Diversity Course Reflection

In this case study, a third year first-grade teacher was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to talk to the principal about her concerns. One of her concerns was that two of the other first – grade teachers (who were very good friends with the principal) were always getting the high achieving students that came from wealthy backgrounds in their classroom. Her other concern was that these two teachers always had higher test scores because of the high achieving students that were placed in their classroom. This made her scores look bad because she always received the students that struggled to perform. The third year first- grade didn’t mind teaching the struggling learners but she did feel that ALL students would benefit from mixed classrooms. Therefore, she was faced with the following questions: Should I talk to the principal or not? Should I talk to the other first grade teachers? Should I talk to someone else? Or, should I just ignore the situation to keep things from getting worse?

I came into this class not so naïve as some students may have been. I’ve grown up going to public schools, living in a diverse small town, and having interracial relationships in my family. Although I was informed on some forms of racism and the fact that racism does in fact still exist, I didn’t realize it was extensive as it really is. All the readings, videos, and lectures have directly related back to the purpose of the course. As a whole, I feel like this class has grown in knowledge not only about how racism affects people, but how to change and make a difference. This class has informed me a lot more about the unfortunately thriving acts of racism in the United States.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the diverse experiences that I have had in my personal and professional life. Fortunately, I have had a large mix of diverse friends and experiences in my life. This paper will discuss those diversities as well as the plan to expand on my current knowledge.

Prior to taking this course I thought I had a clear understanding of what it meant to have diversity awareness. I have been exposed to many different cultures both through my experiences in the Army and as a civilian, however I was not very aware of diversity. Since taking this course I have realized that increasing my awareness in diversity, would greatly benefit me as an Army soldier and as a future Law Enforcement Agent. As a soldier, I interact with different cultures, races, and sexes on a daily basis. I have developed a better sense of understanding in how other cultures may interact. As a future Law Enforcement, having a better sense of diversity awareness, would prevent me from becoming too stereotypical of other cultures. Throughout this course I have been introduced to diversity in a way I never would have imagined. I’m more cautious before casting judgment about the way I view people and the way people interact.

However, there were so many things throughout this course that I had little to no knowledge about. A lack of knowledge leads to a lack of empathy and understanding in my eyes. I truly do believe that discrimination is taught, so as a society if we were to continue to educate individuals about queerness and its relation to so many things in our everyday lives, government, and even ourselves, we are that much closer to ending discrimination. I know I might be optimistic, but I believe that people are inherently good, and if those of us who are given a louder voice and bigger platform to speak on in society, used it to call attention to injustices and work together towards solutions, I truly believe we have a chance of making queer apart of the

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

How has this course influenced your daily habits, beliefs, and actions, i.e. your world-view? Understanding the political nature of terrorism has helped me to understand numerous different social issues. Understanding of terrorism is not irrational, but emerges from genuine political disagreement is incredibly helpful. By this same logic, I now understand that criticism of protest movements, like black lives matter; often miss .the underlying structural point that there is systemic discrimination. This does not justify burning cars or looting buildings, but these problems cannot really be solved with police crackdowns. Instead, they can be solve with a genuine attempt to understand where these people are coming from. Instead of demonizing the protestor, we should seek to understand and empathize with them to achieve mutual understanding and encourage positive

Through this course, I learned about access to work for black workers. Initially, before taking this course, I naively thought that

I think what I enjoyed the most about this course was the fact that I got to learn about all of the different factors that impact or are relevant in order to really understand diversity. I also founded interesting how much understanding this concept really affects your life and those that surround you. I really also enjoyed how we were able to comment on each other’s post, and give our own opinion or feedback on the discussion of the week. I think that this was a great idea because we saw who had similar points of views, who agreed or disagree and some even gave us some words of encouragement. It was just good to communicate with others on the topics of discussion for the week, and after all it was necessary since the main focus of this course

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”)

This course has really enlightened my view of being able to learn the value of linguistic and cultural diversity and the influential learning opportunities it gives today’s classrooms and schools. We as teacher educators were allowed to examine our attitudes, beliefs, and preferences regarding linguistically and culturally diverse students, families, and communities and learn methods for working together to confirm high levels of learning for all students. Also, strategies for guaranteeing

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.

I feel like I learned a lot from this course. I think, overall, this course was very eye-opening and made me understand, and want to better understand, issues involving gender and how they effect society. I would say the one of the most important pieces of information I learned was just how much the idea of gender and gender roles influences everyday life. I had never really thought too much about the determents of gender or traditional masculine and feminine ideals before this class, and how we as a society promote and encourage the belief that a person’s gender or sex creates different innate, natural attitudes and attributes. Learning about how important society’s views of gender is, and how it affects the way we learn and think, makes me look at our culture in a different way. For example, before this class I never realized how much women are objectified and put under intense Photoshop in advertisements. This better understanding of the way society is helps me take a step back and look at our culture in a different way, and allows me to become more aware of the issues surrounding gender, sex, and the ideals of masculinity and femininity.

This course was not what I was expecting it to be, but I was very happy with the information that I took away from it. I am a Patrol Lieutenant with the Knoxville Police Department and mainly work the very poor East part of town. This area is about 75% African-American and the residents have adopted me as one of their own and I have made it a mission to try to help improve the area as much as I can. This course has taught me several things that I can use to help this needy community.

We live in a society where people come from different countries, they belong to different cultural, religion, ethnic groups, and races. All these factors come together and contributes to differences that make us unique from each other. Hence, a multicultural country with huge diversity. This reflection journal will cover what “human race” is and what role it plays in ones’ personal life and in a nursing profession. Moreover, what bias, assumptions and judgements are, and how to avoid them. Lastly, what caring is and what role does it play in nursing.