Diversity Learning Tool

Just exactly what is multicultural education and how do we as educators incorporate it into not only our classes, but into our curriculum and even more, our everyday lessons? The education system is made up of a wildly diverse group of people. Students are sitting in classrooms from all types of backgrounds, plus coming to school with a wide variety of needs. Where at one point in time it was taboo to discuss one’s differences, we were to focus on how we are all alike. We as a group have come to acknowledge that it is okay to be different. We don’t have to be like everybody else.

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

     Multicultural education can be something that is as simple as a change in the curriculum adding new and diverse materials (2nd paragraph). As the world changes our ability to learn should grow. New things happen every day and the only way we can grow from these

Teachers can begin by incorporating Banks’ five dimensions of multicultural education. In addition teachers must take into consideration DuPraw and Axner’s six fundamental patterns of cultural differences. Then, parents and the community will need to be educated on the cultural differences. However, the parents will need their voice to be heard in order to decrease cross cultural miscommunication. As our country’s population diversifies, it will be our responsibility to not only educate ourselves but our students as well as our parents in order to have a successful

classroom. Diversity is a good thing to have in the classroom because it educate the students

Classrooms will be filled with a variety of students coming from many different cultures and backgrounds. Teachers need to acknowledge each student will be different in this aspect and will have had different experiences in their lives. As the class moves forward, the goal is to provide students with the same experiences, just with through different lenses. To do this, the classroom must have a strong sense of community and a

Developing the ability to communicate with culturally diverse students allows for teachers to create a positive learning experience for every individual. The author states that not only is it important for teachers to be prepared to work with students from different backgrounds, but also from a young age students in today’s generation should be developing an understanding of the world around them. Dr. Keengwe refers to multicultural scholars as he

A multicultural classroom embraces various cultures and uses them to build students up, rather than causing them to feel excluded.

My findings can be useful to implement new social policies to create a more diverse educational classroom setting. In the beginning of the year, school administration may not focus on the racial diversity in a classroom when choosing classes, but I believe this should also be another factor when dividing students, to create an equal diverse classroom. While creating diverse classrooms will aid in the ethnic knowledge of children, organizing school-wide ethnic cultural celebrations can also help expand and introduce different cultures and ethnicities to children who may not otherwise be introduced to a different ethnicity and race, other than the ones they are surrounded with. In relation to personal experience, I grew up in a social setting where my ethnicity was the majority, but when I started college at Dominican University, I was sectored as a minority since most students were white, but I was not affected by this cultural shock as I had a close connection to my ethnic roots and did not let the change of environment affect me. Growing up in an environment where you are the majority, but then radically being introduced to an environment where you become the minority can easily affect the cognitive state of a person, if that person was not well-prepared

The article, Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners in FCS Classrooms, describes the changes in the ethnical make-up of today’s classroom and the challenges teachers face as they aim to teach children from different cultures. In addition, the article points out the different needs of multicultural learners in the classroom. Finally, the article also describes research based strategies and techniques teachers can use that prove to be effective for the diverse learner.

Diversity is crucial for learning and discussion purposes. We need the opinions and perspectives of minds we are unfamiliar with, or do not share the share the same ideas with. We need a clash of heads and ideas of people who think differently and see things differently than what we view or see as being “the norm”. Diversity expands the thinking of a topic and expands minds on a certain subject. It allows us to see where others come from in their ideas and what they believe to be right or wrong. It also allows us as individuals to explore our own minds and see if we can understand where these people who come from different civilizations and beliefs come from. And in doing that arguments may occur and clashing of ideas. We also must understand that other individuals from different cultures or areas may have not have what we have, causing us to have to fall back on our emotion of empathy and try to understand how they may view

Please describe how you would benefit from and add to a diverse learning environment in and outside of the classroom. Write answer in 250 words or less. (*Required)

Once students and teachers are aware of cultural differences, they become aware of racism and can fight to eradiate it. Through their unbiased understanding of the differences between cultures and races, they are able to come to a point of acceptance of themselves and others. If you noticed in my previous paragraph, I mentioned the different types of diversity. Diversity emphasizes how different students and teachers are, but when explored in a classroom, can be used to reveal our similarities. Once students and teachers grasp the concept of diversity, displayed through everyday interactions with diverse groups of students and teachers, racism begins to disappear. In addition, positive sense of self can be developed once students and teachers have an understanding of their own uniqueness through experiences and understanding of diversity. Once teachers and students

and curriculum. The discussion of the historical and philosophical background of multicultural education teaches educators how race and culture influence educational policy and programs. Multicultural teaching and curriculum is also crucial for the development of equitable education for diverse students. The author asserts that multicultural education can lessen biases while also furthering democratic beliefs and practices among students. The text’s discussion of multicultural education is significant to the field of multicultural education as it demonstrates how multicultural educational practices help students become culturally literate and prepared for today’s diverse and globalized world.

Multicultural Education is the a way of incorporating different cultures into one sole educational system. It is a way to give every individual equal opportunity for education and learning. The topic of Multicultural Education has been around for decades, but really started to take off after the Civil Rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Since then, Multicultural Education has been a hot topic of educators around the world. The concept is not yet perfect, but it is constantly evolving. Schools across the country are adapting the concept to make it their own. There are still issues, but, with time, things will continue to improve. As a future teacher, I am going to help in the improvement of our current society. The chapter discussed legislative movements, court cases, and theoretical approaches that relate to multicultural education. Many things have influenced Multicultural Education. Court cases, such as the Brown v. Board of Education, have drastically impacted the system. In that particular court case, schools were ordered to begin the process of desegregation. The court ruled that all students deserved a good education, no matter their skin color. The desegregation was not immediate, and took time, but it was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, not all of the court decisions were positive. In another well known case, the Regents of the University of California v. bakke, the Supreme Court ruled that race could be a factor in admission to college. Since