INTRODUCTION
Students have always had individual differences in learning
preferences and strategies, influenced by sociocultural factors such as
ethnicity, culture, educational background, gender, geographical location, and
socioeconomic status. The more culturally homogenous student bodies of the past
tended to mask this fact. However, the increasing diversity of today’s students
has brought those differences more clearly into focus. So too has the increase
in off-campus - sometimes even offshore - enrolments. Educators therefore need to
respond to diversity in abilities, experiences, and learning strategies if they
are to support students to become confident, self-directed, and independent
learners (Venter, 2003). The challenge, then, is how to achieve that goal. What
are the individual and sociocultural factors that influence how individual
students perform? How can teachers recognise the impact those factors can have
on student learning? What changes can be made to the teaching and learning
environments they provide to cater for these factors and ensure that all
students have the optimum chance to succeed?
Key Points about student Diversity
- Diversity means more than just ethnic and cultural differences. It encompasses a wide range of characteristics, including (among others) gender, linguistic background, socio-economic situation, family life, religion, interests, physical or emotional challenges, skills and abilities, and life experiences.
- Even the most homogenous-appearing group of students reflects wide diversity.
- Diversity is an important contributing factor in the envisionment-building classroom.
- Instruction designed to allow learners to draw on their own circumstances when interacting with texts provides the group with a rich array of personal and unique perspectives.
- For teachers, the diversity present in all classrooms provides both challenges and exciting opportunities for instruction.
- Multiple perspectives in response to a text generate multiple interpretations. In turn, multiple interpretations generate deeper and more thoughtful responses than occur when each student reads in the isolation of his or her own circumstance.
- Envisionment-building teachers make sure students know their unique perspectives are appreciated. Additionally, they may plan activities to foreground or enhance those perspectives in order to enrich discussion and broaden understandings.
- Envisionment-building teachers encourage students to share their various interpretations, explore them, and use them to enrich one another's interpretations of a text. In this way, when students recognize and understand the different viewpoints presented by their classmates, they learn from one another.
- Readers rely on their individual backgrounds as they make meaning from texts. As they share their meanings with others, their initial understandings can be enhanced or reinterpreted.
- Recognizing and exploring multiple perspectives leads students to challenge their existing beliefs and broaden their world views.
- Because it presents a vast array of human experiences, literature provides an excellent avenue for exploring human diversity, particularly in communities with somewhat homogenous backgrounds.
- Diverse texts and students' responses to them can help students discover commonalties between themselves and others who, superficially, may appear very different.
- Because of differing life experiences, everybody has opportunities to connect with texts in different ways. As a result, students working in mixed-ability groups hear many ideas that help them develop their own thinking.
- Inclusion classrooms present teachers with particular challenges as they seek to meet the intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of each student while promoting deeper understandings for every student.
- Many teachers use reading aloud to help all readers understand ways in which texts might be read while enabling them to participate fully in literature discussions.
- Buddy reading, or peer tutoring where two or three students of varying abilities work together, is another tool to blend students into a single community of learners.
- Conversation around a text that includes all students develops a classroom into a community.
- Readers' theater (story theater) is another strategy for supporting struggling readers and enabling their participation in the conversation.
- Reading aloud can help students develop their comprehension.
- Tag reading (also known as jump-in reading, or popcorn reading), allowing students to choose how to share the reading task and when to stop, is a useful way to have students read.
- Envisionment-building classrooms offer learning experiences that are broad enough and thought-provoking enough so that every student can participate and have their own thinking pushed beyond where it was when they came to class.
- Modifying texts for weaker readers is rarely an effective strategy.
- Inclusion classrooms with students with special needs benefit from additional personnel to offer needed support.
As anybody with the opportunity to know identical twins well might
attest, external appearances can be deceiving. Closer scrutiny forces
superficial similarities aside, and each twin presents a wide range of
differences when compared with his or her sibling. So it is in our schools.
Even in locations where similarities of ethnicity and geographic background
create classroom populations that look homogenous, closer acquaintance
invariably reveals an abundance of diversities not readily apparent to the
casual eye. Even though every human being on the planet shares 99.9% of his or
her DNA with every other human, different cultural or economic backgrounds,
ability levels, physical or emotional challenges, interests, and life
experiences generate the multiple perspectives that typify our complex society
and enrich our interactions with one another.
Certainly the many different points-of-view students bring to the
classroom present a number of challenges for teachers. How can both curriculum
and instruction be designed and presented to meet the needs of such diverse
populations? In full-inclusion classrooms, how can teachers ensure that every
student will be able to participate fully in the instructional experiences
offered? What support will students need to help them understand, accept, and
appreciate the multiple perspectives they encounter, both within the classroom
and in their larger society?
RESPONDING TO STUDENT DIVERSITY
General Principles
Treat students
as individuals whose identities are complex and unique.
