Diversity In Public Schools Essay

“Start Where You Are But Don’t Stay There” by Richard Milner is a book about dealing with diversity in the classroom in today’s day and age. It holds a focus on allowing all students to be successful academically and throughout their lives. Milner talks about several different case studies in which teachers must help students who are struggling. It goes through scenarios with Mr. Hall, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Jackson, and Ms. Shaw, who are all struggling with diversity in different ways. This book holds an importance in expressing ideas and concerns of equality in schools, and I believe it would be beneficial for all aspiring educators to read it.

Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).

The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the diverse experiences that I have had in my personal and professional life. Fortunately, I have had a large mix of diverse friends and experiences in my life. This paper will discuss those diversities as well as the plan to expand on my current knowledge.

I was very excited when I saw this essay prompt because diversity is actually one of the main criteria that drew me into NC State. All throughout my schooling life, for as long as I can remember, I never attended any schools that were diverse. There was always one extremely predominant race or gender, and it’s something that truly disturbed me. I am excited to attend a college that is so diverse in many aspects, that I will be able to benefit from in multiple different ways. I will be able to learn and understand new perspectives which will help me gain an open mind and heart to be able to accept different kinds of people. I will be able to familiarize myself with different backgrounds and cultures, because I am so accustomed to my own, I

Example 3: My colleague is a wife of her husband, parent of her children, teacher for her children.

As a member of several clubs and organizations, I have always valued the wide range of people you can find within the walls of my high school. If you walk into my Physics lab, you will find me collaborating with a dancer strongly involved in his cultural heritage and a volleyball player in the engineering academy. If you come to my Calculus class, you will see me calculating derivatives with a football player, a snowboarder, a National Honor Society officer, and a painter. The word “diversity” is often used to describe a cross-cultural population, but it is so much more than that. At Bartlett High School, students originate from hundreds of different cultures, with an abundance interests, and participate together in an assortment of activities.

Like it or not, there has always been diversity among students in the classroom. It is the fact that each and every student is unique. From every circumstance, students bring a varying set of values, perspectives, and beliefs to the learning environment. Understanding the character of students is important in order to become a competent teacher. In fact, teachers should be aware and recognize students, as unique individuals, all acquire information differently than others. Some of these differences are due to developmental variations in cognitive, physical, intellectual, moral, emotional, and social changes caused by maturation and experience. And this reality of classroom conditions makes instruction much more challenging for teachers and

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

and to build a world culture of human beings who resolve disputes in ways that

Classrooms are becoming more diverse than they were several decades ago because so many people are migrating from their country of origin to seek for better living opportunities, in search of a safe place and because the United States of America is a super power. Therefore political, economic, and social-cultural reasons are the causes of migration which results in families remaining in the country causing classrooms today to be more diverse than they were decades ago thereby rapidly changing the demography of the United States and its classroom (Vacca et al, 2014, p. 62). To confirm this point for instance, at my school, there are a total of 354 students and the percentage of Hispanics: 41.5%, Blacks: 40.1%, Whites: 13.6%, Multicultural: 3.7%, other: 1.2%, Asians: 0.9%. Students from these different cultural backgrounds have different values, attitudes and experiences.

Literature if used correctly can enhance a child’s life. It can become a valuable tool in helping children to understand their home, communities and the world in which they live. Through literature children’s vocabulary, imaginations, and self understanding is built. Children should be exposed to literature that is age appropriate and within the context of learning respect for themselves and others by the diversity of the books. My literature plan is based upon multicultural diversity which reinforces reading readiness, read-along that emphasis multicultural songs and rhymes, build self esteem through art, music and movement and responses to literature.

When America was founded, it was established on freedom and equality for all people. At first it was just religious freedom, but eventually freedom of speech, press, petition, and more. In time, America began to be known as a “melting pot” of cultures as more and more people came because they wanted this freedom; the more people who came though, the more problems America had. There were too many cultural discrepancies between people, and ultimately America, the country based on freedom and equality, faced challenges concerning diversity.

By the year 2050, nonwhites will represent close to half of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau projections. By 2005, the ethnic minority share of the workforce is expected to grow to 28 percent, up from 18 percent in 1980 and 22 percent in 1990. Although the African American population is now the largest minority group, the Hispanic and Asian populations are growing much faster. In 1994, the African American population was estimated to be 33 million, or 12.7 percent of the total population, up from 11.7 percent in 1980.

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 gaining a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably than a judgmental and prejudiced view.

I believe it is important to first analyze the word diversity when examining the need for diversity within a classroom. According to Webster's New Pocket Dictionary, diversity means variety, a number of different kinds. I often discuss and read about diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds; the unification of histories and stories from people from all over the world. Although, I believe that in a higher-educational setting, diversity can also be discussed as the acceptance of the various minds within a classroom. I believe that it is important to recognize the thoughts and experiences of others in a learning environment. Collectively, students learn from teachers, teachers learn from students, and students learn from their peers. By