Is diversity celebrated or overlooked in your clinical experience? Complete the diversity worksheet. Describe, analyze and reflect on the results. How is diversity addressed? What are some practices you might use in your own classroom? Were there practices that you would change or improve upon? Why is diversity an important aspect in classroom culture? What is the fit for diversity in the Conceptual Framework?
Please post your response by 12:00 pm March, 16th.
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Diversity in the classrooms of Partnership is shown through its population of students and its surroundings. There are a variety of races and backgrounds of children in the classrooms and of some equal proportion. There is a good balance of gender, color, and race. I noticed there are several posters and bulletins that express a range of cultures, and genders. There are posters in halls of various famous women and people of different races that are shown in respectable positions such as leaders and artists. The libraries in the classes are full of diversity with books about Persia, Egypt, China, and Native America. I saw that they don't necessarily focus on their holidays and traditions but may just have diverse characters within the stories. There are pictures that were drawn by the children that express their culture and interests; using colors that show different skin tones and stories written of their favorite things to do. The tables are set up so that the children are able to interact with one another and no one was isolated. All of these methods of expressing diversity are important for the children to see how people are individuals and that their differences should be celebrated and not necessarily looked over. Although people often feel being "color blind" is a good trait, and it can be for educational opportunities, I feel that noticing social differences can be positive as long as it is not used as a value judgment. I think using global conscious lessons in the classroom would be beneficial to addressing diversity. Reading articles of current events that are happening in foreign countries would be an example of how I would like to expose children to diversity. I would alleviate the need to celebrate the "holidays around the world" during Christmas time. Maybe implementing culture and traditions within the curriculum could be sufficed. Having children ask there parents to come in and talk about their holiday only makes them feel more uneasy about themselves. I believe having social action based fieldtrips could help make the children aware of economical troubles within Raleigh. Diversity is mostly shown through media and art in the classes but I would like to see more hands on projects that would make an impact on the kids. Some family configurations I feel that schools lack are gay and lesbian and single parents as well as parents of mixed races. I feel that if these types of family dynamics are represented in elementary schools consistently, they will be less shocking come middle school and will lessen discrimination. Diversity is important to have in the classrooms because it is the first time for many children to be exposed to people that is different from them. It is an opportunity for children to celebrate their own identity and embrace others. Children have a deep desire for acceptance and if they don't receive it they will look for other avenues in which they will get it; sometimes in a negative way. Gang formation is often based on the need for acceptance and to be a part of a group. Teaching diversity at young ages helps children feel that they are important and are a part of something bigger than them. Diversity in the classroom fits the Conceptual Framework by building relationships between teacher and student, gives relevance to the material being presented, and prepares students to navigate the world of differences.
After observing several classrooms and the results of the diversity worksheet, I realized that Partnership does celebrate diversity in many different ways. One of the very first things I noticed was when we were given a tour of the building. Above every ceiling were paintings of different books (for that particular grade level.) I thought that was really neat because not every child can read the same kind of book and it broadens the imaginations of children when they see those pictures. I have always been an advocate for books, so to see that gives me hope that books are not a thing of the past. Another prominent example is in the classroom. When it was my day to watch the first graders, I walked into the kids giving presentations of different historical figures. They would share facts about the person’s life and why they were famous. Some were female, some were African American and some were other types of social groups. This is very important for children (especially at such a young age) to know about all kinds of famous and important people instead of just the “stereotypes”. There was also a variety of gender, races, and backgrounds of children throughout the school. I noticed there were posters and signs in the classroom that showed a range of cultures, places, and people; and there are posters in the halls of other various famous people of different races. Diversity is important to have in the classroom because it is the first time for most children to be exposed to people who are different. It is a wonderful way for children to celebrate their own identity and learn about others. Children have a deep desire for acceptance and if they don't receive it they will look for other ways in which they will get it; sometimes in a negative way. An issue that has been brought up recently is the growing rates of gangs. Though they seem harmless on the outside, the malicious acts that they carry out and lives that they hurt embody what they really do. It is so important that children do not get sucked into that kind of life or “group” and are provided with other outlets of expression.
Teaching diversity and cultural differences at a young age helps children feel that they are important and further understand who they are. Diversity in the classroom works with the Conceptual Framework because it helps build relationships between teachers, students and parents so they can all work together to help define what it means to be “different.” It also gives teachers creative and fun ways to help celebrate differences and that in turn, gives students a way to be excited about who they are!
While I have been observing at Partnership I have noticed that diversity is expressed and celebrated throughout the school. When you first walk into the school there are several posters and bulletins that express a wide range of cultures and genders. Posters are hung in the hallway of various famous men and women, and people of different races that are in respectable positions such as leaders and artists. I saw the most diversity when I was observing in the kindergarten classes. There were pictures throughout the classroom that the kids had drawn showing their cultures and interests, and the children were able to use lots of different colors to show their skin tons. Also the tables are placed together in groups of four so that the children can work together throughout the day. The classes are very diverse, but equal. There is a large variety of gender, races and backgrounds of children throughout the school. Classroom libraries were filled with books that include many different cultures from Persia, Egypt, China and Native America. I did not find many books that introduced the kids to all of the different holidays that are celebrated throughout the world. When I was in the kindergarten class I really enjoyed this one wall poster that had pictures of kids from many different countries and cultures and under each picture it tells the children how each person says hello. When I become a teacher I would really like for my children to understand what is going on in the world, and other countries. I remember finding current events when I was in elementary school, and I would like to incorporate that into my classroom. From the beginning of the year I want my kids to realize the diversity in my classroom, and I want them to feel comfortable with their heritage and discussing where they come from. I feel that teaching diversity at a young age helps children feel that they are important and are a part of something bigger than them. Diversity is important to have in the classroom because it is the first time for most children to be exposed to people who are different. It is a great way for children to celebrate their own identity and learn about others and their cultures. When a child is at this age, they are sponges and if they are taught about diversity and other cultures then it will be beneficial down the road. Children desire to be accepted and if this is not fulfilled then they could look for other ways to be accepted later in life, and it may not be in positive ways. Diversity in the classroom works with the conceptual framework because it helps to build relationships between parents, teachers and students so that they can all work together and help show each other what it means to be different and how important it is to come together as a society. It can also help the teacher come up with fun and creative ways to celebrate these differences.
