Diversity, Atypical Or Typical Development, And How This Will Impact My Own Classroom?

As an adult, a parent, and an educator it is my social responsibility to make sure that the children I am entrusted with are aware that not everyone lives the same kind of lifestyle. We are all different in some way or another and that doesn’t make me any better or worse than anyone else. This can be a challenging concept for children that have grown up with only people of the same race, which hold the same beliefs and are very similar in the majority of their ways.

The United States population is filled with diverse individuals. It is important for educators to understand that diversity in classrooms is not just based on race but ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, economic status, learning disabilities, and etc. It may not affect your student directly but it can be a part of their family background. Educators may assume that students have the same social or educational status of each other which in some cases is not true. If they assume that every student is on the same academic level, the students may suffer educationally or emotionally. Teachers need to understand that all students grow and progress at different times and it is up to an educator to help start their growth in the right direction and to make each child feel accepted. Yale University () discussed how it can affect teachers if they do not understand how to assess diversity, “teachers may themselves feel out of place based on their own ascriptive traits (i.e. differences based on class, privilege, etc.).” Diversity in classrooms is becoming more frequent and educators need to understand how to properly assess their student’s based on their educational needs and how to teach other students how each of them are different individually. There is no right choice to teach diversity but it is something that needs to implemented in classrooms.

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

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

As children grow and mature they pass through several stages of development. Consequently it is important that teachers understand these developmental stages in order to be an effective teacher. This paper will analyze answers from five open ended questions asked of five children of varying ages to clarify changes in development at various ages. According to Robert E. Slavin “as children improve their cognitive skills, they are also developing self-concepts, ways of interacting with others, and attitudes toward the world” (Slavin, 2012). The five questions used for the interview

As a member of several clubs and organizations, I have always valued the wide range of people you can find within the walls of my high school. If you walk into my Physics lab, you will find me collaborating with a dancer strongly involved in his cultural heritage and a volleyball player in the engineering academy. If you come to my Calculus class, you will see me calculating derivatives with a football player, a snowboarder, a National Honor Society officer, and a painter. The word “diversity” is often used to describe a cross-cultural population, but it is so much more than that. At Bartlett High School, students originate from hundreds of different cultures, with an abundance interests, and participate together in an assortment of activities.

According to the 2014 Public School Review Diversity Report, the state of Maryland is rated the third most diverse public school system in the nation, with 43% White students, 37% African American students, 11% Hispanic students, 6% Asian students, and 3% Unknown. With a significantly higher population of African American students compared to the state average, the Baltimore City School District is a far less diverse agency than the state school system as a whole. Collectively, the Baltimore City Public School District is comprised of 85% African American students, 8% White students, 5% Hispanic, 1% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian, Multiracial, Native Hawiian/other (Baltimore City Public Schools, 2013a). Considering

Educationalists have suggested that students’ understanding of their community and appreciation of diversity can be endorsed through opportunities to share values and challenge prejudices across the curriculum (DCSF 2007). School X recognises the role students play in the sustenance of a cohesive community. Due to the extremely diverse demographic of the community of Borough M, the council encourages the sustenance of a cohesive community in which all cultures are given equal importance (Gilligan, 2012). School X resonates this agenda, by promoting and celebrating diversity, and as an all-girls’ school, it recognises the importance of empowering young girls to facilitate their ownership of learning and progression. The school has been involved

Programs in school, such as IB, provide teachers with new texts that encompass different languages and culture. This is just one step in helping classrooms become more accepting of diversity and that would also encourage ELLs to take more challenging courses. Using texts that are more culturally diverse would also lead to higher rates of involvement with international students. Overall mentors and teachers play an important role not only in helping ELL students, but also in actively modeling classroom involvement and conduct.

Gerardo Nava is a Hispanic/Latino male in his late twenties, who identifies as a Mexican American as his race, heterosexual, catholic, democrat, middle class, hard-working, married and a father undergraduate commuter student at Brandman University. He is a first generation student who comes from a working class two parent home. He is the third child out of four children. A middle child. Two brothers who are in construction and one sister who is a stay at home mom. Gerardo’s wife has an Associate Arts degree. They both worked as a one on one aide in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, then became an instructional assistant. The reason why Gerardo decided to move up to become a custodian was he needed a full-time job that paid more to provide for his family. However, since making this transition, it also motivated him to go back to school and receive his bachelor

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

Within the core of many educational institutions, diversity is a commercial tacit. While every institution cannot offer the same kind of diversity, the endorsement of such exists through various definitions. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges define diversity through the various classes: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and age (“Statement on Diversity”)

Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students gaining a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably than a judgmental and prejudiced view.

Everyone contains baggage, some big, some small. It is part of our day to day lives, and is usually something we are not even aware of. Although I have only been in class for a few weeks, I have become more and more aware with the baggage that I contain. Through talking about major issues with my fellow classmates, or just becoming more aware and more knowledgeable of these particular issues; I have learned so much about myself, my community and even the world.

As of July 1, 2011, there are 36, 708, 083 people in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2017a). 1.2% higher than the population last year, which was 36, 264, 604 people of all ages and both sexes (Statistics Canada, 2017b). The growth of population in Canada, which in this case powered largely by immigration, increases not only the human capital, but the diversity in every province as well. Hence, as diversity expands, there is also a rampant growth in religion. In 2011, there are 108 religions observed in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011) - Christianity, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu – to name a few. These demographics have connotations on how diversity in school is also evident.