INTASC Principle 3: Diverse Learners

INTASC Principle 3: Diverse Learners

During my graduate career I had the opportunity to learn about diverse learners and how their needs should be met in the classroom. One class in particular addressed diverse learners, Dr. Philip Mutisya’s ECI 500, Theory and Practice in Teaching Diverse Populations. In the class we learned how to approach students of all different cultures, races, sexes, abilities, and ethnicities. Not only did we discuss how to interact with diverse students, but also teachers and administrators within the school.

I had the opportunity to work with classmates on a project about diversity and professional relations in schools. The project stressed how relations between teachers of different racial backgrounds says much about the level of respect for diversity in the school as a whole. The project also addressed the challenges that educators face when trying to accommodate diverse learners. For example, promoting high standards for all students in a classroom might be difficult. While some students are able to achieve high standards on all activities and assignments, other students might lack motivation or need more encouragement or more assistance with the assignment. When students go home they each experience a different environment, and this can play into the teaching-learning process.

http://www.docstoc.com/Docs/444261/Diversity

Due to all of the political events occurring in our society today, I often tied in current events to the lessons I would teach. When teaching about political parties, I had the students take a political philosophy quiz online. For extra credit students could have their parents take the same quiz and compare and contrast the results. Students found that often their political philosophy quiz results matched that of their parents. Once detailed conversations about political events occurred in class, much of students’ own personal political biases surfaced. As an educator, I tried to present information in an unbiased way and hoped to have students approach new topics with an open mind. I tried to keep in mind that diversity is not always taught at home, so one of my teaching objectives was to help students think outside of their own personal philosophies and expand their horizons.

I also tried to promote diversity within my classroom by grouping students of different backgrounds and classes together. Students brought different backgrounds and experiences to the group work they completed and were able to collaborate their ideas. Many students kept an open mind while working with other students and were able to come to a conclusion that incorporated every group member’s ideas.

I also had the opportunity to learn about other countries school systems in ECI 501, Foundations of Curriculum. In the class, one of the assignments was for students to compare and contrast countries’ educational systems. My partner and I decided to report on similarities and differences between the United States’ and Poland’s education systems. This gave me the opportunity to not only learn more about the United States education system but also how other countries set up their systems. While my partner and I only reported on one country, the other classmates reported on countries such as China, Italy, Japan, among many others.

http://www.docstoc.com/Docs/444283/United%20States%20and%20Poland

I feel that diversity within the classroom as well as outside of the classroom was a major theme in my graduate school career as well as in my student teaching experience. I welcome students of all different walks of life and hope to not only teach my students about diversity but to learn things from my students as well.