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Diversity challenges in the classroom
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I remember when I was in high school; I encountered a gruesome experience. A young girl was being beat and thrown into a trashcan by two boys and one girl. I hysterically ran to her aid and told the group of people to stop. Minutes later, security arrived and the victim was picked up and driven away. Two days later, our high school principle scheduled a mandatory auditorium student meeting. He said, that the young girl was beaten and bullied because she identified as a homosexual. I couldn’t believe it! I was embarrassed and ashamed that these students did not have any sense of morality. Is our educational system lacking the knowledge that students are constantly being abused and bullied due to sexual orientations, ethnicity and culture? Perhaps …show more content…
For this purpose, I strongly believe our educational system should mandate ethnic studies classes into all high school curriculums prior to graduation. Ethnic studies are interdisciplinary courses that train students to be able to understand ethnicity, gender and sexual differences, different from our societal view. These courses also teach the suppressed and distorted histories, but most importantly it’s an academic freedom to social justice. High school students from all over the United States are constantly being harassed and abused because they don’t look, act or talk accordingly to the idolized America identity frame. A regional source reported, “A total of 15.8% of students reported cyber bullying and 25.5% reported bullying in the past 12 months” (Schneider and others 2012) .1 Do students have to commit suicide or hurt themselves to prove that others are tormenting them? Perhaps our school system wants innocent teenagers to …show more content…
An ethnic studies program will help students identify with themselves and most importantly help them learn about others. A resource states, “Stanford university researchers looked at an ethnic studies pilot started in 2012 for ninth graders. In a report released in January, the researchers concluded such classes helped increase grades and attendance amongst struggling high school students” (Bryson, Donna 2016). 5 Ethnic studies programs help students appreciate their ethnic identity. A source states, “the NEA review of research cites multiple university studies showing that, for students of color, the more they know about race, racism and cultural identity, the higher their grades and graduation rates, and the more likely they are to go on to college” (Remnick). 6 Now check this out, “Interestingly, the positive impact of such studies is even higher on white students, who gain a much more sophisticated ethnic consciousness as they confront issues of race already familiar to minority students”(Remnick). 7 Isn’t this incredible? The future lies in front of us and in order to live in peace, people need to work together, learn, interact and respect each
Students are told not to bully, not to say mean words, and not to hurt others. It only focuses on the negative side of the problem. “Empathy clearly plays a tremendous role in an effective anti-bullying program” (Jones and Augustine, 2015). Kids aren’t being taught compassion, tolerance, and empathy thought these programs. The only thing that these students are being taught is what a bully is and everything they should not do. Clearly, tolerance is not being built amongst students. This is a trait that students learn as small children. It is hard to change the viewpoint of a child once their viewpoint has been taught, whether it be good or bad, they develope those thoughts about certain topics. Once tolerance and acceptance is established and taught bullying and harassment in secondary schools will significantly drop.
I think it is important to be aware of every single student's ethnicity in the classroom. Our ethnicity , our cultural and language background strongly influence the way we learn. We need to give every child the possibility to learn the way it can learn best and most. I don't think that there is a racist issue when we integrate the student's ethnicity and language into the classroom learning as long as we are aware of all the ethnicities of all the students in the classroom. I rather think that there is a racist issue if we do not integrate the children's ethnicity and language into classroom life since we would then ignore an important aspect of the student's being individually different from each other, and without considering their ethnicity we would automatically teach the students from our own ethnicity's point of view which might not be appropriate for any of the students in the classroom.
"It is better to die standing up than to live kneeling down.” Emiliana Zapata. It is easy to live life kneeling down, and it is frightening to take the initiative to act against many and to fight for the rights of our community. This quote constantly reminds me of why I need to go to graduate school and further my education in learning about oppressions.
The subject that I was interested in my schooling the most was my ethnic studies course. Whether ethnic studies should be implemented into schools or not has been widely debated. I 'm in favor of having ethnic studies in all schools. Ethnic studies courses being put into school systems will be very beneficial in regards to the student, and will promote unity amongst students.
Race has no biological meaning. There is only one human race; there are no subspecies, no single defining characteristic, traits, or even gene, separates one “race” from another. Instead of being a biological concept, race is a social construct, and a relatively modern one at that. It was created to give light-skinned Europeans an advantage by making the white race superior and all others inferior. Throughout its history, the concept of race has served this purpose well.
