Education Is A High Indicator Of Social Disadvantage

“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.

An educator who understands issues of diversity and difference will make the classroom a more enriching environment for all of the students in it, and will ensure those students who are adversely affected by such diversity and difference are given the opportunity and encouragement to overcome challenges they face. Socio-economic disadvantage among students has an impact in the classroom in terms of the ability of a child to gain an understanding of the knowledge and skills required to be a successful student. Gender issues can be one of those concerns in a classroom that, unless they are quite obvious, can be almost disregarded because they are not acknowledged as a concern, for example, asking boys to move chairs. Stereotypical roles can be ingrained in an educators psyche. Cultural diversity is becoming more prevalent in our classrooms; it is the educator’s responsibility to ensure the classroom is a welcoming and diverse environment. When considering how to approach these issues in a classroom and incorporating support for students, an educator would benefit from consulting the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) or the Australian Curriculum (AC). These documents provides frameworks for working with diversity and ensuring students succeed within their given circumstances with the support of both their educator and their school. It is imperative educators understand the effects of socio-economic disadvantage, gender issues and cultural diversity when creating an

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).

Within a school, equality, diversity and inclusion is very important. It is their duty to make sure all children have equal access to the curriculum. Whether they are a different race, culture, gender or have a special need or disability, it is important that they are supported and have a right to participate and be treated equal; this is known as inclusion. As part of this it is important that schools and other professionals support and promote cultural diversity in schools and the wider society, breaking down any discriminatory barriers to learning.

The philosophy of the primary school where I work is that every child's unique needs and abilities should and must be honored. Children's different learning needs and styles are incorporated into the curriculum. On an informal level, teachers are encouraged to make use of lesson plans that utilize different types of media and methods of evaluation. Lesson plans often make use of visual and kinesthetic aspects of the learning experience as well as more traditional methods that emphasize mathematical, spatial, and verbal intelligences.

Educators should critically examine their own values, beliefs, and attitudes related to difference in diversity because we as individuals all have different experiences, beliefs, values and attitudes that can be quite diverse. Staying mindful of this difference is essential in professional practice. For this to really be effective, you need to critically reflect on how your own life events have shaped your beliefs, values and attitudes. Educators must put all assumptions and bias’s aside and keep an open mind when dealing with these differences. For example, by reflecting on your background, you can become aware of biases and prejudices that may impact on your relationship with others from different backgrounds. Once identified, you can then

It is the responsibility of the school to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils, based on the programmes of study for each key stage in the national curriculum. The teacher’s responsibility is to minimise any obstacles to effective learning and plan for all children to participate in the curriculum and achieve the best that they can. This will help to ensure an inclusive classroom. Access to a high-quality education is critical for empowering all children to lead rich and productive lives. Regardless of their background, disability, heritage, special educational needs, social group, gender, physical or emotional needs, race or culture schools have a duty to make sure all pupils have equal access to the curriculum. All children

Aside from providing children with academic benefits, it provides them with a better understanding and respect for diversity. Being in a setting with many different types of students with different needs and abilities provides students with a way to learn about differences and how they can help others. In the Success For All study, results showed that the children involved in the study had “a reduced fear of human differences accompanied by increased comfort and awareness.” (Stout, 2001) If children are separated in the school because of their developmental differences then they will never truly learn that it is okay to be a unique individual. The idea that it is acceptable to be different should become a common knowledge to our students. With that knowledge, our students can make the future a better place for everyone. It has been said that the goal of inclusion is to “create a world in which all people are knowledgeable about and supportive of all other people.” (Whitworth, 1999)

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.

Diversity encompasses numerous characteristics including socio-economic background, ethnicity, special needs, gender, and giftedness (Cazden, 2001). Today, classrooms are getting more varied and diverse with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and students with a disability. It appears that teachers must meet the needs of all students successfully and individually to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students. This paper will first identify three challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are

1. In my understanding, education is the greatest challenge in Mexico; improving the overall health of its education scheme and getting rid of a highly politicized panorama should be primary goals to set on the national agenda. It is well known that education sets the foundation for a flourishing society, hence the importance of educational quality in promoting economic growth.

Research shows that students’ socioeconomic status is an important indicator to students’ achievement in school. In the 2000s, poverty rates increased in the United States. In the late 2000s, 17.3 percent of the U.S. population lived in poverty (Gould and Wething, 2012). In 2009, more than one in five children in the United States lived in poverty (Gould and Wething, 2012). Family poverty is related to many numbers of negative conditions such as homelessness, food insecurity, absence of parents, domestic violence, drug abuse and other problems (Rumberger,

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

Social disadvantage is hard to summarise in one single definition as there are a number of ways to measure it such as level of employment to health and life expectancy. However it is still problematic to solely conclude the existence of social disadvantage from measures such as these as Clegg and Ginsberg (2006:10) note how a family could have a good occupation and economic state, but If they reside in a poor neighbourhood it could have an effect on development. Due to the difficulty defining social disadvantage researchers have tried to distinguish between poverty status and SES (socio-economic status). Within this guideline three measures to determine it are taken into account: Occupation (often paternal), level of parental education (often maternal) and economic deprivation. The level of SES is therefore a useful way to determine the degree of social disadvantage, with low-SES being a useful way to define it. With this definition there has been an increasing level of focus on the issue of children from low-SES backgrounds displaying limited success academically than that of children from more socially advantaged backgrounds. In relation to language, this academic underachievement has been attributed to language skills inadequate for accessing the curriculum (Clegg

Poverty is the Main Cause of Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement This essay will assess the view that poverty is the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement. There are many causes of these differences which can be linked to cultural deprivation, and will be discussed in this essay. Material deprivation is lack of money and things which money can buy, and is the main cause of poverty. Item B suggests that that this is the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement as it says that most truants come from poor working class backgrounds and are less likely than their middle class counter parts to obtain a good formal education.