Module V ( A ) Teacher Interview Essay

Williams starts off by using her son as an example on how race is disregarded. Williams talks about how multiple white teachers

Chapter 5: How accepting are you of others in a diverse work/school environment? What diverse characteristics in others are difficult for you to work with? How can you overcome these barriers? Explain how diversity can enhance the work environment. Explain.

In 1932, Williams was born in Warri, Nigeria. She received her education at Queens College in Lagos, University Colllege at Ibadan and the University of Vermont, before receiving a Ph.D in mathematics education from the University of Chicago in 1963. She made history as the first Nigerian woman to be awarded a doctorate. Dr. Williams returned to Nigeria for a couple of years postdoctoral work at the University of Ibadan before joining the University of Lagos in 1965 as a faculty member.

In what ways did you see teachers respond to the diverse needs of students in their classroom? (Did you see evidence of differentiation of instruction in the classroom? Did the teacher use a variety of large group and small group activities? Did you see any cooperative learning or “all students respond” techniques? Did the teacher use critical thinking questions during class? Did you see evidence of remediation or enrichment in the classroom? Was technology used in any way?)

Williams became found of writing at an early age. He described his childhood as a happy one until his family moved from Mississippi to Missouri. “The carefree nature of his boyhood was stripped [away] in his new urban home”; therefore, Williams sought solace by turning inward and writing his thoughts. At sixteen years of age, he earned five dollars by winning third place in a writing competition. During the years 1929 and 1931, Williams attended the University of

During the interview process, John (personal communication, June 3, 2016) reported that the most common minority groups he worked with were Hispanics and African-Americans, with the demographic breakdown of his first school being 20% African-American, 35% Hispanic, and 60% low income. During conversation, John admits that he strongly identifies with “white middle class” and feels his beliefs and values are consistent with the “average American”. He also admits that he entered the field with the naïve impression that everyone was more or less striving to attain the same “Middle-White-American dream”. As he quickly learned, nothing could prepare him for the diversity-laden challenges he would soon encounter (personal communication, June 3, 2016).

O’Keeffe received her first teaching job in Amarillo, Texas despite having no real experience. She continued to teach at various

Diversity in communication plays a large role in talking and fully understanding one another. Depending on the diversity of a given group a message may not be relayed properly, with certain meanings being lost. Simply coming from a different background can affect how a person listens to a speaker. According to the research that was done by Angela M. Hosek and Jordan Soliz, “…students may express positive evaluations for teachers who they feel belong to similar social groups.” (224). They even go as far as to say that age, nationality, race/ethnicity, and gender affect how students regard their teacher. Furthermore, in a double-blind study that was conducted by Jake Simmons and Shawn T. Wahl in 2013 on inclusion efforts in predominantly white school it was found that productive relationships with African American

I chose to interview an elementary school teacher named Taylor Hoehn. He is a 6th grade language arts teacher in Muncie, Indiana. I did not personally know Taylor Hoehn but he attended Ball State University and lived with my older brother. Once I found out he was a teacher, I decided that I would ask him if I could interview him. It worked out well because he lives in a town not far from where I am from. Thanksgiving break provided the perfect time to meet and speak with him. I chose to interview a teacher because I am still very unsure what I truly want to do. At first, I was thinking about social work and something involved in that field of work. But as time has progressed, I am starting to be more and more interested in the educational field. Since I have started to become more intrigued by possibly entering education, I decided it would be best to ask question and get to know different things about

The textbook states that, “the learning community cannot rely solely on informal approaches to diversity and equity; a concerted effort should also be put forth to address these issues” (Roberts & Pruitt, 2009 p.168). This statement speaks volumes, we fail as a school to address the issues of diversity within the staff and community because we do not actively bring awareness to the issues at hand. Improvement in regards to staff relations can be made by engaging the staff in activities that encourage staff to open up about their beliefs on education and their views on how other cultures should learn. Staff discussions are vital because “teachers may have unconscious assumptions about students who come from different backgrounds in relation to their schooling” (Roberts & Pruitt, 2009 p.170). Conversations like these can clear up teacher misconceptions and misunderstandings. Family and community relations can be improved by utilizing parents of ethnic background to act as translators and classroom volunteers, additionally the school can host a multicultural event in which parents are invited to the school to share their culture or ethnicity with members of the school

My first question that I asked her was do you build relationships with the student’s families and if yes how are some ways that you connect? She said at the beginning of school she always makes a positive phone call home and explain who she is and that she is excited to be teaching their son or daughter. She also sends home a letter explaining all of her contacts on how to reach her and she explains her structure of her classroom and what

A teacher must understand the diverse world we live in; a teacher must also understand that with that diverse world come many different teaching situations that he or she will need to be prepared for prior to beginning teaching. As a teacher in 2016 and beyond, students from every culture and country could be present in a classroom, so preparation and understanding are key. Within those cultures, there will also be students who identify with subcultures. A teacher will not be successful as such if they cannot understand and respect each student 's uniqueness. With that being said, they must also teach others to respect those unique qualities as well. Teachers are often responsible for students of different religions, students who may not have English spoken in their home and students who have come from varied ethnical backgrounds. Because in today’s society, the acceptance of diverse lifestyles are growing more students are openly expressing their personal choices to be LBGTQ (Lesbian, Bi, Gay, Transgendered or Questioning). Another diverse subculture teachers are facing is the rising population of homeless students. Today’s teachers are facing in abundance, students who identify on the LBGTQ spectrum as well as students whose home circumstances leave them in poverty and specifically homeless, both area’s present an opportunity for the teacher as well as her class to practice positive acceptance skills and expand each person’s diversity consciousness as well as develop

3. After interviewing three public or private school teachers with various experience levels, write a 2-3-page summary of your findings about how they chose to become teachers and developed their teaching methods.

1. What was your experience as a student teacher? Did you find yourself getting attached to the children in the classroom? Were you skeptical in the beginning? As a student teacher, what was the most efficient advice you received from the former teacher? What was your biggest dilemma in student teaching?

This chapter provides a description of the teachers in the sample in order to provide a richer understanding of their lived experiences. In the following sections, I write about participating teachers’ opinions in an attempt to share how I experienced them in terms of our interactions for this study. Following these rich descriptions, I will present themes that are specific to each case. I will include quotes from the interviews so that the participating teachers’ voices can be heard.