8. Diversity's Impact on Teaching
Description:
Due to population mobility and international interdependence, more and more schools are enrolling students from varied cultural and language backgrounds challenging teachers to provide instruction that appropriately fits each learner's background. Today's students need a multicultural education that seek to provide equity for all learners by drawing on insights from history and the social and behavioral sciences, and ethnic and women's studies. Establishing a culturally responsive environment in a classroom setting is important for both the teacher's and their students to create a positive learning environment (Armstrong, Henson & Savage, 2009). The impact of diversity on teaching is that teachers and educators must sometimes have to re-organize and re-structure their curriculum and instruction to reflect diversity; for one teacher might have both a gifted learner and an English as a Second Language learner in the same classroom and must reach both students effectively.
Illustration: Short video on how one school district in America deals with their diverse student population that speaks over 100 different languages in addition to English.
Practical Example:
The above video is a good practical example of diversity and how it affects teaching in the classroom. Diverse students sometimes are instructed by their fellow classroom peers because the ratio of students to teachers in the classroom is often larger than 20:1 and teachers cannot reach all their students at the same time. I enjoyed the fact that the kindergarten teacher said she instructed her diverse group of students to discuss answers or ideas with a partner because it fostered development and growth for both students.
Integral Components:
Integral components of diversity and its impact on teaching are that while today's students are among the most diverse in our nation's history, today's teachers are still mostly middle class and white. So today's teachers must take time and effort to learn about their student's backgrounds so they can interact to their students in a positive and appropriate manner (Armstrong, Henson & Savage, 2009). It is important to never assume that all learners from a particular racial, ethnic or home-language group share similar views and values. Gifted students and students with disabilities are also among the learners found in the classroom and teachers must make modifications or accommodations in their classrooms to effectively assist those students.
How diversity relates to me and my future classroom:
Currently 40% of students in America's classroom are from minority groups, 10% of students speak English as a second language and students with disabilities make up nearly 20% of our schools ("Minority community outreach", 2014). In my future classroom I expect all those numbers to be increased so I as a teacher must be committed to the belief that everyone can learn. I also learn how to accommodate different learner styles and to make myself aware of my culturally deficiencies or biases so I can work on helping all of my future students to the best of my ability.
Scripture:
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" - 1 Corinthians 12:12. I chose this Scripture verse for the concept of diversity because it reminds me that even with all our vast differences we are still all children of God and part of the same body of Christ and thus we must treat each other with the same love and respect he gives to us.