Diversity and the Classroom

This week, I wanted to write about Diversity in the class room.  It is an important part of life as well as life in the classroom to enrich students’ understanding of the different cultures of the world.  I know that there are probably still some school systems that are predominately one race with a few others in the mix.  In an article (very lengthy article) I read on ASCD.org:

“Students who learn to work and play collaboratively with classmates from various cultures are better prepared for the world they face now—and the world they will face in the future. Teaching and learning strategies that draw on the social history and the everyday lives of students and their cultures can only assist this learning process.” (ASCD.org)

The significance of allowing students to interact personally and intellectually is important to developing the students awareness even into adulthood of how different cultures live.  The teacher plays a large part in that development and can use lessons to encourage students to learn.  This is an important part of the Social Studies curriculum.  But, diversity goes beyond nationality or race.  It can be gender, learning styles and physical/emotional/mental differences.  You may have a student with Autism, a student who is very quiet and reserved, a student who is bouncing off the wall and a student who is just not paying attention.  As a teacher it is important to learn how to handle all of these situations and connect with all of these different types of students.  From an article at Harvard.edu:

“Teaching to the wide range of diversities we find in our classrooms is one of the hardest and most important aspects of our job as instructors. Diversity comes in many forms: personality, race, gender, class, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion, class, natural aptitude for and previous training in the subject matter, the range and types of previous experience are among them.” (harvard.edu)

These are not issues to simply tip toe around, but they are important to address and learn ways to instruct students to treat others respectfully.  I think that having plenty of diversity in the classroom is a great and wonderful thing.  It prepares students for the world and the differences they may find in their community and workforce.  It also helps teach about different parts of the world and relate it to real life.  There are many people in the world who have Physical and mental difficulties, and teaching students to respect and effectively work with their friends and neighbors with these life challenges is important.  

For my future classroom, I plan on incorporating different cultural themes throughout the year. I would love the idea of even having different cuisine samples for students to try (accounting for allergies and cultural traditions: aka: parental permission). I also would like to implement different mini lessons on how some people have physical difficulties and mental difficulties but that doesn't stop them from accomplishing their goals. Here is an example of what I might share:

This area of expertise would connect to the NC Teaching Standard: 2: (Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students).  With more and more ELL students in the 21st century learner classroom, we as teachers need to be mindful of how to best incorporate different culture and traditions as well as help other students learn how to commune with other students who may not be the same nationality, religion, or have the same abilities as them.  

Resources:

-http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/classroom-dynamics-diversity

-http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx

Images:

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