I think if you are in a young class, and it has a fair amount of diversity, one approach may be to give an assignment where a child (or group of similar background children) present to the rest of the class something unique about that child's background. Holiday's they may celebrate, people they look up to as hero's, etc.
The rest of the class will learn something about a different culture, and the children presenting will learn more about their own culture. They may also learn they aren't much different from each other.
We as teachers need to treat everyone equally no matter how diverse our classrooms may be.
Me as an Art teacher, I would teach my students through art history and pojects about many different cultures, because art is connected to many of them. They would also connect themselves to those cultures by actually producing their art work which would definately give them a unique experience on another level. Instead of just talking about the different background they would express how they connected through their creations.
We must first reflect on that which is useful, that which is inclusive. We must then discern what the children will need to be able to accomplish in order to succeed. With those goals in mind we then need to develop strategies of teaching which will effectively facilitate how to understand these goals, their usefulness and application to as many students possible.
I like the idea of having the students trace their roots and create some kind of project or presentation around it. I am amazed at how little students know about their own background and ancestors. I encourage them to talk to their grandparents and older living relatives, and create something everlasting on their exchange.
These students come from very diverse backgrounds. In our school we have students whose anscestors come from incredibly diverse backgrounds. By having them dig into their own family histories, and sharing their findings with the class, two thing are accompished. We are able to celebrate the diversity in the students and their fascinating backgrounds. We are also able to find the commonality in man by seeing the similarities in the stories of students from completely different ethnic backgrounds.
As you know my school is considered a Fashion, Art and Design school and I am a part of the design section. As a rule I usually teach all aspects of Fashion Design, I have always tried to infuse academics as a part of my curriculum. We are not allowed to have any type of celebration during class time so a few of us use that celebration as instruction. Each student brings a native dish and has to write a one page essay about the origins of the dish. This essay gives their history as told by their parents.
We have a lot of fun on these occasions and we learn about each other this way. Their stories are similar but different and I also use this celebration to encourage the students who are quiet. You would be surprised to hear their stories it is so diverse and entertaining.
A few years ago I had each of the students in my class do research on their background on the internet. They then made flags of the country of their heritage. The children were then videotaped where they read their reports. Their work was put together into an imovie project. The 10 children in my class represented Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Grenada and Germany. It was a true learning experience and the children were so proud sharing their heritage through this wonderful movie.
It is important to treat students in a class as equals but if you do have a largely diverse class it might be a good idea to have students do research on their own backgrounds and then when that is done they would know more of were they had come from. After all the research is done you could have like a multicultural day and the students can tell about their culture and background.
Just like most of the other classmates have said, it is very important to treat the students equally. It sound easy, but I know it is hard, but it is our duty to do so. The students interacting with all different culture must accept the fact that they are blessed. Living in a uniculture are easily fallen in fascism and misleaded government system. anyways, my subject is mathematics and has an advantage of the fact that numbers are universal language.
That is what has made this country so great. The very nature of our respect for freedom and liberty carry us together as "one" diverse society that lives together. Unfortunately not everyone gets it.Teachers should engage students with diverse backgrounds in group dicussions and projects in order to learn from one another. Sharing prior experiences and differnt cultures give students opportunities to contribute so all students can learn.
How do we reflect on the global nature of our society and respond to the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the children in the classroom?
Our society has been a melting pot from the 1400s until now. We continue to accept people from every country known to man. These folks if they keep up with their heritage they will be able to communicate their experiences with those that they have come into contact with, thus giving others a sneak peak into the lives of those who still live in their native country. If people keep up with their culture then children growing up born in this country can go out and learn to enjoy and appreciate other peole's culture and in turn make us all more globally aware.
It is very hard to address the cultural diversity in our classrooms. There are some classes in my school where there are as many as 6 or 7 different native languages.I think that the only thing we can do as teachers is be as sensitive as possible to the cultural needs and differences our kids have. Also, we must make efforts to make sure that they children are comfortable with each other and perhaps create opportunities for some fun cultural exchanges to occur in class. I have a good situation as a Phys. Ed. teacher no matter where my kids come from there is some commonality in terms of games and sports that give them something to share even if it's only the fact that the ball is round.
