Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay about diversity at school
Importance of equality and diversity in school
An essay about diversity at school
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: An essay about diversity at school
Cultural Experience Paper - Hannah Wing
The Interview:
Lindsey went to a high school on the North side on Indiana that was a predominately white, upper class school. Out of her class of 104, only 5 students were not white. There was 4 asian students and her that made up the non white minority of her class. All of her teachers were also of the white majority. Therefore Lindsey was underrepresented and tended to be singled out. Lindsey did not feel that the curriculum reflected her culture. She felt very under represented when it came to both textbooks and teachers. Lindsey said “ there was only one teacher that was open enough to talk about race”. She said teachers were scared to bring up race. For example in one class they were reading
…show more content…
When asked about discipline at home she said that if you got in trouble you picked your own switch and braced yourself to get your butt beaten. At home their was always a consequence and you knew it. When she talked about school she said “money could get you out of just about anything”. She explained a situation in which a student got expelled, but then their parents made “some generous donations” and that student was allowed to return. “The only exception was if a girl got pregnant then the girl, not the dude, would be kicked out!” Going along with values, Lindsey said that something the school did not value that her home did was food. She mentioned that the school could mess up any food, yet at home, if Lindsey came home with good grades like an A on a test her dad would fix up a big dinner to celebrate. Lastly she talked about how school valued education versus how her culture viewed it. She went on to say that “our school only cares about grades because it reflected good on the school, but my parents value …show more content…
We were taught that god made us all and we are all the same, both in school and at home. Color blindness was just a common theme throughout my development. Although we all did have our stereotypes and there were judgments passed around time to time, I never experienced prejudice because I was the same as most of the students. Although people still found ways to be mean and bully me it was never because of my color. I was also around people who were the same as me in almost all aspects, so fitting in was not hard. Both my school and home culture were very similar so it also made it very easy to fit in because I was comfortable. I was also around people who were the same as me in almost all aspects, so fitting in was not
Pashtana said she would rather die than not go to school and acted on her words. Her education is limited and she doesn’t have all the recourses to make school easier, yet she still loves and wants all the knowledge she can get. While I sit in my three story private school, a clean uniform free of holes or loose seams, my macbook air in my lap, the smell of cookies rising up from the cafeteria, wishing to be anywhere else but there. No one has beat me because I want to go to school, no one has forced me into a marriage, I’ve never put my life in jeopardy for the sake of education. Pashtana’s life and choices made me take a moment to stop and reflect on my own life and how fortunate I am to have what I have. We dread the thought of school because to us it is a chore, it’s a hassle, it’s something that messes with our sleep schedule, it is something that gets in the way of lounging around and binge watching Netflix. Pashtana doesn’t take her school and education for granted because she does not have the same liberties we do. While we enjoy driving into the city and shopping over the weekend, Pashtana unwillingly makes wedding arrangements with her cousin. While we complain about our mom nagging us to clean our room, Pashtana is getting beaten by her father because she wants to learn more about the world. While we have stocked fridges and pantries and
E. D. Hirsch and Lisa Delpit are both theorist on teaching diverse students. Both of these theorist believe that when teaching diverse students, teachers need to see their students for who they are. Seeing your students for who they are, means you look past the color of your students’ skin and recognize their culture. According to Stubbs, when teachers look at their students equally, no matter the color of their skin, then the teacher is considered colorblind (2002). Being colorblind is not a great thing because we should not treat all of our students the same, since each student is different. It is important to see our students for who they are because our classes are unique. Instead, our classes represent a rainbow underclass. According to Li, the rainbow underclass is the representation of families who are culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged (2008). In order to meet these student’s needs, teachers need to think about the struggles that each student face.
I agree with her outlook on her daughter's pre-school Cultural Diversity Day. Susan repeatedly tells her daughter's teacher that they are 100% American. Susan was born in America, as was her husband and their daughter as well. Teaching young children about where they came from at such a young age simply confuses them. I believe that you should let them grow up and get used to the way that American culture is before parents or teachers start shoving all these ideas into their heads. My main question is why is it necessary to teach children that they are different from their friends? On page 92 Konig states, “Later in the month, Miss Laura admits that her class is not quite getting the whole skin-color thing. ``I tried to show them how we all have different skin,'' she chuckled. Apparently, little Henry is the only one who successfully grasped the concept. He now runs around the classroom announcing to anyone who'll listen, ``I'm white!'' Miss Laura asked the children what color her own skin was. (She is a light-skinned Hispanic, which would make her skin color . . . what? Caramel? Mochaccino?). The kids opted for purple or orange. ``They looked at me like I was crazy!'' Miss Laura said. I just smile.” Young children don’t ...
...eral topic of school. The sister strives to graduate and go to school even though she is poor while her brother blames the school for him dropping out and not graduating. “I got out my social studies. Hot legs has this idea of a test every Wednesday” (118). This demonstrates that she is driven to study for class and get good grades while her brother tries to convince her that school is worth nothing and that there is no point in attending. “‘Why don’t you get out before they chuck you out. That’s all crap,’ he said, knocking the books across the floor. ‘You’ll only fail your exam and they don’t want failures, spoils their bloody numbers. They’ll ask you to leave, see if they don’t’” (118). The brother tries to convince his sister that school is not a necessity and that living the way he does, being a drop out living in a poverty stricken family is the best thing.
