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The importance of diversity in the classroom
The importance of diversity in the classroom
The importance of diversity in the classroom
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In high school, my favorite class was Early Childhood Education. In this class, we watched a movie that inspired me to teach children, and give them hope. That movie was called Triumphant and was based on a true story about a teacher named Ron Clark. This movie taught me about class room diversity and to respect and nurture the differences in children to help the reach their full potential.
In the late 1990’s Ron Clark left his hometown elementary school in North Carolina where he is praised for his remarkable teaching and high test scores to teach in Harlem city. Mr. Clark was living in New York for only a few months before he came up on a school where a there was a tussle between two sixth grade students and administration. During this tussle the teacher of the two students quit his job and Mr. Clark asked to take that teachers job and got it. Prior the starting Mr. Clark met with the parents of the children to learn about what their hopes and ambitions are for his children. He was disappointed to learn that the parents of the children didn’t have much faith nor hope for their chil...
This is the setting, background, and characters of Mike’s tale of “the struggles and achievements of America’s educationally underprepared”. Through this book Mike constantly emphasizes three main themes. First, the importance of an educational mentor; later in this article we will examine several of Mike’s mentors. Second, social injustices in the American education system; specifically the lack of funding and bureaucracy’s affect on the public educational system. Third and lastly, specific teaching methods that Mike has used to reach out to kids on the boundary.
Goldstein argues a problem with education policy is, “American policy makers require every public school to use the same strategy…” (261) When facing the problem of inequality in education a teacher needs to be fluid with his or her curriculum. In fact, one of the best ways to allow for fluidity is through peer-to-peer help. Goldstein states, “(teaching hospital model) allows best practices tailored to a specific school to be passed from professional to professional.” (255) Peer-to-peer help not only does this allow for constructive feedback, but also it allows teachers to learn from one another. While policy makers might not know a schools demographics and unique situation teachers in the school will. Thus, teachers can help one another on their unique problem through a collaborative process. Peer to peer help allows for the design of, “creative curriculum materials and to lead school turnaround efforts.” (232) The problems associated with inequality can be thought out and explored through teachers working
In his book, Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope, Jonathan Kozol pulls back the veil and provides readers with a glimpse of the harsh conditions and unrelenting hope that exists in a community located in the South Bronx called Mott Haven. Mr. Kozol provides his own socially conscious and very informative view of the issues facing the children and educators in this poverty ravaged neighborhood. Just his commentary would paint a very bleak picture of the future. It is the words of the children that give this book optimism and meaning. The courage and care exhibited by the volunteers of St. Ann's after school program and the creativity of the teachers at P.S. 30 are utterly inspiring. They work long hours and go beyond the call of duty to protect the innocence and cultivate the hope that resides in the hearts of Mott Haven's youngest residents.
In many low income communities, there are teachers that are careless and provide their students with poor quality education. These teachers are there just to make sure that they keep receiving their monthly paychecks and act in this way because they believe that low income students do not have the drive, the passion, or the potential to be able to make something of themselves and one day be in a better place than they are now. Anyon reveals that in working class schools student’s “Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps.” (3). This is important because it demonstrates that low income students are being taught in a very basic way. These children are being negatively affected by this because if they are always being taught in this way then they will never be challenged academically, which can play a huge role in their futures. This argument can also be seen in other articles. In the New York Times
Jonathan Kozol is a teacher and nonfiction writer who was born on September 5th, 1936 to psychiatrist/neurologist Harry and social worker Ruth. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts with his sister and parents. They were a middle-class Jewish family. Kozol received an education at Harvard and had previously lived a comfortable life until he decided to move to Boston to teach in a poor neighborhood. This began his new life of dedication for the education children were receiving and began to make it known how unequal education was. Kozol’s works were based off of personal experiences in his life. For example, he wrote about his fourth grade class in Death at an Early Age: The Destruction of the Hearts and Minds of Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools. He advocates for those who are receiving a lesser education even though America wants to claim discrimination is no more. Kozol wrote about the experience as his mom and dad’s health degenerated. The couple both died at 102, 2 years apart. The book is a very intimate description of Kozol’s relationship with his parents as their lives came to an end. Kozol continues to write today, and still participates in the battle against discrimination in schools. He currently lives in Byfield Massachusetts with his dog Sweetie
Over the semester I have done a great deal of listening, reading, reflecting, and a good bit of talking as well. I realized early on in this course that in order to look toward the future, I had to dig through the past. I began by examining myself and the looking into the history of the independent school movement. I examined my own feelings about race and privilege, the founding of Rocky Mount Academy (RMA), and spoke with Tony Shanks, RMA’s first Black student. I came to the conclusion that in order to shape the future of RMA, I must accept who I am, examine the history of the school, and proactively transform who we were into who we can become. I believe we should continue to strive to be the finest school in Rocky Mount by providing the best education to students regardless of race, religion, class, or economic status. Although I still have more to learn and more to do as an educator, I feel I have begun an important journey to help me be a part of a transformation at my school.
Society. By extensively being involved in high school, I have learnt the most important thing in
Being able to understand the development of a child is vital in aiding that child during that process. Parents play a vital role in this regard by offering the necessary support. On the other hand, once the child has been enrolled in a kindergarten or a preschool, most of the responsibilities of shaping the child are transferred to the teachers. This makes it vital for teachers to be able to help the child during their developmental stage. In this field report, the learner visits one kindergarten and one preschool to assess the learning environment. A comparison is made between these two schools as well as comparison with those proposed in Meier in her book The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. The fieldwork also includes interviewing of two teachers and one Principal of one of the kindergarten schools.
Education has always been an important piece in my family’s legacy. My grandmother was one of the first African American women to have a school named after her, and the majority of my uncles, aunts, and cousins all work within the education field. Naturally, I decided to write about two influential educators that have greatly impacted my life.
Education has always been valued in the African American community. During slavery freed slaves and those held captive, organized to educate themselves. After emancipation the value of education became even more important to ex-slaves, as it was their emblem of freedom and a means to full participation in American Society (Newby & Tyack, 1971). During this time many schools for African Americans were both founded and maintained by African Americans. African Americans continued to provide education throughout their own communities well into the 1930’s (Green, McIntosh, Cook-Morales, & Robinson-Zanartu, 2005). The atmosphere of these schools resembled a family. The teachers along with principals extended the role of parenting and shaped student learning and discipline (Siddle-Walker, cited in Morris, 1999). African American Schools were embedded within the community and were viewed as good.
It takes a lot of skills to get these kids situated. This might help me in my future career because I’m already prepare to work with kids in the future. Especially during lunch time, I have to watch the kids while they eat. Personally, I learned kids love when adults care about them. They like it when I teach them math and they are very motivated when there’s a reward. For example, if the kids finished their home, they get to go play soccer after which motivates them to focus on their homework. They are also excited when they finished their homework at the club; thus they don’t have homework at home. This personally impacted me because it amazes me to see how much the kids love to learn even if they live in poverty places. These kids are motivated to learn which is good for them in the future. Scholarly, I can relate these kids to the book A Hope In the Unseen because these students are similar to Cedric. They live in a poverty area where the education system is low because there is not enough school funding and the dropout rate is high. However, they are motivated to learn. This shows me that there are still hope for the society and people can change that by helping other
The focus of the column is about the plight of African-American male students who have begun to enter the white prep schools in the south. Marvin Barnard and Bill Alexander were two black teenage boys who were among the first African-Americans to integrate into Virginia Episcopal School, an all-white prep school in Lynchburg, Virginia. They recognized the opportunity that they were given to start a trend of change in society, and throughout the article, these students challenge themselves to rise above the hate and unfair expectations put on them by their peers. As the title states, they begin to excel in the classroom while also keeping their noses clean. Their diligence and hard work helped to pave the way for other black students to enter these segregated schools. While as a result, it seemed that these students were unfairly pressured and their teenage lives were left unfulfilled because of the decisions they made to behave the right way. However, in the end, their sacrifice helped to complete a new change in the schooling system Not only did white students begin to respect and change their views on blacks, the entire system had to change to accommodate those who were coming in and trying to create change for
It is argued that there are 4 elements critical to the effectiveness of the instructional process: 1. the learner, 2. the teacher, 3. the home, and 4. the academic programs and the physical facilities at the school. These are interdependent and interactive and must function in unison for effective teaching to take place. The teacher's primary responsibility is to help the learner grow intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially. Therefore, teachers should be competent, dedicated, and committed to the profession of teaching and to the service of the students. Teachers should have adequate academic and professional preparation and the requisite traits of character. Teachers should be respected, appreciated, and sumptuously remunerated to enable them to devote themselves with total concentration to the task of teaching. A home where education is valued contributes in immeasurable ways to the quality of learning of the child. Finally, the school should have innovative, creative, differentiated, and challenging academic programs."</cite> For example, if the schools physical facilities aren't in a good, safe condition, the learner will have a hard time learning because his mind will be on his own personal safety and well being. A lot of the inner city schools in the United States are older than the teachers that teach in them. Some schools are so overc...
“ The thing worse than being blind is having sight, but no vision.” - Helen Keller Today’s topic is about two inspiring teachers that helped students succeed. They were Anne Sullivan and Ron Clark, who both were teachers inspired to teach. Both Anne and Ron had trouble achieving their goal. Anne tried to teach Helen sign language and achieved her goal. Ron also taught an entire class and had them pass the exam. The topic is mainly about how Anne and Ron are inspiring teachers.
I spent most of my time in a first grade classroom. In this classroom I observed the children as well as the teacher and paraprofessional. This classroom had children with special needs and that is why there was a paraprofessional in the classroom for half the day. What I observed in this classroom was how children with special need should be handle and taught. The teachers in this room loves her job and each student in her class. While in the classroom the teacher allowed me to help with children with their work, read to them and help them with anything else that they needed. During this field experience I got to give back to not only a school, but to a community that is very near and dear to my heart. I hope that I touched each student in a special way, because the students that I got the opportunity to help learn touched my