Helping Diverse Learners Succeed

Growing up in a small town I did not deal with much diversity. Out of a school of one-thousand kids we only had twelve black students and three hispanic students. The school is virtually homogenous. I was shocked to see how the world's attitude towards diversity differed from my narrominded town.

Diversity was tragically scarce in my hometown. The unspoken common goal, seemingly, was to be the exact same as all the other students with regard to clothes, boots, and even designer lunch boxes. Many students acted, dressed, and even spoke differently at home, meaning diversity in the students existed, but was not accepted. Diversity carries little to no meaning without inclusivity. However, inclusivity brings meaning to diversity by ensuring a positive and consequently productive learning environment. I believe a diverse and inclusive learning environment is essential to a productive work environment because diverse ideas bring innovation. Repetitive contributions are hardly helpful when the information shared is neither new nor different

1. The maintenance of cultures as parallel and equal to the dominant culture in a society is?

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.

Through the reading of Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota I have not only learned about the experiences of others, but have also gained a deeper understanding of my own racial and cultural identity and how that relates to other identities around me. In learning this information, I feel that I will not only be able to understand and relate better to my future students, but also understand their backgrounds and how they are affecting them presently. Therefore, I will be able to teach to individuals in the way they need me to, but also create a more welcoming and inclusive environment (racially, culturally, and otherwise) in my future classroom. The information I have read has helped me to understand my own racial and cultural identity, how it relates to the identities of my future students, and what I can do to make educational institutions more racially and culturally inclusive.

The author of White Teacher is Vivian Gussin Paley. The book is about her experience of teaching her kindergarten class. She shares her experiences of teaching in a school with integrated classes in a time when racism was a major part of society in the outside world. Mrs. Paley’s main focus was to be the best teacher she could be to all of her students, but was not sure how to go about dealing with the racial differences in her classroom. She was told she should ignore the subject of race in the classroom and pay more attention to the behavior and success of her students. Mrs. Paley quickly realized that this was not the solution and that ignoring this subject did not help the students. It conveyed the wrong message to all of the students, even the white ones. Mrs. Paley started to bring the subject to her students and this also helped with her own struggles with racial stereotypes in and outside of the classroom environment. This book gives an inside look of the struggles that teachers face when trying to address the issues of race and it gives some insight on some of the solutions teachers can use to effectively deal with this very fragile subject.

The fact that my school was diverse was a gift. I met all sorts of people from different races, religion and even sexualities. Everyone there respected each other 's ethnicities and each of us are creative with different ideas from our culture. With diversity we can feel comfortable working with different people and have connections with them. If the schools weren’t diverse, the minorities would have a hard time fitting in and getting involved with the school. If the classroom wasn’t diverse, how could we learn from other people’s cultures and point of view. My friends introduced me to their culture and I honestly had the best experience of my life. I got to learn different dishes such as Shchi, a Russian dish, and dimsum, from Chinese’s style buffet. I started to learn and notice different race and learned to appreciate their culture. Diversity can also causes problems. Katherine W. Philippis

Going into Diversity I wasn’t for sure how the class would go. Considering I grew up in a more northern state and not the deep south, I did not thinking going into this class, people would be as open minded about the subject as I am. By no means is Missouri, as progressive as say Washington or California, but I do believe we are a few steps ahead of the south. When I first met my roommates they, would use terms in conversation that I would never ever use. I was explaining to my friend’s mom about how they would use certain terms. She was clearly astonished, she had not heard those terms used that since the 1970s. That conversation made me realize how something as simple as an individual’s geographically location can mold and shape how you perceive the world. Not only did my location change my perception, but what my mother and father taught me morally. My father was in the Navy and lived overseas in multiple counties. He was the minority, he learned the ways of different people. Some of his best friends were people he met over there. Both my mother and father taught, us to accept everyone, don’t judge people because of their religion, skin color, or background. We are all humans, just trying to make it in this world, make it harder on them because they are different? The third biggest influence is taking the time to learn and research diversity on my own.

I completely agree with you, Rhea. In order to meet the needs of diverse learners, classrooms should offer multiple choices. In order to reach students of different abilities and backgrounds, teachers should incorporate both traditional methods of instruction, such as paper and pencil, as well as interactive stations that allow students to take control of their own learning. I enjoyed my AFX more than the IFX because, while there were chances for students to control their learning, students were given multiple outlets to control their learning. They used ipads, the smartboard, they had multiple centres (for math and English), they drew pictures and used papers and

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.

Since my admission into the Morrill Scholars Program, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has been continuously teaching me about all of the aspects that make up diversity, such as race, ability and socio-economic status. The showing and discussion of the movie “Cincinnati Goddamn” contributed toward my personal development by showing me the importance of embracing my race, as well as the responsibility I have toward seeking equality for all races. With events such as this one, I have gained a passion for speaking out against injustices toward minorities. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has also contributed to my educational development by setting a GPA requirement that pushes me to do the best I can. It serves as a huge motivator in

In order to start a successful diversity training, we will have to begin with defining the concepts of diversity. The prerequisites associated with this would be to determine if the students know anything about the definition of diversity and to provide the definition to the participants. We will provide the definition of affirmative action, and inclusion. We will then provide the students with a timeline for the use of the terms diversity, affirmative action, and inclusion.

I identify as being open to diversity in learning to be one tool that I would put in my toolbox. There are so many forms of learning as adult learners. I view that diversity is one essential tool that is needed as a facilitator and teacher as it will help to open doors of opportunity and communication, in how the message of education will be projected, for example, webinar and increase online learning.

I possess a diverse background of experiences that I bring with me to the classroom. I lived in Wheaton, Maryland until the spring of third grade. I was immersed in diversity at school and in the community. Additionally, my family engaged in frequent weekend trips to Washington, D.C. We frequently visited the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo. My family lived in a lower middle class neighborhood. At one time, a family that had defected from the Soviet Union lived next door. I had been exposed to a myriad of different cultures and ethnicities by the time I was eight years old. In general, I had been taught to value this diversity, although particularly my father held some stereotypes and prejudicial beliefs. In 1980, my family moved to rural Spotsylvania County Virginia. During this time, the area was predominantly White and African American. There was very little diversity and the majority my peers had never travelled outside the county and the neighboring city, Fredericksburg. My parents grew up in rural Ohio. My father was the son of a tenant farmer, and my mother’s father engaged in a variety of agricultural industries. My father served in the United States Navy during Vietnam and this experience led to upward mobility. When we moved to Spotsylvania, our family was considered middle class. While the majority of my public school experiences occurred in a relatively homogeneous environment, my experiences following public school were more diverse. The most diverse

As of July 1, 2011, there are 36, 708, 083 people in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2017a). 1.2% higher than the population last year, which was 36, 264, 604 people of all ages and both sexes (Statistics Canada, 2017b). The growth of population in Canada, which in this case powered largely by immigration, increases not only the human capital, but the diversity in every province as well. Hence, as diversity expands, there is also a rampant growth in religion. In 2011, there are 108 religions observed in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011) - Christianity, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu – to name a few. These demographics have connotations on how diversity in school is also evident.