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Diversity in multicultural education
Multicultural Education Summary Statement
Diversity in multicultural education
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My Philosophy of Education
There are many ways to educate, express or unveil knowledge to a student. The student’s education greatly depends on the educator’s philosophy of education. This ideological viewpoint appears to be the one true constant that could be a detrimental development influence in the classroom, no matter what curriculum is designed for the student.
The students of today possess distinct and different qualities and beliefs that educators are now realizing and learning to adapt to in the classroom. If educators cannot get beyond the boundaries of social class, religion, race, creed, gender, sex, disability or cultural background, then our focus has turned too heavily upon differences and the labeling of students as special needs or underachiever, thus forming harsh pre-expectations toward students in the classroom.
In my school environment everyone will be treated on an equal playing field. This atmosphere between student and teacher will enable the education process to direct itself in a positive manner sufficiently reaching the overall goal, which is knowledge through personal achievement and reason enlightenment. As an educator, I realize that my philosophy of education is portrayed not only in my actions within the classroom, but also in my overall character as an individual. I must, therefore, reflect a positive attitude in the classroom focusing on the importance of humanity, multiculturalism and the teaching of the Language Arts. Every student has the individual right to an education and it is my duty to insure that each student has the opportunity to exercise his or her educational rights in my classroom. As an educator, I must be on the cutting edge of new technology and teaching methods, so I may be prepared to offer my students a broad spectrum of learning related to their global environment. Learning is an infinite process, which I as an educator must acknowledge and portray in my classroom.
I hope to help develop and form camaraderie in my classroom, which will create relationships of honesty and integrity with my students, giving them an inviting avenue of communication with me and with their peers. More importantly, my classroom will offer my student’s a learning sanctuary, which will provide them an environment to expand their knowledge and understand the world and themselves.
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 .
Olympic.org. The International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008. n.d. 9 September 2013. .
Education gives me the knowledge that I require to overcome any problem every day. Furthermore, it is more value when teachers and students are free to express their own point of view without doubts. Freire states, “Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information. It is a learning situation in which the cognizable object (far from being the end of the cognitive act) intermediates the cognitive actors- teachers on the one hand and students on the other” (249). Fraire point is that the teacher and student learn each other when both communicate their ideas. Education is richer when both parts speak and argue over a topic than when only teachers talk and give their opinion about it . It is important for me to hear the point of view of everyone in the classroom because this is the way I build my own opinion. I do not always agree with everyone, but I respect the opinion of all. I rely on education because it aids me to master another
The students in our classrooms, both special education and general education classrooms, require individualized education to reach their full potential. Each child’s potential is different just as each child’s road to reach it is different. Our job as teachers is to be there for the student’s to help them reach their potential through their own unique way.
In conclusion, the ideas presented here are an overview of my personal beliefs regarding education. I expect that experience may cause me to add to, delete or otherwise alter some of these views. It is my desire to continue to learn from my instructors, peers and ultimately my students so that I may become a well-rounded and effective educator. Someday soon, I would like to be able to describe my classroom as community of learners, having produced good citizens as well as educated individuals.
In my class, we respect ourselves and take care of one another. I will encourage my students to try their personal best in every situation they find themselves in. I will remind students that your personal best effort does not look like your neighbors. I will structure my classroom environment so students can easily collaborate and form positive relationships with one another. The structure of my classroom environment will be full of warmth, patience, and humor creating an environment that is welcoming, safe, and fun for my students. We will look out for another and help one another reach our fullest potential individually, academically, and socially.
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).
Slee (2001) argues that inclusive schooling demands schools to recognise all types of difference from disabilities, ethnicity, gender, class and sexuality. Furthermore, he challenges schools to accept difference, to encourage and promote flexibility thus benefiting not only the curriculum and pedagogy, but the community and students themselves (Slee, 2001).
Many debilitating and severe unwanted diseases, genetic disorders and disabilities can be avoided through the creation of designer babies. A child's quality of life would be drastically increased if they evade Down Syndrome, deformities or heart disease for example. In a sense, it isn’t all that different to hearing aid, medication for an illness or chemotherapy for cancer, but on a larger scale and earlier in someone’s life, before it even really begins in fact. Some people would argue that changing genes is changing who people are, which they view as ‘wrong’, but genes aren’t exactly the only things that make up a person anyway. The way that they grow up and their surroundings also make people...
Sapon – Shevin states when students are uncomfortable with their peers who are different from them this situation can be a teaching moment for the teacher, in other words educate the students on the differences of others, not only disabilities, b...
“I hate school, why do I have to go anyway?” Quite often, these are the first words a teacher hears from his or her student upon arriving to class. The education a child receives during the first part of his or her life affects the majority of important decisions made during that child’s lifetime. If the attitude of the student is one of envy and disgust, serious repercussions may follow for that child. I believe that the most influential person in a child’s educational years is that child’s teacher. To influence the student in a positive manner, one must assess one’s personal views and approaches to education. The views associated with personal views include the nature of a student; the nature of knowledge; the purpose of education; the method of teaching; and the curriculum being taught. The way a teacher feels toward these issues may affect the whole of their teaching career and greatly influences the student as well.
In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while maintaining passing scores for the whole student body. To ensure academic success, teachers employ a multi-strategy approach to develop students of differing abilities and backgrounds. Every student is different in what skills and experiences they bring to the classroom; their personality, background, and interests are as varied as the ways in which teachers can choose to instruct them. Differentiated instruction has been an effective method in which teachers can engage students of various backgrounds and achieve whole-class success. When using differentiated instruction, teachers develop lesson strategies for each student or groups of students that provide different avenues of learning but all avenues arrive at the same learning goal.
Students come to school from different cultural backgrounds and with different learning styles. In order to cater to the students teachers have to work hard to try and meet the needs of all their students to promote free, equal access to quality education. Therefore knowledge, skill, beliefs and attitudes are important for understanding and improving educational
When analyzing contemporary issues in education, it is very important to ask why and how the issues arise. Some of these problems are obvious to the mass public, and some require a more in-depth analysis. One of the less obvious issues in education is the current philosophy in the classrooms. One may ask the questions, “Why is the philosophy of education important? And, why does it matter to me?” To put it simply, the philosophy imbedded in the goals of education and teaching methods in a classroom affects the students’ futures. This topic was chosen because the philosophy in schools is often overlooked as the absolute core of educational issues. Many students understandably struggle with sitting in a classroom, uninterested. In addition to the constant stress and pressure of having good grades, students often ask why the given curriculum must be learned.
As a prospective secondary mathematics educator, I felt that it was unfair that I would have special education students in my classes. I would rationalize my attitude by saying that I signed up to teach “normal” students, and that the special education students were not my problem or responsibility. I did not want to deal with them. I did not see them as individuals who seek meaning through learning.