effective teachers, or about student learning. However, as schools are mirrors reflecting mainstream societal norms (Chartock, 2010; Delpit, 2006)—and, given that our society has not always valued diversity in people, be it due to disability, class, culture, or race—teachers in the past have largely focused their efforts where they could earn the largest return on their investment: the average student .
As Tienda and Haskins (2011) noted, “Immigrant children are more likely than native children to face circumstances such as low family income, poor parental education, and language barriers that place them at risk for developmental delay and poor academic performance once they enter school” (p. 7). At the school where I teach, the circumstances holding back the immigrant family are clearly visible. A few years ago, I had a student in class whose family had recently immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Language barriers initially set him back followed by poor attendance because he was working nights to help support his family. As his English teacher, I felt ill-equipped to support his success. Many of the issues impacting his academic success were out of both his control and mine. Overall, schools, especially rural schools in Iowa, need to pay closer attention to the diverse lifestyles of their multicultural students and
My experience at Oak Park Elementary was an experience I will not forget. Oak Park is a school that has a great amount of diversity within their system. While there was a vast measure of diversity there was some similarities within the student body. Majority of the student body is the same race, with a few other that are a different ethnicity. I was in the library for my observation hours and at the beginning of my time I was first disappointed I was not assigned to a class room, but I was very grateful for my opportunity in the library. The teacher I observed was a lady that had a beautiful heart for children and passionate about her subject she taught. The students I observed ranged from various backgrounds. I attended to Mrs. Lee who is
Solutions to these disparities are improving minority student readiness and providing support for families in areas related to academics. Improving the opportunity to succeed in education for poor minority students will likely enhance the future options and support future social mobility (McKinney, 2014). In keeping with this logic education policies such as No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) have been introduced. The focus of NCLB is to close the achievement gaps among students in the US. The framework of NCLB includes benchmark accounting for schools to be proficient in teaching. NCLB also intends to ensure that any teacher providing instruction at the core levels be suitably qualified. This initiative offers many opportunities for success but also create its own set of challenges. Challenges based on student role performance, environment, teacher roles, family, and peers. Student role performance is how well a student meets expectations and obligations based on their achieved roles. Environmental factors that affect NCLB are teacher selection, class size and school rules and regulations that must be enforced. Teacher roles are characterized by if a teacher is fair, caring and provides quality instruction. The family demands of NCLB
Diversity among students including differences in culture, language and socioeconomic stance is not a new trend. The difference, however, is that today, the school system realizes that all students, including those who differ in some way from the "average" student, or those “at-risk” must be provided with an equal, opportune education (Morris, 1991).
Cultural diversity has been a major issue of concern for several decades, and it has affected institutions of learning, where facilitators have to balance the family and school involvement in enhancing learning. Establishing a meaningful environment for students with diverse backgrounds enhances positive performance in their academic, personal, and professional objectives. A healthy relationship with family members involves identifying the needs of each family’s cultural stand; this is because a culture may play a major role in defining a family’s responsiveness to a school’s involvement. The globalization aspect has facilitated the creation of a multicultural society, and hence the need for an education system that addresses the need to foster a conducive environment for learning. It is imperative to define the essence of family involvement and collaboration in schools’ activities, especially where cultural diversity is concerned.
There are many challenges that teachers encounter when teaching children with learning disabilities, learners that are English language learners, or learners who are culturally and linguistically diverse. As a nation we are faced with the challenged that our schools are becoming more diverse. The majority of our schoolteachers are still predominately white females, but our student population is slowly changing. We are seeing more minority groups in our schools that are facing different challenges. The scary part of it all is that our teachers do not have the skills to accommodate those differences. “The nation’s changing school demographics are creating a demand for new teaching skills” (Utley, Obiakor, & Bakken 2011, pg. 5). Our student population
There has been a major change in the past thirty years regarding the amount of immigrants coming to the United States. The impact the immigrants have had on education and diversity is unbelievable. There are many factors which contribute to the element of diversity in education, such as each student 's culture, the different languages each student speaks, promoting gender equality amongst students, and working with students who have exceptionalities. As today 's educators, teachers must understand diversity from an omniscient perspective and the influence it has on students, making the process of getting an education as equal and pleasant as possible for all students.
Children are unique individuals with different desires and needs. They provide challenges for teachers to meet and conquer. Some of these many differences stem from the diversity of the students in the classroom. Ultimately, much of this diversity comes from the many special family situations in which students live. Cultural factors, prior experience with education, family structure, and socioeconomic factors all have effects on children’s education.
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 gaining a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably than a judgmental and prejudiced view.
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.
I believe it is important to first analyze the word diversity when examining the need for diversity within a classroom. According to Webster's New Pocket Dictionary, diversity means variety, a number of different kinds. I often discuss and read about diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds; the unification of histories and stories from people from all over the world. Although, I believe that in a higher-educational setting, diversity can also be discussed as the acceptance of the various minds within a classroom. I believe that it is important to recognize the thoughts and experiences of others in a learning environment. Collectively, students learn from teachers, teachers learn from students, and students learn from their peers. By allowing diversity within the classroom, a sense of community can develop. Diversity encourages an active, not passive, learning style. I believe that the culture of Columbia College Chicago is dependent on diversity. The motto “Create Change,” suggests students actively seek the change they want to see in the world. In order to obtain change a community developed out of diversity must be discovered.
We need to be aware of the diversity in the classroom. Cultural diversity includes: bi-racial, adoptive, immigrant, gay, and step-families. It is a large majority of the students today even in my generation. Focusing on making a balanced curriculum that exposes the students to all of these different backgrounds is very important. I know that it is likely that a teacher will not be able to cater to every student, but it is important to involve each of them. There is a large percentage of students that have dropped out due to the lack of having a connection with the curriculum. It is frustrating that we are lacking progress in our schools to help these children connect when studies show that each cultural group will soon be equal in numbers. We need to form a better
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).
According to David O. McKay (2013), multicultural education is constructed to prepare pupils for citizenship in a democratic society by facilitating them to take into account the needs of all individuals; it shed light on how issues of language, ethnicity, culture, religion race, abilities/disabilities, and gender are entwined with educational content and processes. A multicultural curriculum is needed to accommodate for diverse learning and teaching styles of facilitators and pupils and to expose biases, stereotypes, and policies that can restrict achievement. What is more, a multicultural curriculum is also needed to help pupils, faculty, and staff become advocates for multicultural awareness, to ensure that content is fair, accurate, and inclusive, and to prepare pupils for diverse workplaces and multicultural environments. In writing this paper, the author will describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In addition, she will describe three key issues of male and female students recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In closing, she will describe three key issues of students with disabilities, who are mainstreamed, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected.