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In Funds of Knowledge by Moll, the author argues for the importance of using local knowledge for learning in the classroom. Education in the United States has become more focused around curriculum and standards, and students are left without the chance to learn about different cultures and things they can relate and connect to. The first sentence in chapter seven states, “The typical approach to culture embodied in most multicultural curricula taught in public schools today is static, normative, and exclusive” (Moll). Most students in the system do not have the opportunity to share their background and knowledge in order to gain meaningful learning experiences, but rather are taught about the same, old traditions when it comes to multicultural …show more content…
In the first experience the author shared, they found that all of their students had knowledge and experiences with horses. From here, he developed a curriculum about horses in order to create meaningful learning experiences. He developed questions he wanted to be learned from the lesson and then created an outline of the unit and organized it according to areas of the curriculum. When using students’ funds of knowledge, teachers do not have to spend time providing facts and knowledge that they already know. Instead, they can focus more on abstract and critical thinking which are necessary to provide students with real-world, meaningful learning experiences! The author also provided an experience to stress the importance of involving parents in the learning experience. After an interview with a family, the teacher discovered a parent (that was viewed as lacking in education and knowledge) had the ability to play the guitar and write songs. Rather than letting this go unnoticed, the teacher invited the father, Jacob to write children’s songs and create a musical for the class to perform. Having a musical also helped get more parents involve with costumes and other projects. Because of the high parent involvement, parents started to feel important and part of their students’ …show more content…
Most students are not able to share their knowledge, experiences, and assets with educators to guide their own learning, but instead have to learn what curriculum and standards require. Normally, this does not include learning about diverse communities and cultures, which directly affects how students in different social classes view knowledge. Since working-class and middle-class students cannot relate to what they are learning in school, they view knowledge as something only higher up officials in the education system possess and make while also thinking it has to do with memorizing facts and information. Furthermore, they do not view knowledge as something they possess. However, affluent professional schools have more opportunities for this type of learning and recognize knowledge as something they can make by making statements such as, “You can go explore for new things” and “I’d think of something to discover, then I’d make it” (Anyon). These statements show how these affluent students can think critically and abstractly about a concept rather than just memorizing facts. Because they were given the opportunity to share their experiences, and connect to most things being taught within the education system, they have more opportunities for meaningful
The essays by Jean Anyon and Jonathan Kozol explore the idea of education not being equal for everyone across the United States. For example, Jean Anyon discusses the idea of a "hidden curriculum". The hidden curriculum that her essay describes implies that the information taught and the way it is taught differs among schools of varying socioeconomic backgrounds. She and her team visited five different schools in New Jersey, with the schools being classified into working class, middle class, affluent-professional, and elite (Anyon 165-6). She then observed the classes and the way they are taught. This brought to light the differences between the way children
Some people may believe that education all over the United States is equal. These people also believe that all students no matter their location, socioeconomic status, and race have the same access and quality of education, but ultimately they are wrong. Throughout history, there has been a huge educational disparity between the wealthy and marginalized communities. The academic essay “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, an American critical thinker and researcher in education, conveys that depending on the different economic backgrounds students have, they will be taught in a specific way. He reveals that the lower economic background a child has then the lower quality their education will be and the higher their economic background is the higher quality their education is. Anyon’s theory of a social ladder is extremely useful because it sheds light on the
Ugbu, J., U. (1992). Understanding cultural diversity and learning. EDUC 160 Urban Education (Spring 2014, pp. 213-228)
Funds of knowledge goes hand in hand with inclusivity. The more you know and understand a students’ life outside of school, the more you can incorporate it into their education to forth bring their best learning abilities. The fundamental element for enabling us to apply the concept in our own teaching strategies is noticing and observing. Funds of knowledge means to engage in a student’s life outside of school in order to fathom skills and knowledge they have assembled from their household and other community resources. Through noticing and observing, we develop innovations in teaching that draw from these skills and knowledge (Moll 2016, p.71). Moll (2016) states, regular classrooms seem encapsulated from the social worlds & resources of
Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” claims that students from different social classes are treated differently in schools. Anyon’s article is about a study she conducted to show how fifth graders from the working, middle, and upper class are taught differently. In Anyon’s article, she provides information to support the claim that children from different social classes are not given the same opportunities in education. It is clear that students with different socio-economic statuses are treated differently in academic settings. The curriculum in most schools is based on the social class that the students belong to. The work is laid out based on academic professionals’ assumptions of students’ knowledge. Teachers and educational professionals assume a student’s knowledge based on their socio-economic status.