The Classroom in which I chose to focus on for my cultural observation assignment was Mrs. Penland’s Fourth Grade. Out of all of the classrooms that I had observed thus far, her’s was the most austere. This was very surprising because in the brief time that I spent with her, she seemed anything but.
There was not a celebration of diversity on her walls, but there wasn’t really a celebration of anything. The only thing that could have really passed, were some geometric drawings. Bright in color, they were mounted on stark black paper and had some ethnic appeal. When looking at the student’s cubbies, I didn’t really see how they were unique or individualized, but they were functional and perhaps that is good enough. Disappointed with my findings, I took advantage of the student’s having DEAR time and walked around the room. I looked through the books hoping to find something redeeming, but nothing really sparked my attention. I did manage to come across a small poster entitled “Guess That Scientist,” that did in fact represent some racial diversity, but that was really it.
I absolutely do not mean to be negative towards Mrs. Penland. She was very nice and perhaps décor simply isn’t her strongpoint. I did however decide to make the “Lessons and Activities” portion of our assignment a dialog in an attempt to find something out. I tried to find polite and not terribly obvious ways to ask Mrs. Penland why there was not much diversity represented in her room. A recurring answer was that “Cultural studies are really more for Third Grade. We study North Carolina every third quarter however and learn about some different cultures then.” I can appreciate that cultural diversity can’t be integrated into every curriculum, but I do think it would have been nice to of had even a little fact sheet about each students posted.
While Mrs. Penland’s Fourth Grade classroom was not really an epicenter for cultural diversity, I was able to see some interesting things in other classes. For my own classroom I would like there to be posters representing different cultural backgrounds. I feel though that sometimes we limit diversity to only the color of one’s skin. I would also like to find ways to celebrate the diversity of my individual students, and if ever given the opportunity, I would like to celebrate the diversity of people’s religious and daily life backgrounds. I also think that it is important to have a diverse literature selection available. I would like to make an effort to extend diversity past “black” and “white” and explore even obscure ethnicities. I think it is most important for students to recognize the diversity among themselves and learn to live immersed in it and to be appreciative of it.
In my experience so far, it seems to me that in Partnership Elementary, diversity is celebrated and acknowledged. In every classroom I have been in so far, I have seen many posters about different cultures on the wall. Many have been posters about language and about different countries. I believe that providing this kind of acknowledgement towards different cultures is a wonderful thing. It allows the children to step outside of the box and think about other cultures, other than their own. I believe a lot of times, diversity is overlooked in the classroom and some teachers forget about the celebration of other cultures. I think Partnership is on their toes with the presentation of posters on the wall inside the classroom, but what about Spanish lessons? I do not believe Partnership offers Spanish lessons. I searched their website for whether or not they do have Spanish lessons, and I could not find anything. Also, I have not heard any mention of Spanish lessons. This is kind of disappointing because I think in order for the students to experience a culture they need a language lesson to better understand. I would put Spanish lessons in Partnership to allow the students to interact with language.
If I were to change anything about what I have seen so far, it would be the location of the posters in the classroom. Most of the diversity posters were in the back of the classroom. The students desks are facing forward looking at the front and the diversity posters are located in the back where they could not see them. I know the space on the wall inside of a classroom is sometimes an issue. I know that some posters “have” to be in the back of the classroom, but I would put the least important posters in the back of the classroom. I would put the diversity posters in the front of the class where the students could see them everyday; or at least on the front side of the walls.
In my future career as a teacher, I want to put an emphasis on diversity in my classroom. I want to locate the diversity posters at the front of the room and not at the back. I believe it would be nice to have a “word” or some piece of information from another culture for the kids to learn every morning. I believe this is a wonderful thing to do because it gets the students in touch with other cultures. I know a lot of schools take the time to acknowledge other cultures during holidays, which is nice, but what about all the other days? I think that acknowledging other cultures on a daily basis tells the students that it does not matter whether it is a holiday or not, just acknowledging it is key.
Diversity is shown in the classroom just by the students who attend Partnership Elementary School. The children come from all different backgrounds are made of many different races. I noticed that when I was walking though the halls that there were numerous amounts of cultural posters of different influential people such as Martin Luther King Jr. who stood out the most to me. As I was in the hallway I noticed that that’s where they had their cubbies. They were not really diverse in the fact that it was just their backpacks and coats. I have not had a chance to look through the books in the library but the ones in the classroom library vary in so many categories. Some about fiction, historical and even books with poems. I believe in one classroom I have been in there were pictures on the wall that had their picture on it and then it described their family and background. I think that in each classroom that I have been in the desks have been arranged so that everyone is able to interact with one another either by clusters of 3 or 4 or even in a shape such as a U. As for the classroom I observed that day I think that there could have been a little more diversity in the posters or artwork posted on the walls. I think that it is very important to have diversity in your classroom whether it is the artwork hanging on your wall in posters or even the artwork from your students, I think that it should be intergraded into the classroom. It opens the eyes of your students to let them know that there are other cultures out there other than theirs. I think that children learning about it at an early age helps them have a bigger understanding and feel better about themselves and not feel singled out because they are from another race or culture. I would love to give them books to read and have lectures tied into activities talking about the different cultures.
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