Diversity In The Classroom: A Qualitative Study

The United States population is filled with diverse individuals. It is important for educators to understand that diversity in classrooms is not just based on race but ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, economic status, learning disabilities, and etc. It may not affect your student directly but it can be a part of their family background. Educators may assume that students have the same social or educational status of each other which in some cases is not true. If they assume that every student is on the same academic level, the students may suffer educationally or emotionally. Teachers need to understand that all students grow and progress at different times and it is up to an educator to help start their growth in the right direction and to make each child feel accepted. Yale University () discussed how it can affect teachers if they do not understand how to assess diversity, “teachers may themselves feel out of place based on their own ascriptive traits (i.e. differences based on class, privilege, etc.).” Diversity in classrooms is becoming more frequent and educators need to understand how to properly assess their student’s based on their educational needs and how to teach other students how each of them are different individually. There is no right choice to teach diversity but it is something that needs to implemented in classrooms.

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.

Every one is an individual and so everyone has individual needs. It is important that as a practitioner that I always take this into consideration and consider the fact that each child will also experience their own personal situations which are unique to them. These unique situations often include social, economical and cultural difficulties and this may delay, stop or help a child advance the development of a child or young person and have an affect on them reaching their full potential. “Many issues in our wider society will

Gerardo Nava is a Hispanic/Latino male in his late twenties, who identifies as a Mexican American as his race, heterosexual, catholic, democrat, middle class, hard-working, married and a father undergraduate commuter student at Brandman University. He is a first generation student who comes from a working class two parent home. He is the third child out of four children. A middle child. Two brothers who are in construction and one sister who is a stay at home mom. Gerardo’s wife has an Associate Arts degree. They both worked as a one on one aide in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, then became an instructional assistant. The reason why Gerardo decided to move up to become a custodian was he needed a full-time job that paid more to provide for his family. However, since making this transition, it also motivated him to go back to school and receive his bachelor

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.

Race, religion, culture, language, and disability are a few of the many forms of diversity that we see in classrooms around us. Diversity, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “the condition or quality of being diverse, different, or varied; difference, unlikeness” (OED, n.3.d.). Each student in the classroom is going to have varied abilities, needs, and interests. As the teacher, he or she will utilize multiple teaching methods in order to meet the needs of every individual in the classroom. Some faculty has reported that teachers are failing to make little or no changes in their classroom operations to handle issues concerning diversity (Pasque, Chesler, Charbeneau, & Carlson, 2013, p. 1). By following guidelines to accommodate each student in the classroom, it is imperative that the teacher designates different abilities, interests, and tasks to help the students succeed and achieve their goals.

The thought I have about teaching in a diversity classroom. Is it going to be a big challenging? Challenging in a classroom I see and deal with on an everyday basis sometimes but, dealing with a diversity classroom I have no idea. I believe in treating each of my students fair with unique strengths. I will like to create an open classroom that can value the experiences and perspectives of all students.

As teacher I look forward to teaching in the DMPS area because of the diversity within these schools. One of the school’s I would like to teach at is East High School. East is located on 14th street near downtown. It is literally in the middle of the city and because of its location the students there come from all kinds of ethnic, culture, and economic backgrounds. One of the mission statements for this school is “Using research based strategies, along with high expectations, to increase student achievement and prepare students for post-secondary education and/or the world of work.” Though I agree with somethings in this mission statement I also disagree with much of it as well.

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.

After learning so much about diversity in my Cultural pluralism class, I know that learning and utilizing multicultural skills will come very easy to me. I have always been the type of person who is very open minded and understanding to others and their differences. Throughout my life I am usually the person that everyone comes to and confides in about personal matters they may be dealing with before opening up to anyone else about them.

According to the Census Bureau, the term “minority”, used to describe racial and ethnic groups in the United States, may need to be retired soon. In 2012, projections were released that by the end of this decade, no single racial or ethnic group will constitute a majority of children under 18. And in about three decades, no singe group will constitute a majority of the country as a whole. (CITATION) Why is this relevant you may ask?

Diversity and inclusion within STEM has become a challenge for institutions of higher education and industry employers. Issues with recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities are illustrated in workforce hiring and enrollment in higher education institutions. In particular, Colleges of Agriculture and related industries have shown to lag behind other fields in metrics related to diversity, equality, and inclusion. For example, in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture of the 2,736 students currently enrolled only 193 students were underrepresented minorities. This is alarming as the national demographics illustrate a shift in population proportions of underrepresented minorities and subsequently

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.