Classroom Environment : A Better Understanding Of Our Schools And Our Educational System Essay

As a teacher, it is important to know and understand the racial and cultural identities of both yourself, and your students. Knowing about your students’ backgrounds is a great way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming environment. Not all educational settings emit a feeling of safety to its students, and that needs to be changed. In this paper, I will discuss how my racial and cultural identity may be the same and may differ from my students, as well as some ways in which the institution of education can be changed to be more racially and culturally inclusive.

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

Becoming a culturally responsible educator is at the forefront of education to help reduce the disproportionate representation of students of color (Dray, Wisneski, 2011). Establishing and maintaining classroom management for many educators can be difficult when the student comes from a background unfamiliar to the teacher. Issues arise when a teacher tries to make meaning out of a concerning behavior from a student who, the teacher has a cultural disconnect. Teachers rarely know how diversity affects how they interpret students’ actions and the way they interact with their students. Teachers may misinterpret a cultural difference as lacking self-regulation. If the teacher is in a low socio-economic community, then that one student can turn into the majority or the whole classroom. This can lead to a mishandling of classroom-management. Dray and Wisneski (2011) agree that diversity is not problematic, but it is the response of the individuals and institutions to diversity that can be problematic. An effective teacher must be culturally responsible, maintain quality teaching, and establish clear classroom routines to manage a student-centered classroom.

The aims and objectives of this unit are to show an understanding of the role of Equality and Diversity in education I have chosen to research and write about those areas that are relevant and appropriate to the work that I am doing, in order to improve my teaching practice. This hopefully means that the skills I have learned pertaining to research around the subjects will help to fill in any gaps in my knowledge as I continue to develop professionally.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings was a great resource in thinking about how I would work toward influencing my staff, and the school community as a whole, to engage in discussions about equity. Most notably, she advises us to “acknowledge the race and culture of your students and try to weave it into your teachings” and to “foster a sense of community”. I am lucky to work in a school that was founded and lead by a woman of color for the last 6 years, so equity conversations are not as awkward as they may be in some other schools. In light of recent travesties of justice that have occurred in the US over the past year, these conversations have the potential to become more high-stakes

We will house kids who are products of all facets of society. For example, children of immigrants, children who have affluence, children who are loved and cared for greatly and children who may be in a situation of neglect. Teaching is about reaching out to each student, helping them to overcome challenges and be the best that they can be. It seems that an increasing number of these challenges may not be academic in nature. I believe that conquering these challenges actually beings with the little community forming within our classrooms. As teachers we have the obligation to teach our students how to have respect and compassion for one another. How to be on the same team and work together, no matter each person’s background.

During my third year in college, I participated in the Civil Rights and Social Justice Pilgrimage that the ministry department made each year. While on this trip, I was exposed to the good that came off the Civil Rights Movement, but I also witnessed the horrors that so many people endured. One of the events that really troubled was school segregation. One exhibit allowed me to view what a White classroom would look like compared to an African-American classroom. There were extreme differences in these classrooms. As someone who has a passion for teaching and helping children, this deeply upset me that the color of a child’s skin effected their education. At that point, I realized that if I was to become a teacher I would make my classroom

I learned that I will need to understand the issues facing my students inside and outside of the classroom. By having this understanding, I hope to be able to form real relationships with my students, make learning relevant to each student, and be able to provide the necessary support to make them successful learners. I want to be a resource and/or participant in my students’ life rather than just a spectator and/or teacher teaching about diversity. I realized that my previous perception would have left some students struggling in my classroom. I would have overlooked students’ needs if I only concentrated on teaching diversity in my classroom. I believe that this experience has made me grow as an educator and made me realize how I need to understand the complexities faced by my students in order for me to become successful in the classroom and to become an effective teacher.

Today, teachers strive for the creation of positive and influential learning environments for all students. Moreover, they aim at increasing children’s chances of succeeding. They constantly re-evaluate their teaching strategies for educational improvement of students. Teachers create supportive and respectful school environment that makes students strive for more prosperous and eventually rewarding lives. According to Deborah Tannen, the teacher’s encouraging and

In the United States, there is a long history of unequal treatment among ethnic minority groups, particularly for African Americans. Unfortunately, this injustice also appears in education. Sociologists have affirmed the importance of education in shaping the economic and social prospects of individuals. As all communities in the United States have been diversified, it becomes crucial to recognize and properly deal with diversity within the classroom. All students should be guaranteed to have equal opportunities for quality education at school. However, racism is still prevalent in many schools today (Beswick, 4, 1990, Pennino, 2007). Racism now has different forms, like the individual instructions student can get from their teachers, and the acceptance of students among their classmates. These can have negative and lasting effects on students even when they leave school. Students must not experience any type of stereotyping, ethnic prejudice or racial violence in schools. Asante (2003) said: "Racism in education can not be overcome by the expression of goodwill, it must be constantly confronted in all conscious ways" (p.223).

Throughout this last semester, I have been student teaching at Shawswick Middle School where I was able to take a critical look at myself as an educator. Though the teacher and I did not see eye to eye, this disagreement helped me to better form my own pedagogical beliefs and establish confidence in myself as an educator.

Williams (2008) posed a serious question. “What does it mean to be a good teacher, especially in a classroom where the student body is predominantly Black and the teacher is a White female novice teacher?” (Williams, 2008, p. 5). Although many educators are aware of White privilege, it is not something that is discussed or worked on within classrooms in America (Abent, 2014). As a result, many White females in education have never been asked about their sense of what it means to be culturally competent or what experiences they have had working with Black students despite the fact that they come to the classroom with a whole different set of experiences and beliefs (Williams, 2008). Educators across the United States, need to understand that “White privilege impacts nearly every decision that is made, whether it is realized or not” (Abent, 2014, p. 4). The notion of Whiteness is significant in education for a couple of reasons, one being that 82% of the teaching force in the United States is White middle–class females (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Secondly, White female novice teachers bring their own cultural beliefs and Whiteness into the classrooms (Michael, 2012). This only further highlights the considerable differences between White female novice teachers and their Black students (Cook 2015). This is highlighted by Cook (2015) as the research explicates that more than 60 years after Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) school

Overall, the theme of the article reads as a strong message for teachers to keep diversity in the classroom rather than shying away from it. Students who engage in diverse conversation are generally more accepting then students who haven’t been exposed to such a free environment. So while it’s understood by all involved what a challenge it can be, the benefits couldn’t be clearer.

Each and every student plays a vital part of the classroom as a whole. The classroom acts as a community of learners who respect and care for one another. We are all different, but yet all alike, and that is what makes us very special. As a future teacher I strive to foster a class that will become a family whom trusts and maintains relationships with each and every other person. All will feel acknowledged and heard. This leads to a safe and warm environment that will develop into a fun learning experience. When I think about teaching in grades preschool to third, I greatly look forward to making a significant impact early on in every student’s lives. I hope to instill interest and motivation in the students and have them appreciate the joy of learning. I believe Montclair University’s P-3 MAR program will further enlighten and assist me to better understand all the standards within the portrait of a teacher.

As beginning teachers, even though we cannot change whole school policy and practice, does not mean we cannot reflect our ideals and beliefs within our classroom and model our behaviour for others (Ashman & Elkins, 2008). As teachers we are particularly in a significant position where we can influence our students’ attitudes and have the opportunity to ultimately facilitate the change towards more inclusive communities and schools.