Funds of Knowledge (FoK) is that knowledge which is shared among cultures, communities, and families. A part of that shared knowledge is language, how we learn, how we communicate, how we interact socially. In order to effectively teach students, teachers need to know what skill sets Native American students bring with them into the classroom, and understand how to effectively build on those skills (Aguirre et al., 2012). This is essential to addressing the current crises endemic within American Indian education. Teachers should know the social and cultural norms that are expected and taught in the homes and communities of their students as this crucial information will enable teachers to consistently access and respond their students’ FoK (Hedges, Cullen & Jordan, 2011; McLaughlin & Barton, 2012)
Education holds power over determining one’s class. Knowledge and refinement can set one individual apart from another who lacks the qualities of successful individuals. Finances and opportunities distinguish class meaning the lower class has difficulty in obtaining the same conditions of the upper class. Education ultimately dictates success and power in society. Education is taken for granted and should be recognized for the significance it possesses.
In “The Case Against College” Linda Lee tells us exactly who belongs in college, they are “the high-achieving student who is interested in learning for learning’s sake…. And those who seem certain to go on to advanced degree’s in law, medicine, architecture, and the like,” (670). But just because there are certain people who belong in school does not mean that those are the people that attend. Those who are more privileged just happen to be in a position that allows them to partake in certain amenities, one of them being a higher standard of
Our experiences with social class help define and shape our expectations for education, it’s potential and its power. How is it fair that education is provided for all different economic backgrounds and financial circumstances, but yet not everyone is able to use the education system to its full advantage? For instance, in Mike Rose’s “Blue Collar Brilliance”, his mother to quit school to provide for her family, due to their financial circumstance. Most students choose to go off to the military or workforce because they understand that continuing their education is extremely expensive. Gerald Graff, author of “Hidden Intellectualism”, discusses the difference between “book smarts” and “street smarts”. Graff focuses on how smarts can take countless forms and even be hidden. Take the case of, the gap between the upper-class, and the middle and working class. There are far more obstacles facing the lower classes, such as financial worry, compared to the upper-class.
The main concerns for most people, especially parents, are what can the students learn from the classes and how can they apply it to their lives. In some cases, people feel as though new methods of teaching the subject would bring better results, such as lower t...
As a native of Miami, Florida, I have witnessed the many cultural changes that have taken place over the years. As an educator teaching within the nation’s fifth largest public school district for the past 25 years, I have had a great amount of exposure to the cultural diversity that makes up the public school, and I have become very familiar with challenges, family issues, and cultural differences that can influence the educational performance of my students. I have developed an understanding that in order to provide the most successful learning environment for culturally diverse student’s, teachers must be able to provide classroom instruction that is free of personal bias and which addresses the diversified cultural learning needs of every student. Too many schools are not set up to give students an education that teaches them to love learning and takes their individual needs into account (Castleman & Littky, 2007).
Multicultural Education in the United States made its debut beginning with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s. Its intent was to become part of the cultural mainstream. The Civil Rights Movement brought to light the apparent concerns of discrimination, intimidation and inequality. During this period, pressure was placed on the Federal Government to examine their roles in the perseverance of inequalities when it came to Multicultural Education (Russell, Robert, The History of Multicultural Education, 2011). It can be compared to “Affirmative Action” where whites were asked to leave behind their own point of view and gain knowledge of the traditions of Multicultural groups (Taylor, Samuel. The Challenge of 'Multiculturalism' In How Americans View the Past and the Future, 2011).
"The more we know the world around us, the more successful we will be." This quote, from the introduction of my high school chemistry book, was my driving force as a teenager to attend college. My expectations of college were to gain insight into a world that I had not yet discovered. I had high aspirations of receiving a good education and obtaining a good job when I graduated. But four years later when graduation day arrived, I felt unfulfilled. In evaluating my education, I realized that I learned how to get good, but not great grades. I learned how to study to make the most of my time. The focus I shared with many of my peers was not always to appreciate the information received, but rather, to value the counsel from someone else who previously took that professor's class and maybe to be lucky enough to get a hold of last semester's examinations. Basically, I acquired useful skills for any job: to follow directions, to give the boss what he or she was asking of me, and to network and gain insight from other colleagues. It was still disturbing to me that after four years of schooling, I felt I had not received the education I initially expected. Overall, college does not bring out the full academic potential of the students who invest the time and money into an education. Teachers need to set aside their biases and restructure and develop curriculum, as well as student-teacher relationships, in order to truly develop college students into freethinking, exploratory people.
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
While both interviewees stated they did not feel their institutions were ignoring different races and groups and lesson plans were designed around promotion multiculturalism, schools that primarily white often fail to be as cultural diverse as schools with a healthy racial composition. Lesson plans are often ambivalent towards understanding the struggles and hardships of certain racial groups, such as the Native Americans during the time of European exploration. In addition, students at mostly white institutions often associated success with how hard an individual works rather than any hardships or racist or sexist acts thrown upon that person. Ironically, the little multiculturalism that is introduced in prominently white schools has been ill received by parents and teachers. Both parties, especially parents, argue that the children growing up today are “color-blind” and that no explicit efforts to inject multiculturalism should occur in the classroom outside of settings considered appropriate, such as history courses (Lewis, 2003: