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Observation Of Diversity In The Classroom

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My observation was at Green Valley Elementary School, a small public school near my house. I observed Mrs. Fields kindergarten classroom on an early Monday morning. The first thing I noticed was how crowded the classroom was, there were books, backpacks, learning centers, and children everywhere. The class was fairly big, with sixteen children and two teachers, but it was not very diverse. Over 80% of the class was male and most of the students were Hispanic. Since the school is located in a Hispanic neighborhood this was no surprise, however, I still thought it should have been addressed by Mrs. Fields. There were however, various posters and drawings on the walls of the world surrounded by people from different cultures, ethnicities and races. Mrs. Fields had also commented that in one of her previous lessons the kids had gone over different cultures, religions, and languages. This being said, most of the students in the class spoke Spanish and …show more content…

In chapter 1 “Introduction to Families” we learn that there is a certain importance in understanding diversity in the classrooms. We also learn that diversity not only means “different ethnic background.” “Diversity is a state of being varied, as by family structure, race, religion, socioeconomic class, primary language, ethnic background, and so on (pg.12).” Although Mrs. Fields class was not very diverse ethnically speaking, it might have been very diverse in any of the subjects mentioned above.
2. While observing I noticed that Mrs. Fields as well as other educators did not address the lack of diversity in the school. “In recent years, teachers have been urged to ensure that the children in their classroom are supported in developing multicultural understanding and appreciation of the many differences and similarities that exist among people (pg.12).” Although, teachers have been “urged” to follow these direction most seem to think one lesson on multicultural differences is enough information for their

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