This passage bothered me. It is probably the part that bugged me the most about this book. There are many African Americans who are better behaved, smarter, more artistic, more athletic, etc. then white children. There are also many African Americans who are less educated and more poorly behaved than white children, but the same for both of these things go with white children. It bothers me that she knows that if the worst child in the class was white she wouldn't care if the best child in the class was white. I think that throughout the book she often generalizes with African Americans and doesn't even realize it. She claims that she is getting better, but I don't think that she really is. She keeps trying to have the African American children become the same as the white children.
Richards, H., V., Brown, A., F., Forde, T., B. (2006). Addressing diversity in schools: culturally responsive pedagogy. Retreived March 30th 2014from http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf
I wanted to wear brand clothes/shoes they did, I wanted to do my hair like them, and make good grades like them. I wanted to fit in. My cultural identify took a back seat. But it was not long before I felt black and white did not mix. I must have heard too many comments asking to speak Haitian or I do not look Haitian, but more than that, I am black, so I always had to answer question about my hair or why my nose is big, and that I talked white. This feeling carried on to high school because the questions never went away and the distance between me and them grew larger. There was not much action my family could take for those moments in my life, but shared their encounters or conversations to show me I was not alone in dealing with people of other background. I surrounded myself with less white people and more people of color and today, not much has
Unlike hooks and Frankenberg who give detailed views on the idea of whiteness that consistently criticize it as a way of thinking that influences our lives, instead McIntosh gives the readers a perspective of whiteness from a privileged white woman. McIntosh 's admittance and understanding to her class and racial advantage allows her to be able to view the problems surrounding whiteness and by doing so, allows her to make the changes needed to make a difference. Even with the different class viewpoint, McIntosh acknowledges the idea that "whites are taught to think their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average.." (McIntosh 98) and that this way of thinking creates a situation where whites view non white individuals to be abnormal and under average. This prescribed way of thinking produces the idea that if a white individual volunteers or works to help others, this helpfulness is a way of assisting non-whites to be more like whites. This form of education that the people, who have access to education, receive can then be understood as being obviously problematic. The perspective of class is an important viewpoint from McIntosh because as a privileged white woman, she is provided with more access to education and varying resources than many people. Again, the subject of education is brought forward. This access to the different educational institutions that she has had and her acknowledgement to her uneducated ideas on race show how the educational system had failed her. "As a white feminist, I knew that I had not previously known I was 'being racist ' and that I had never set out to 'be racist '" ( Frankenberg 3). Although Frankenberg had begun with the goal of working for the rights of feminism, her lack of knowledge on race, hindered her from understanding more aspects of
The students in the film are culturally different, and have various views, opinions, beliefs and needs. Their culture, and home life affect their behavior and attitudes in and out of class. This is true for most students, especially in inner city schools when everyone is diverse, and end up together in one class. In one scene, Rhoumba and Esmeralda did not like that Mr. Marin used “whitey” names such as Bill in his examples. They wanted to hear names that were culturally familiar. This example can teach teachers the importance of making sure their students’ culture is represented somehow in the class. Something as simple as using a specific name in the examples is important to students who are often left out of the curriculum. Another example is when the students expressed what they were ashamed of, and many students said they were ashamed of their culture differences. This is a learning moment for teachers because cultural differences could affect how their students see themselves, and that celebrating and including their culture in the classroom could have an effect on their attitudes and self-esteem. Overall, teachers can learn how important it is for students to feel represented in the class, and that culture plays a big part in student’s
The problem for her studying it is that “the goths and the Christians talked little about race. The wannabes talked little about gender. And almost nobody talked about class” (Wilkins, p. 3). However, just because we don’t speak about these things does not mean that they are not effecting our actions, rather Wilkins looks to see what lines were being drawn by what wasn’t being said as well as what
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 to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
In addition, as mentioned in Cultural Identity and Teaching, “Recognizing that everyone has unique traditions, values, and beliefs that are important to them helps us to see how we are connected” (White, Zion, Kozleski, Fulton cultural identity and teaching article). Differences should not keep students separate, but rather be used to engage with one another. Creating a space where you can explore different cultures, histories and ethnic backgrounds, families will only make a stronger knit community. Not only does omitting it give us a lack of information, but the students as well. The racist outlook continues when the conversations about race are kept quiet. In Rethinking Multicultural Education, Wayne Au writes, “Those who promoted HB 2281 don’t want students thinking in terms of race, class, ethnicity, or solidarity. This is intellectually dishonest (Au, ch 15 pg
The authors write about their views on standardized curriculum, and “through the use of narratives, [they have found] culturally relevant ways of applying curriculum to previous knowledge,” (p. 1). Baker and Digiovanni break down the issues that are being caused by the growing discharge of standardized curriculum such as the “decline of multicultural education,” (p. 1). This is one of the stronger points I will be including into my paper. They mention how standardized curriculum limits not only teachers, but more importantly, the students as well. With growing non-white populations, the authors discuss the harm that will continue to affect students, and end with solutions that include more than just awareness.
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then expect students of other social classes and cultures to change perspectives on motivation and competition, learning styles, and attitudes and values that their homes and families have instilled in them (Manning & Baruth, 2009).
In conducting her research, the author understood that she needed to describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In reading Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Issues in Education (2010), s...