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Diversity In Education

Decent Essays

Social disadvantage, inequality and cultural diversity have the ability to critically impact the quality of a child’s education. Each one of us is born into a specific social position and this is extremely important when it comes to educational outcomes (Ewing, 2010. p. 84). When we look at statistics of the entire population there are strong correlations between upper class having higher achievement and lower class having poorer achievement (Ewing, 2010. p. 84). Issues such as purchasing power, dominant culture and cultural capital all play a role in putting low social classes at risk of having a less than satisfactory education (Ewing, 2013. pp. 73-84). Differences and diversity pose important questions for educators how best to respond to …show more content…

pp. 82-83). Teaching students to challenge stereotypes and help children acknowledge they exist is important in developing children’s understanding and acceptance of individual’s differences in society, however, these are not issues that are covered in formal curriculum documents (Gobby, n.d.). An interview was conducted with a white Australian female who completed her primary education in Brisbane, Queensland in 2012. This interviewee has experienced first-hand, inequality and difference in her own classroom and the ways that students, teachers and the greater community has dealt with these differences. The aim of this essay is to critically analyse the interviewees experiences with inequality and difference of social status and culture to determine if her curriculum experiences reflect the use of inclusive perspectives of and approaches to education and diversity, or if they reflect problematic personal and cultural assumptions and …show more content…

Educator’s need to understand how to respond to these differences as they can affect the educational outcomes of these students (Gobby, n.d.). The interviewee explained that within her school community there was a Muslim family and the students of the family were required to take time off during class to perform prayer multiple times during the day. This prayer is called Salat (BBC, 2009). It is essential that children learn to respect differences in individuals at a young age (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke, 2004. p. 22). Saraj-Blatchford and Clarke (2004. p. 23) explain that children can be tolerant, can challenge stereotypes and learn inclusiveness form a very young age and this is what the aim of the school seemed to be in this instance. The response that the school had to Salat was to ensure that this time was given to these students, in addition, the students were also given an opportunity to explain their culture to their peers to give them better understanding. The school reflected inclusive behaviours to the differences in the students’ background and did their best to support their differences by helping the other students understand and respect these differences by giving them an opportunity to explain what these differences were to their peers, which as stated, is extremely important to develop early.

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