I personally believe that if we taught African American history, and integrated a more inclusive curriculum, that children would learn the equal importance of colored people at an early age, and therefore be less likely to discriminate against them when they grow older. Another potential solution could be, creating interracial relationships, or developing a learning environment that forces students to mingle and cooperate with previously discriminated students so as to prevent the development of a false idea of who colored people really are. I believe that through these extra lengths America can become a more unified
Lacking the necessary support, many start to devalue the importance of doing well in school deciding that perhaps school isn’t part of their identity. In Susan’s case she’s eliciting multiple forms of subordination, and within each dimension she’s being subjective to different types of oppression; racial oppression, gender oppression, and class oppression, she’s experiencing cultural alienation and isolation and is not only based on her ethnicity as a Latina but is also influenced by how she is treated as a female, as a member of a certain socioeconomic class, and in relation to her English language proficiency, and even her perceived immigration status. In this sense, students like Susan experience different forms of discrimination or marginalization that stems from
The goal of an education is to gain knowledge to help improve one’s understanding of the world. If we shy away from topics like racism and cultural diversity, then we risk not being able to understand a huge part of the way our world works. Consider this: are all the people we converse with in a day the same ethnicity? Are they all from the same cultural background? If they all are the same ethnicity or from the same cultural background, then one might not need to understand why cultural diversity affects how someone would respond to a problem or situation. Let’s face it: the world is not homogenous there are multiple different races and cultures. We need to teach not judge others without getting to know them first.
It changes from school to school, rather than teaching ethnicities of many different American groups. The goal of teaching American ethnic culture should include a wide range of content. If schools were to teach all ethnicities to every child, no matter their race, it would benefit and prepare students who will be entering an integrated society instead of a desegregated society. Desegregation effects on the achievements of black and white students show improvement. James Coleman conducted a study, which proved desegregation benefits black children.... ...
According to Omi and Winant, the term race can be defined as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” From their framework of racial formation and concept of racial projects, Omi and Winant asserts that race is a matter of social structure and cultural representation that has been intertwined to shape the nature of racism. Racism has been seen since the events of early English colonization of the indigenous people and the racialization of African Americans through slavery, all in which the United States is molded upon as a nation. Thus, this social structure of domination has caused European colonials and American revolutionists to create racialized representations, policies, and structures in order to oppress indigenous and black populations in their respective eras.
No one should have to be judged by what they want to be whether it is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or hetero-sexual we are all the same no matter what we feel on the inside. All most all schools say a girl cannot play a boy sport because they will get hurt; girls should be able to play whatever sport they want to know matter what the outcome may be. Also, every school has the rule no sexual relationship between teacher and students because they follow the rule of boundaries between teacher and student. Do you agree that students and teachers should not be able to date each other? Do you all agree that people should be allowed to date whoever they want? Do you hate feminism or do you agree with feminism? If we let these issues go with kids will continue to stay in the closet, never becoming who they truly are meant to be, and a teacher will hurt a
The movie “It’s Elementary” does a great job showing the positivity reaction kids have to presenting LGBT issues in the school system. The documentary showed that all age groups can benefit from these lessons. For example, a heterosexual, 8th grade social studies teacher felt it was very important to teach his students to be respectful and not afraid of their sexuality. This teacher started his lesson by asking students to share stereotypes. He then related these stereotypes to LGBT issues. One student shared with the class that he uses slurs “out of ignorance”. This
Each year, schools are having to update the Codes of Conduct in order to keep up with the bullying that is occurring on social media. Schools have failed to effectively monitor and take action upon what these students have been doing to others and what others do in return. This has resulted in many lost lawsuits, in which schools were held liable for not taking appropriate action on what occurs outside of campus. School districts therefore must take more responsibility over what happens to the students, on and off campus. Districts argue that such instances are outside of the school’s control, however these victims are still their students. In the case of Ryan Halligan, a teenage boy who committed suicide at the young age of 13, Albert D. Lawton
Being able to identify with a certain group has been an issue that individuals hesitate with daily. Am I Black, are you a girl, what religion do you practice? These are all common questions that society has forced individuals to concentrate on. Should an individual have to pick a side or is it relevant to the human race to identify with any group? One may believe not, but for others having and knowing one’s own identity is important, because it is something that they have been developing their entire life. Along with how their identity influenced their life chances and their self-esteem. This can also affect how society interact with whatever identity an individual chooses to live. Which is why it was important to recognize how identifying
I believe this is a very relevant topic today since prejudice and discrimination has become the leading issue of violence. The goal of this type of education is to teach the students that they have worth and can learn. It is a very positive subject matter when considering the benefits of implementing this type of education into a school system. This type of education encourages students of a diverse background to have a positive self-identity, pride in their heritage, accept others with diverse backgrounds, and promote social justice against prejudice and discrimination. Teachers can change the conversation in their classrooms by adding spontaneous and relevant content to their curriculum that both promotes multiculturalism and connects with the students. I believe a big part of making a change in our society today is by ‘changing the conversation’ whether that is about discrimination or another important issue. Teachers can step in at a very early age and promote feelings of self-worth and encourage the students to accept each other aside from cultural