For
example, you can ask open-ended questions to solicit students' reports of their
experiences or observations without calling on a student to speak for his or
her race/gender/culture. Also, learning to pronounce all of the names correctly
shows respect for varied backgrounds.
Encourage full
participation while being aware of differences which may influence students'
responses.
For
example, you can make eye contact with everyone, increase your wait time to
include less assertive and/or more reflective students, ask questions that draw
out quieter participants or challenge dominant students in small groups, or
talk with students outside of class to provide encouragement.
Vary your
teaching methods to take advantage of different learning styles and to expand the
repertoire of strategies tried by each student.
For
example, you can foster peer relationships with in-class collaboration, include
concrete examples whenever possible, use visual or dramatic presentations, or
value personal knowledge and experience when students share it.
Promote a
respectful classroom climate with egalitarian norms and acceptance of
differences.
For
example, you can encourage student projects involving diverse perspectives,
discuss guidelines or "ground rules" for good participation, and
monitor language use for implicit assumptions, exclusions, or
overgeneralizations.
Be aware of
possible student anxiety about their performance in a competitive environment
such as Carnegie Mellon's but try not to "overprotect."
All
students - including those whose personal or cultural histories may include
being a target of stereotypes and discrimination - need clear standards and
evaluation criteria, straightforward comments on their work delivered with tact
and empathy, and early feedback so that they can change their learning
strategies or get help if needed.
AVOIDING COMMON PROBLEMS
Avoid highly
idiomatic English.
Idioms
are especially confusing for non-native speakers of English or any student who
may have been raised in another country or another region of the U.S. While the
expressions may be colorful, many students may miss an important concept if the
phrase in unfamiliar (e.g. "once in a blue moon," "between a
rock and a hard place").
Provide some
linguistic redundancy.
Many
students, particularly non-native speakers of English, benefit from both seeing
and hearing language (e.g. through the use of the blackboard or overhead
projector) and from hearing key ideas stated in different ways.
Use diverse
examples rather than ones which assume a particular background or experience.
Examples
that come easily are often those which come from our own experiences. Make sure
you aren't consistently assuming all your students share that experience. For
example, notice when many of your examples are based on cultural or regional
knowledge, hobbies favored predominantly by one gender, or political or
historical knowledge unfamiliar to those from other countries.
Don't assume
that students who don't talk don't know the material.
Being
quiet in the classroom and not "showing off" are considered
respectful in many Asian cultures. For some women and people of color, silence
in the classroom may have been learned in response to negative experiences with
participation (e.g. being interrupted by others, not getting credit for their
ideas, having others talk to them in a condescending or dismissive way).
Watch the type
of humor that occurs in your classes to be sure it denigrates no one.
A
surprisingly large number of jokes involve putting down people who are
different in some way and who may already feel marginal because of those
differences. For more about classroom humor, see page 30 of Collected Wisdom.
TALKING ABOUT DIVERSITY WITH STUDENTS
To prepare for successfully raising issues of diversity and bias in the classroom, teachers should attempt to make the following practices an integral part of their daily practice.
To prepare for successfully raising issues of diversity and bias in the classroom, teachers should attempt to make the following practices an integral part of their daily practice.
1. Self-Exploration
Examine your own cultural biases and assumptions. Explore your perceptions and understanding of situations by developing an awareness of your cultural "filters."
2. Comprehensive Integration
Integrate culturally diverse information/perspectives into all aspects of your teaching. Consider moving beyond the constraints of a cultural history month by incorporating multiple perspectives into all aspects of the curriculum.
3. Time and Maturation
Allow time for a process to develop. Introduce less complex topics at first, and create time to establish trust. Begin discussions by developing ground rules that allow for honest discussion within a respectful context. Recognize that the long history of mistrust between people in different groups will influence classroom discussions.
4. Accepting Environment
Establish an environment that allows for mistakes. Since most of us have been unconsciously acculturated into prejudicial and stereotypical thinking, we may not be aware that certain attitudes are hurtful to others. Acknowledge that intolerant thinking will surface from time to time in others and ourselves. Model non-defensive responses when told that something you said or did was offensive to someone. Assume good will and make that assumption a common practice in the classroom.
5. Intervention
Be prepared to respond to purposely-directed acts of bias. Students will carefully observe how you intervene when someone is the target of discriminatory or hate-based behavior. Silence in the face of injustice conveys the impression that prejudicial behavior is condoned or not worthy of attention. Make it clear to students and their families that you will not allow name-calling in the classroom. Your appropriate and timely intervention is critical in establishing a safe classroom environment where all students can succeed.
6. Life-long Learning
Keep abreast of current anti-bias education issues and discuss them with students. Clip articles from newspapers and magazines and post them in the classroom. Let students know that you consider yourself a learner, and that you see yourself as part of the learning process.
