Cultural Diversity & Today?s Teacher

Cultural Diversity & Today’s Teacher

Education in America has evolved through out its history and has become a major necessity to excel in the work force, just imagine 100 years ago graduating high school in many areas was rare, twenty-five years ago a high school diploma was a must to find a good job and now college and mostly likely grad school is expected by many young adults in order to ensure financial security in life. So if education is evolving then the instructors which provide the information and lessons to our children must also evolve with the ever changing tides the educational field presents today. One of the most notable differences is the students in the class rooms, with different ethnic groups more intertwined than ever teachers have been exposed to a much different class room setting than those that had came before them. Today’s teachers must open their minds and evolve into the next generation of instructors and in order to do so they will have to become more aware and sensitive to a more diverse classroom

“The need to create a teaching force that is culturally sensitive is undeniable. According to The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education teacher candidates must develop proficiencies for working with students from diverse backgrounds; dispositions that respect and value differences, and skills for working in diverse settings.[…] As teacher educators, we hope that cultural diversity classes will help out students become aware of their own beliefs and become more culturally diverse.” (The Ethnography Project p1)

Cultural diversity, it’s a phrase we have all heard at sometime or another but what does I mean for teachers and the way they go about designing lesson plans, delivering lectures, grading and any other aspect of teaching that comes to mind. Teachers can no longer expect to have a class room in which all the students are primarily from the same cultural background and even in the majority are to be an effective teacher he or she must reach all the students even those in the minority. To achieve this, instructors must first understand and be sensitive towards different ethnic and cultural back grounds.

“The ways in which people converse with one another can vary greatly from culture to culture. For example, when a teacher asks a direct question, students from some cultures may no...

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...ween schools and communities, and the administrative and bureaucratic context of teacher work.” (Educating Teachers... p6)

As you can see through out this paper there are many challenges dealing with diversity that are facing the teachers of tomorrow. They must design their class room, lesson plans, and style to make sure every student is given the best opportunity to learn. These challenges maybe difficult and overwhelming at times but if one can tackle these challenges head on in a positive manner then they have taken the first step in not only becoming a multicultural instructor but a great teacher.

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Harding, Nancy. (2005). The Ethnography Project: A Method for increasing Sensitivity in Teacher Canidates.

Parla, JoAnn. (1999). The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students. v 9 p1-6.

Stewart, Kerry.(2005) Education Gazette v 84. n 4. 7 march 2005.

Van Hook, W. Cheryl.(2000) Clearinghouse on Early Education and parenting- Preparing Teachers for The Diverse Classroom.