Classroom Diversity

Diversity was tragically scarce in my hometown. The unspoken common goal, seemingly, was to be the exact same as all the other students with regard to clothes, boots, and even designer lunch boxes. Many students acted, dressed, and even spoke differently at home, meaning diversity in the students existed, but was not accepted. Diversity carries little to no meaning without inclusivity. However, inclusivity brings meaning to diversity by ensuring a positive and consequently productive learning environment. I believe a diverse and inclusive learning environment is essential to a productive work environment because diverse ideas bring innovation. Repetitive contributions are hardly helpful when the information shared is neither new nor different

Poverty is a serious issue which our society and children faces every day. It is a constant struggle that shouldn’t be ignored. UNICEF states “The study of OECD countries in 2007, over fourteen percent of Australian children under the age of eighteen are currently living in households who are defined as poor or with incomes less than half of the median national income”. The increase in the number and percentage of children living in poverty within our society has contributed to making today's classrooms more diverse than ever it has been. This highlights and makes both teaching and learning more challenging. Diversity exists in the students who are living in poverty and the education assistant and teachers must provide the concept of diversity

The greatest concern of mandating “English only” schools in California for example is that 80 percent of the population of students is Latino. Miner further explains, “Good bilingual programs are about more than learning a language, it should be about respect for diversity and multiculturalism (Bilingual Education, 1999).”

    The diversity in our public schools is ever increasing, with this teachers are beginning to recognize the need to expand their classroom curriculum to include other cultures. Understanding diversity provides context for students and allows them to thrive in most social environments. They key to this understanding lies with support from administrative and teachers “sensitivity of the various cultures reflected in students populations,” (Smith) meanwhile maintaining an unbiased outlook. Involving discussions on music, history, food and of other cultures provides a general awareness for students. Theres types of lessons can and should be taught year round and not just around the

Chalmette High School is located in Chalmette, Louisiana. The schools population is one thousand six hundred and seventy two students and many diverse cultures. It is a school that has rebuilt since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. It is a public school that has students from grade 9-12. The role of the classroom teacher is applying for creative fellowship grant. It is grant which will provide financial resources for the teacher and school to develop and improve on the education of the students. The population make-up is sixty percent Caucasian, twenty-two percent Hispanic, fifteen percent African American and three percent Asians. The classroom structure is made of a mixture of cultures. It has students from different cultures with different

I grew up in an city that is home to five top tier private colleges and has a higher than national average household income. As a city that has banned fast food within its limits, prohibits overnight street parking, and is referred to as, “The City of Trees and PhDs,” the sheer description of Claremont, California offers a generic picture of elitism. Claremont, however, is a different type of southern California town. Spending 18 years in this small suburban town, I came to appreciate Claremont as a strong community that consistently used its privilege to exhibit the most altruism. I found my first passion for volunteering with the Prison Library Project, a group with the mission of providing inmates around the nation with educational and self-healing reading

Most teachers are teaching in classrooms that are culturally diverse. There are many aspects of teaching in a classroom with students from various cultural backgrounds that a teacher may encounter as a challenge both to their educational training and their personal beliefs and attitudes. One of the most important aspects of teaching children from culturally diverse backgrounds is the teacher’s ability to learn about and understand their own personal cultural background and that of the student’s in their classroom. The teacher’s own culture and the student’s culture will surely often impact the way the teacher may choose to teach one or all of their students in a classroom. Understanding about how the

Before a teacher can accept and embrace diversity in the classroom, he or she must reflect on the challenges that can interfere with acceptance (Dray & Wisneski, 2011). This statement, in my opinion, is powerful. As a matter of fact, to be capable of honestly executing this type of reflection, no matter what the answers look like, requires an extraordinary person. Educators with an appreciation and a tolerance for culturally different students, and who can replace prejudices, will considerably foster the chances for student accomplishment.

Students learn both inside and outside the classroom and the University of North Carolina has students that come from all over the world to form a diverse pool of students. How I would add to that diversity for other students to learn is with my culture, background and experiences. Of all the people in this world, there is only one Jae Yoo.

As a teacher in a diverse classroom, I would never want my students to feel left out or feel they need to abandon their culture to participate within my room. I would encourage my students to be proud of their culture by inviting them to bring in special items from home that represents their own country, and share the items with the class. I would also read stories that pertained to their culture. By reading books that reflect the different cultures within my classroom, I am not only including and encouraging my ELL students, but I am also teaching my other students about different cultures which is very important in this culturally diverse age. One of my favorite ideas for including my diverse students, in my classroom, is to host a special culture night where the entire class can be involved and show something about their different cultures. Our textbook talks about this saying, “Teachers can help students develop a sense of pride in family heritage by inviting family members as guest speakers, encouraging family demonstrations of traditional customs, and including activities that involve ethnic foods, clothing, and music” (Vacca, et al., 2015, p. 69). In addition, I would encourage those learning English, by making picture cards for them with both the English and their language on them so they would understand what the words mean. I would first start slowly with easy class words, but then as they progressed throughout the year I would continually add new words used in

American schools are changing; schools are much more diverse than they were fifty years ago. Educators can no longer expect the majority of their students to be predominately native English speaking. There has been a significant increase in the number of language minorities (Omark and Erickson, 1983) within the United States. In 2014, there were fourteen or fifteen major language groups with an estimated 4,500,000 students between the ages of five and fourteen. By far, the largest single language minority population being represented is Spanish-speaking, with more than two-thirds of the entire language minority population being Spanish speakers. Because of the tremendous increase in the numbers of Asian, Hispanic, and other linguistically and culturally different students, school districts can no longer ignore the need for adjusting their instructional programs to better serve these groups. One result has been an expansion of bilingual education to address the educational needs of students with limited proficiency in English.

Reflecting the diversity of culture and language in the classroom will show how much their families are valued and respected. They feel validate home language in the classroom. Supporting dual language is made a connection to anti-bias education in the school setting. Children are aware of differences in language, color, gender and ability. Therefore, they feel welcome that their families’ identities are presenting in the environment. Educators provide a safe environment to all children to learn outside from the home. It challenges us to make it inclusive and

Within the core of many educational institutions, diversity is a commercial tacit. While every institution cannot offer the same kind of diversity, the endorsement of such exists through various definitions. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges define diversity through the various classes: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and age (“Statement on Diversity”)

Diversity has broad ranges of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their culture and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students do not only bring their cultures and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnics, talents, and skills. In addition, their age and gender are two

English Language Learners or ELL are students that cannot communicate fluently or have any knowledge of English. Several of these students come from homes where they only speak their native languages and English is taught in school. Several of the parents don’t understand, speak or write English, so they can't help their children with their academic school work. These students need modifications and special accommodations in both languages to complete a course. For this to take place they need to be giving an assessment to see the areas of weakness for a teacher to provide support. Some of these students come from immigrant parents seeking for a better opportunity for their families. According to the NCES, in the 2014 -15 school year the ELLs student's percentage was higher in the United States than previous years. ELLs student population is growing fast, with 9.4%, which is about 4.6 million students. According to the U.S. Census Bureau reports about one in five students in public schools lives in a home where English is not the primary language and predicts that by 2030. (Unknown 2017)