ODowd 1

Marlee ODowd
EDUC 1301
Dr. Quong
14 November 2014
Diversity
The students in my classroom are all unique. Each one has his/her own personality. Some
are from different cultural backgrounds and enter the classroom each day with different
expectations and motivation levels.
The race, gender, and social class of each student helps make up the diversity in the
classroom. While the teacher does not seem to focus upon these differences, it is an important
ingredient in the management of the class (Self Awareness). In the class I am observing there are 5
boys and 4 girls. Two of the boys are of Hispanic heritage, one girl is from Burma and the rest are
Caucasian. While their outward appearances are the most striking ways they are diverse, some of
the most distinctive way they are different may be the knowledge and perspective each child brings
to the classroom. That is way I think it is very important to be open to different perspectives when
teaching a class taking care not to be influence by stereotypes or prejudices.
While it is important to recognize the differences of students in the classroom, I think it is
equally important to teach to what students have in common. Based upon the age of the students in
my class, some of their commonalities include their cognition, development, emotion and
motivation.

ODowd 2
Since most of the students in the class I am observing live in a small rural community they
have some experience in common and may share the same view of many current events and
surroundings. This information can be useful when the teacher is making connections between
learning.
The teacher carefully creates a learning environment in her classroom where each student
can feel safe when engaging in the class. She seems distinctly aware that in order for learning to
occur, students need to be free to share their views and beliefs, but also need to show tolerance to
other points of view. She carefully encourages her students to express opinions but is careful to
make each student aware that she will not tolerate racial or prejudice remarks. Understanding and
question are accepted, but not bullying or cruelty.
The teacher promotes diversity in her classroom in the following ways:

She arranges the classroom in a way that encourage interaction;

She encourages participation in whole class discussions.

She models learning about diversity.

She actively intervenes in the class when necessary.

Promoting diversity should be the goal of all American public schools. Our country is the
model for diversity world-wide and teachers and schools have a responsibility to promote
diversity and inclusion in our classrooms in a responsible manner.

LEARN Center." Self Awareness. N.p., 2006. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.