As a future educator it’s important to understand that diversity will be seen in classrooms. As a result, it’s the educator’s role to become cultural competence, which is the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures other than your own. Diversity can be different types of race, religions, gender, languages, customs, and culture. Teachers need to see all their students equal regardless of their diversity and culture background. This course helped shape my character and broaden my views toward other cultures. I had many memorable experiences due to taking this course.
The most valuable learning experience in the class discussions was on the discussion regarding how teachers work with American Indian, Alaska Native, Irish, African American and Latino/a students. I learn that teachers need to be culturally responsive to students from different cultures. It is the teachers’ job to understand their historical information, principles, and how they both tie to teaching them. I also learned that the types of materials are important when using them in the classroom, due to the fact that some materials go against with student’s culture, which is why teachers need to be cultural competence. This made an impact on me because I didn’t full recognize that there are special limitations that are dealt with student’s cultures. Another class discussion impacted me on how many individuals view the Hispanic cultural context. There were individuals who thought migration of Hispanics affected the economy of the United States for the worst and some for the best. Their opinions in a way bothered me because it dealt with my cultural background.
Two specific class activities’ that were memorable and affected me were the wordle and the...
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...m choices will be varied and given to students in order to help them grasp the material. I will provide different curriculum choices to my students because all students have different learning styles and view information differently. There are many ways of working with students and families for example; teachers can plan certain activities where parents can participate in so they are aware of what their children are learning. Teachers can also ask parents to volunteer and if they refuse, teachers can ask them why and help them find solutions. Educators can also set up meetings with students and parents to talk about their culture and experiences that way they feel more comfortable around them.
Overall. I enjoyed taking this course! I have benefited tremendously from completing assignments, watching films, and reading both Cultural Competence and A Different Mirror.
Culturally responsive teaching is very important in today’s day and age. Classrooms are filled with students from different backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. Teachers need to put into consideration those differences when building curriculum and creating a classroom atmosphere. Subcultures might also need to be considered when teaching, such as the culture of the disabled. The culture of students with disabilities is one that may appear within many classrooms due to the increase of students with disabilities. Teachers who are able to maintain a culturally responsive classroom and curriculum will provide ideal learning opportunities for all students and encourage them to succeed. (Darrow, 2013)
These principles include suggestions for dealing with their implications such as the use of multiple methods to convey information, providing explicit instruction in academic language, incorporating primary language supports, making expectations clear, and using testing accommodations when appropriate (2010). Characteristics of culturally responsive instruction include high expectations, positive relationships with families and communities, cultural sensitivity, active teaching methods, student control of portions of the lesson, and instruction around groups and pairs to create low anxiety (2010).
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.
When the majority of teachers in America are White, middle class women who only speak English in a country were students are starting to come from a multitude of backgrounds it is no wonder problems are arising. As more people from different cultures and religions immigrate to the United States the average classroom is losing the cultural uniformity it had in the past. Though the faces in classrooms are steadily changing many teachers have not been able to adjust as quickly to the ever growing diversity taking place. One would expect for teachers to still be able to teach students effectively whether they share a similar background or not, but in actuality cultural conflicts between teachers and students are only getting worse. Especially when
Changes in language and culture in the classroom have been swift and dramatic. In the period between 1980 and 2000, the white, non-Hispanic population grew by 7.9percent. The population that identifies itself as nonwhite or Hispanic grew by 88 percent (Lynch & Hanson, 2004). We cannot continue to ignore the facts. The classroom population is changing at a rapid rate. Our students have contrasting backgrounds, possess multiple languages, and have particular views of the world. We ought to take the time to understand and appreciate the difference that make them unique. A good first step is to have a good idea of the population that we teach.
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.
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
I will always use different learning styles. Also, I will not “favorite” a certain race or ethnicity. I will involve my students in creating a diverse classroom by them always questioning, “Is this fair?” “Should we judge based off of race or language?” In my classroom, my students will be challenged to do one of two tasks. The first task will be to research the different races, ethnicities, religions, language, or social class and why it is important to represent diversity or acceptance. The second task will be to research the different issues in schools when diversity was not represented in a classroom. The students will be given the resources to complete one of the following tasks each week. The resources will include books and several websites. It is important for students to understand the different cultures within the United States. By the students understanding the many different cultures could help them be more accepting and not judge a person based on their race, language, religion, or any other culture identification. Diversity in a classroom is important. Both teachers and students should value and respect the different cultures. A teacher should represent positivity towards the diversity in the classroom. Teachers are role models for their students and they should not in any shape or form not accept a student because of their race, gender, nationality, or language. In my
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 to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
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.
I can identify with the multicultural concept of the classroom because I am African American, a woman, and a soon to be a teacher. This subject is one that is of extreme importance. The multicultural classroom is a learning environment that should be most effective because of the simple fact that it should encompass everyone. As a future teacher one of my goals for my classroom is to make it as diverse as possible. Not only because it should be a standard operating procedure, but because I feel students will be able to learn more effectively in an environment where they feel that their heritage is included.
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).
There was a significant amount of knowledge given in this course, involving concepts that in our teaching career will be extremely important. From this course I have gained a significant amount of learning experiences. I had the pleasure learning about how the educational system has come to be what it is today and who were the important people in the creation of the public education, like Horace Mann. Watching the videos and reading the chapters required has opened my eyes more of how a teacher should respond to different situations involving a student, For example when we read the chapter on the laws that revolve around the educators and the students. I had absolutely no clue that students had rights while in school property. Another learning
In terms of Personal Development I feel that the course has helped me to develop the skills I need to improve my grades, and to build my confidence.
In conducting her research, the author understood that she needed to describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In reading Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Issues in Education (2010), s...