11 comments:
I think if you are in a young class, and it has a fair amount of diversity, one approach may be to give an assignment where a child (or group of similar background children) present to the rest of the class something unique about that child's background. Holiday's they may celebrate, people they look up to as hero's, etc.
The rest of the class will learn something about a different culture, and the children presenting will learn more about their own culture. They may also learn they aren't much different from each other.
We as teachers need to treat everyone equally no matter how diverse our classrooms may be.
Me as an Art teacher, I would teach my students through art history and pojects about many different cultures, because art is connected to many of them. They would also connect themselves to those cultures by actually producing their art work which would definately give them a unique experience on another level. Instead of just talking about the different background they would express how they connected through their creations.
We must first reflect on that which is useful, that which is inclusive. We must then discern what the children will need to be able to accomplish in order to succeed. With those goals in mind we then need to develop strategies of teaching which will effectively facilitate how to understand these goals, their usefulness and application to as many students possible.
I like the idea of having the students trace their roots and create some kind of project or presentation around it. I am amazed at how little students know about their own background and ancestors. I encourage them to talk to their grandparents and older living relatives, and create something everlasting on their exchange.
These students come from very diverse backgrounds. In our school we have students whose anscestors come from incredibly diverse backgrounds. By having them dig into their own family histories, and sharing their findings with the class, two thing are accompished. We are able to celebrate the diversity in the students and their fascinating backgrounds. We are also able to find the commonality in man by seeing the similarities in the stories of students from completely different ethnic backgrounds.
As you know my school is considered a Fashion, Art and Design school and I am a part of the design section. As a rule I usually teach all aspects of Fashion Design, I have always tried to infuse academics as a part of my curriculum. We are not allowed to have any type of celebration during class time so a few of us use that celebration as instruction. Each student brings a native dish and has to write a one page essay about the origins of the dish. This essay gives their history as told by their parents.
We have a lot of fun on these occasions and we learn about each other this way. Their stories are similar but different and I also use this celebration to encourage the students who are quiet. You would be surprised to hear their stories it is so diverse and entertaining.
A few years ago I had each of the students in my class do research on their background on the internet. They then made flags of the country of their heritage. The children were then videotaped where they read their reports. Their work was put together into an imovie project. The 10 children in my class represented Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Grenada and Germany. It was a true learning experience and the children were so proud sharing their heritage through this wonderful movie.
It is important to treat students in a class as equals but if you do have a largely diverse class it might be a good idea to have students do research on their own backgrounds and then when that is done they would know more of were they had come from. After all the research is done you could have like a multicultural day and the students can tell about their culture and background.
Just like most of the other classmates have said, it is very important to treat the students equally. It sound easy, but I know it is hard, but it is our duty to do so.
The students interacting with all different culture must accept the fact that they are blessed. Living in a uniculture are easily fallen in fascism and misleaded government system.
anyways, my subject is mathematics and has an advantage of the fact that numbers are universal language.
That is what has made this country so great. The very nature of our respect for freedom and liberty carry us together as "one" diverse society that lives together. Unfortunately not everyone gets it.Teachers should engage students with diverse backgrounds in group dicussions and projects in order to learn from one another. Sharing prior experiences and differnt cultures give students opportunities to contribute so all students can learn.
How do we reflect on the global nature of our society and respond to the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the children in the classroom?
Our society has been a melting pot from the 1400s until now. We continue to accept people from every country known to man. These folks if they keep up with their heritage they will be able to communicate their experiences with those that they have come into contact with, thus giving others a sneak peak into the lives of those who still live in their native country. If people keep up with their culture then children growing up born in this country can go out and learn to enjoy and appreciate other peole's culture and in turn make us all more globally aware.
It is very hard to address the cultural diversity in our classrooms. There are some classes in my school where there are as many as 6 or 7 different native languages.I think that the only thing we can do as teachers is be as sensitive as possible to the cultural needs and differences our kids have. Also, we must make efforts to make sure that they children are comfortable with each other and perhaps create opportunities for some fun cultural exchanges to occur in class. I have a good situation as a Phys. Ed. teacher no matter where my kids come from there is some commonality in terms of games and sports that give them something to share even if it's only the fact that the ball is round.
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