Diversity In The Classroom

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

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

According to the 2014 Public School Review Diversity Report, the state of Maryland is rated the third most diverse public school system in the nation, with 43% White students, 37% African American students, 11% Hispanic students, 6% Asian students, and 3% Unknown. With a significantly higher population of African American students compared to the state average, the Baltimore City School District is a far less diverse agency than the state school system as a whole. Collectively, the Baltimore City Public School District is comprised of 85% African American students, 8% White students, 5% Hispanic, 1% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian, Multiracial, Native Hawiian/other (Baltimore City Public Schools, 2013a). Considering

When I choose this class, it was because of the name; AED 225 Diversity, Pedagogy, and Visual culture. The eye catching word was diversity. I do not consider myself to be racist, yet I am judgmental as is everyone else in the world. Diversity is a topic that interests me very much. I like to see other people’s point of views and racial situations they have gone through. For example, when I first entered Woodbridge Public High School I did not know anyone. When I met someone they believed I was Caucasian because off how I look. I was offended when someone thought I was not Hispanic. Therefore, every time I met someone new I asked them what they thought my ethnicity was. I wanted to make sure people knew I was not Caucasian. I do not carry

Additionally, the transgender population at community colleges, which are social institutions, is an invisible minority on college campuses throughout the United States (Ivory, 2005). The systematic marginalization of transgender students begins with the application process (Seelman, 2014). The community colleges only recognize two gender identities on their applications, which reinforces the societal norm of gender identities (2014). Additionally, there is limited training on the needs of transgender students for faculty and staff (2014). Hence, there are none or few support services specifically for transgender people on many community college campuses (2014). Therefore, the community college perpetuates the marginalization of transgender

Teachers should understand the diversity spectrum that is in a classroom; there are cultures, races, languages, and socioeconomic backgrounds in classroom during the 21st century educational realm. Students need to acknowledge student’s diverse background specially when they arrive late in the school year.

Being a woman of color means I am inevitably silenced by the superior white male, yet being an activist eliminates my voice by the majority in all forms. My first year of college has been interesting, to say the very least. I’ve grown accustomed to the distinct differences and surprising similarities between myself and the hundreds, maybe thousands, of other students on campus, which I wasn’t familiar with among the fifty-two people in my high school graduating class.

It is absolutely imperative for educators to understand the perception of "kids do well if they can," rather than "kids do well if they want to," as explained by Dr. Ablon. Despite the significance of this concept, there is still a widespread, incorrect believe that behaviorally troubled children are acting up on purpose. Similarly, it is also commonly accepted that children who do poorly in school are failing because they are apathetic and lazy, when really the opposite is true.

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.

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 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.

When I was in my last year of high school in the Netherlands, I decided I wanted to pursue my college career in the US. My preference went out to Lehigh and I went through the application process. A few weeks later I got the news, I was admitted. Lehigh University has an acceptance rate of 26%, which means you get admitted at the expense of 74% of applicants. Since Lehigh is such a prestigious institution, the question was, were my above average grades and SAT scores going to be high enough to beat that 74%? Did the fact that I’m international have any weight in the decision of my admission?

Diversity in education is necessary to understand. We live in a society where there are diverse cultures and varieties. People have been raised in different settings and may not understand certain things better than others. As an educator, it is important to not let any students feel left out. It is essential to understand different diverse groups in an educational environment. There are so many different diverse groups in schools. Some include students who identify themselves as LGBTQ, children in poverty, and children with special needs. Specifically, in this essay, autistic and gifted children will be further described.

As we are all aware education is something that plays a tremendous role in the life of every individual. As educators we need to be aware of our role in the life of our students. Sometimes we attempt to forget that there are many students who look up to their teachers, social workers, counselors, and others as their role model, and if students see that their own educators don’t believe in them or don’t see a bright future for them this is something that is going to affect the student’s not only in daily school life but also in their future decisions. If student’s feel like their teachers don’t have a big hope for them, this can make them believe that they wont be able to achieve what they want in life. It had also come to my concern that the school doesn’t provide students with a diversity among teachers.

One of the most severely limiting problems faced by the American educational system, encountered at every level, is the lack of intellectual/Intelligence diversity. Many schools around the country have either the word ‘diversity’ or some mention of the notion of diversity within either their mission statement or their goals for students. Take for example the mission statement of the University at Buffalo, it reads “The University at Buffalo is a diverse, inclusive scholarly community dedicated to bringing the benefits of its research, scholarship and creative activity, and educational excellence to global and local communities…” Clearly the administration has diversity on the forefront of their mind when envisioning the future and policies of the university, however, what constitutes diversity? Is diversity merely ethnic, cultural, and gender based or does diversity extend to include intelligence as well? This paper believes that intellectual diversity is of extreme importance and often overlooked or outright ignored in academia.