7. Discovery Learning
Avoid "preaching" to students about how they should behave. Research indicates that exhortation is the least effective methodology for changing prejudiced attitudes; in fact, it often produces a result opposite from the desired effect. Provide opportunities for students to resolve conflicts, solve problems, work in diverse teams and think critically about information.
8. Life Experiences
Provide opportunities for students to share life experiences; choose literature that will help students develop empathy. Make your classroom a place where students’ experiences are not marginalized, trivialized or invalidated. Prejudice and discrimination have a unique impact on each individual. Students and their families develop a variety of coping strategies based upon the type and frequency of discrimination they have experienced. It is never fruitful to engage in a debate over who has suffered the most. Oppression is harmful to all people in all of its forms.
9. Resources Review
Review materials so that classroom displays and bulletin boards are inclusive of all people. Insure that supplemental books and videos do not reinforce existing societal stereotypes. When you see such examples in textbooks, point them out to students and encourage students to think about them critically and to challenge them.
10. Home-School-Community Connection
Involve parents, other family members and other community members in the learning process. Understand that families and others in the community provide the context in which students are motivated to learn. We cannot view the school and the home or school and the community as isolated from one another; we must examine how they interconnect with each other and with the world.
11. Examine Your Classroom Environment
What is present and absent in the school classroom, provides children with important information about who and what is important. Every effort should be made to create a setting that is rich in possibilities for exploring cultural diversity. Such an environment assists children in developing their ideas about themselves and others, creates the conditions under which children initiate conversations about differences and provides you with a setting for introducing activities about diversity. It also fosters children’s positive self-concept and attitudes.
Examine your own cultural biases and assumptions. Explore your perceptions and understanding of situations by developing an awareness of your cultural "filters."
2. Comprehensive Integration
Integrate culturally diverse information/perspectives into all aspects of your teaching. Consider moving beyond the constraints of a cultural history month by incorporating multiple perspectives into all aspects of the curriculum.
3. Time and Maturation
Allow time for a process to develop. Introduce less complex topics at first, and create time to establish trust. Begin discussions by developing ground rules that allow for honest discussion within a respectful context. Recognize that the long history of mistrust between people in different groups will influence classroom discussions.
4. Accepting Environment
Establish an environment that allows for mistakes. Since most of us have been unconsciously acculturated into prejudicial and stereotypical thinking, we may not be aware that certain attitudes are hurtful to others. Acknowledge that intolerant thinking will surface from time to time in others and ourselves. Model non-defensive responses when told that something you said or did was offensive to someone. Assume good will and make that assumption a common practice in the classroom.
5. Intervention
Be prepared to respond to purposely-directed acts of bias. Students will carefully observe how you intervene when someone is the target of discriminatory or hate-based behavior. Silence in the face of injustice conveys the impression that prejudicial behavior is condoned or not worthy of attention. Make it clear to students and their families that you will not allow name-calling in the classroom. Your appropriate and timely intervention is critical in establishing a safe classroom environment where all students can succeed.
6. Life-long Learning
Keep abreast of current anti-bias education issues and discuss them with students. Clip articles from newspapers and magazines and post them in the classroom. Let students know that you consider yourself a learner, and that you see yourself as part of the learning process.
7. Discovery Learning
Avoid "preaching" to students about how they should behave. Research indicates that exhortation is the least effective methodology for changing prejudiced attitudes; in fact, it often produces a result opposite from the desired effect. Provide opportunities for students to resolve conflicts, solve problems, work in diverse teams and think critically about information.
8. Life Experiences
Provide opportunities for students to share life experiences; choose literature that will help students develop empathy. Make your classroom a place where students’ experiences are not marginalized, trivialized or invalidated. Prejudice and discrimination have a unique impact on each individual. Students and their families develop a variety of coping strategies based upon the type and frequency of discrimination they have experienced. It is never fruitful to engage in a debate over who has suffered the most. Oppression is harmful to all people in all of its forms.
9. Resources Review
Review materials so that classroom displays and bulletin boards are inclusive of all people. Insure that supplemental books and videos do not reinforce existing societal stereotypes. When you see such examples in textbooks, point them out to students and encourage students to think about them critically and to challenge them.
10. Home-School-Community Connection
Involve parents, other family members and other community members in the learning process. Understand that families and others in the community provide the context in which students are motivated to learn. We cannot view the school and the home or school and the community as isolated from one another; we must examine how they interconnect with each other and with the world.
11. Examine Your Classroom Environment
What is present and absent in the school classroom, provides children with important information about who and what is important. Every effort should be made to create a setting that is rich in possibilities for exploring cultural diversity. Such an environment assists children in developing their ideas about themselves and others, creates the conditions under which children initiate conversations about differences and provides you with a setting for introducing activities about diversity. It also fosters children’s positive self-concept and attitudes.
REFERENCES
http://eprints.usq.edu.au/755/
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