Personal Narrative: My Experience With Diversity In The Classroom

When I was in high school I volunteered for a program called “Very Special Arts.” I worked with children having the full range of special education needs to expose them to art. Many of the children had difficulty holding things, speaking, or understanding everything, but they were treated with equal respect and attention, regardless of their disability. The result was crystal clear. All the participants expressed their own appreciation of art through their enthusiasm and excitement. My volunteer experience taught me the importance of tolerance in working with people from many different backgrounds and having an array of special needs. I also experienced the joy of working with disabled children that have diverse

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

In elementary school, my classroom had students with and without disabilities, and we all shared the same space while working towards a common goal, but over time this diverse community diminished. This phenomenon of tracking and hierarchy of opportunity in education that I notice today is also responsible for creating an environment in which secondary special education is often a segregated locale, physically and socially removed from mainstream public schooling. I've witnessed Syracuse University push against this norm and challenge these boundaries time and time again, and I feel that before entering my own my classroom I want to address these issues of homogeneity and continue to build my tool box of inclusionary practices that extend past my current

Poverty is a serious issue which our society and children faces every day. It is a constant struggle that shouldn’t be ignored. UNICEF states “The study of OECD countries in 2007, over fourteen percent of Australian children under the age of eighteen are currently living in households who are defined as poor or with incomes less than half of the median national income”. The increase in the number and percentage of children living in poverty within our society has contributed to making today's classrooms more diverse than ever it has been. This highlights and makes both teaching and learning more challenging. Diversity exists in the students who are living in poverty and the education assistant and teachers must provide the concept of diversity

“Disabling segregation” by Dan Habib solely focuses on inclusion within the classroom and the community. He, like most people, grew up in a society where those who have a disability were separated from those who are “normal”. Habib’s passion for inclusion did not occur until after the birth of his youngest son, Samuel. Samuel was born with cerebral palsy. After Samuel’s diagnosis, Habib wanted to do everything he could to make sure his son was included. In his speech, he talks about how inclusion in schools leads to higher marks on tests and assignments than classrooms that are separated. Habib stated that 56% of kids with disabilities spend their day in a separate classroom. He advocates for inclusion, not only for the sake of his son, but also for all children who are like Samuel and who may have never gotten the chance to succeed. Habib tells a story about a man who was very much like Samuel but was never lucky enough to be given the tools he needed for success. Due to the lack of resources, people in that man’s life held him to a much lower standard and he became resentful towards those who were not treating him like a real human being.

As I walk down the halls of Denver South High school, I see many flags draped down the ceiling with many faces that identify with those flags. Since freshman year, all I’ve heard about South is that they have a very diverse population. However, I don’t see the diversity everyone talks about. I see flags that have been disturbed by hands that are privileged and don’t know what it’s like to be labeled as a minority. As a student here at South, I want the student population and faculty to understand that diversity isn’t just a number. Diverse student should be included in all parts of the system, not just included to make South look good. It infuriates me to think that our amazing diverse students are exploited for advertisement for the school. I am a Nigerian-American that believes there is a problem at South: we accept students with diverse backgrounds only when it benefits the school.

In school we look normal to all people like nothing was happening i was gland that my sister and I were in the same high school but different floors. My school was mixed, Hispanics from Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Ricans, but mostly Dominicans, African Americans, etc. My teachers were A few African Americans, one Spanish, and mostly White Caucasians. All my teachers were so lovely except for one, he was African American and he was a history teacher. It was my freshman year and I couldn’t express myself properly in English, he asks me to read a page of a book, and I didn’t have the abilities to pronounce properly most of the words. The teacher lost his patience and shouted me “what I was doing in a school where no one speak Spanish” I responded

The teacher can encourage this inclusion by teaching the students, parents, and other community members about negative stereotypical attitudes about students with disabilities by avoiding negative words, such as “disabled”, or “crippled”, or “handicapped” and to promote positive ideas about disabilities into class work, the student’s play time and other activities. To further ensure that the classroom is promoting equality for the child with the disability, the teacher should incorporate an inclusive curriculum mindset, by adapting the lessons, learning materials and classroom to suit the needs of all the different types of learners including the child with the disability within the classroom.

Diversity challenges can be affected by misunderstandings in difference of gender, race, class, geographic location, language, religion, family structures, abilities, and family/personal history (Dray & Wisneski, 2011, p Teachers should also understand the deeper meaning of behavior in daily classroom interactions of students who may or may not be labeled with a disability but who present behavior challenges in the classroom (Dray & Wisneski, 2011, p. 31).

As I reflect over my life, I appreciate the many diverse experiences I’ve came to encounter. My experience with diversity dates back to birth. I am from a small rural town, Moss Point, MS. and notably the last state to abolish slavery. The town currently has a population of 13,704 people and consists of 73% Blacks or African Americans, 23% Caucasian, 1% Hispanic or Latino and 1% bi-racial.

When people are growing up, being normal was the way to be cool. Everyone wants to be like everybody else and that’s the way it goes. What children and many adults still don’t understand is that being different and having diversity is a good thing. It is ok to be different, especially in today 's society. Being able to acknowledge that diversity and disability in everyday life and seeing the good in it will help bring together our society. For my next three paragraphs i 'm going to discuss what it was like to be an outsider, when I experienced diversity and an experience I have had with disability

Literature if used correctly can enhance a child’s life. It can become a valuable tool in helping children to understand their home, communities and the world in which they live. Through literature children’s vocabulary, imaginations, and self understanding is built. Children should be exposed to literature that is age appropriate and within the context of learning respect for themselves and others by the diversity of the books. My literature plan is based upon multicultural diversity which reinforces reading readiness, read-along that emphasis multicultural songs and rhymes, build self esteem through art, music and movement and responses to literature.

Despite growing up in rural Oregon, I have had numerous opportunities to experience diversity. In the small town of Dallas, Oregon, people are accustomed to close-knit groups. It is a town where everyone knows their neighbor, and where each individual has the same values as the next. At a young age, I never had the chance to realize the sheltered life that I was living.

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

When people have a disability it is life changing for them. They cannot just flip a switch and turn it off; most times it is a permanent ordeal. Participating in this experience opened my eyes even more to specifically what disabled people go through on a daily basis.