Michelle Loomis

EDU 378 – Diversity Paper

Due: 11/19/08

Diversity is the one thing that we all have in common. It exists everywhere in society, and is the cause to a great amount of stereotyping. One place diversity is very prominent is in educational settings. Public schools consist of all types of people, from all backgrounds, leaving every class with a great amount of diversity. As a result, teachers are responsible to address all the diversity in the classroom. This can be done by creating a community within the classroom in which all students feel safe and comfortable.

This semester I have spent time in a fourth grade classroom. The school I am in does not have a typical “diverse” atmosphere. The students in the school are primarily Caucasian, and there is an equal split of boys and girls, throughout the school. The students are also from a Christian background and religion, as a topic, is really left out of the school. However, there are three main things that do make the school diverse.

The first aspect of diversity in the school is that the students come from very different parts of the area. The school district is very large and as a result the school buses children in from a 40 mile radius. This leaves children to be both suburban and rural and a result there is a separation between the students in the school.

The separation is prominent in the classroom I am in. Currently the students are writing short stories about a time in their lives that they remember. One student is writing about the first time he shot a bird, while hunting. When he was talking to another student about this moment in his life the boy who wrote the story asked his partner if he has ever been hunting. The student responded by saying “no, there is nowhere to go hunting by my house”. This incident is one of many that represents the differences among students hobbies based on where they live.

Another aspect of diversity in the school is the differences in the socioeconomic status of the students. This is also very prominent in the classroom I am in. The first indication of the differences in socioeconomic status in my classroom is the way the students dress. Some student wear different clothes every day, some wear different ones every other day, and others wear the same shirt all week. Students in the class are aware of this and I have heard students say that other students smell bad. This, likely, results in a student feeling uncomfortable about their home-life situation. A result could be that they feel unwanted in the classroom and therefore they may have limited friends.

It is important for the teacher to address this situation, because the student cannot help the way they live at home. It is important for every student to know that it is not the students fault and therefore they should not be judged. This topic is not addressed in my host teacher’s classroom. As a result, a few students are ridiculed and left alone, with very few friends.

One day, during snack time I noticed a table in which three students had the same kind of pudding. I walked over to make a comment, such as “Oh it must be a pudding day”. One girl then explains to me that she brought a pudding for her friend because her mom does not have any money to buy her snacks. I was immediately taken back, and was at a loss for words. I responded by telling the one girl that it was ok and that she had a great friend who was willing to share. This incident shocked me. However, I thought of a way to prevent this from happening and creating an equal environment. I believe that the teacher or the school should provide a snack for the class during snack time, or the class should not have a snack time. This would create an equality that is necessary for the class to have.

Another incident that shows the differences of student’s socio-economic status is their upcoming trip to Albany, NY. Each student is required to pay $29.00 on their own, on top of the fundraising that the school is doing. To help the students who do not have the money to go my host teacher put out a “turkey jar” for students and teachers to place extra change in. This allows students who have more to help out students who have less. I believe this is a great way to deal with the current problem in the classroom, and the problem with socio-economic diversity in the classroom.

The final aspect of diversity, that I have noticed, in my classroom is the differences in the student’s learning abilities. My host teacher collaborates with another teacher in the building. The two classes, of around 50 students in total, are intertwined most of the day, leaving each class fully together only for social studies and science. For English, math and reading the students are mixed up into two or three groups. These groups are based on how well they did on their state tests in the previous year. My host teacher is responsible for teaching the students who are severely below grade level, and students who are right below grade level.

By splitting up the classes based on ability the students are able to maximize their learning. However, this creates segregation within the classroom. The main problem with dealing with diversity by segregating it is that students are stereotyped. Therefore, by breaking up the students based on their ability the students who are categorized as below grade level feel as if they are not smart enough.

One day, while I was helping a student with a math assignment he said, “I’m going to do the work in my head so I can be in the higher math group”. I responded by explaining that he should talk to the teacher if he feels like he knows the material well enough to move to the higher level. I was shocked when this incident occurred. I did not realize that the students understood there was a high-level and a low-level math class, and that they were in the low-level one. I can only imagine how the students feel, and now I understand why they are discouraged.

Another day, I was talking with a girl in the class, during ELA, and asked her why she was not doing her work. Her response was, “I am not smart. I cannot do it”. Again I was astonished. I believe that the reason for her saying this was because she sees most of her classmates going to the other room, and she knows that they are classified as being smarter than her. Therefore, I believe she does not see the point of trying.

My teacher treats every student the same. He would never want a student to know that another student is smarter than that student. I believe it was the school that had the idea to separate the students. I recently found out that the school did not perform very well on their state tests last year, and I believe this could be the reason for the separation of the students.

Diversity is the differences amongst human beings. Being different can cause students to feel uncomfortable. As Abraham Maslow, a well known theorist, explained, in order for students to be able to learn they need to have confidence and self-esteem. I believe that dealing with diversity the wrong way could cause students to feel like they do not belong. Therefore, it is important for the classroom to have a strong community so students who are “different” still feel comfortable, and can have that confidence they need to succeed in school.

With all the diversity in my host teacher’s classroom the students need to feel comfortable and confident. However, the community does not provide that opportunity for the students. As stated before, the students know if they are in the “smart-math” class or not. This leaves students feeling like they are not as good as other students. For a class to have a good sense of community the students need to all feel equal. This could be done by having the students work together and help one another.

My teacher, as I have observed, has never done a community builder or addressed any aspect of diversity with the class. The results are shown every day. The students do not know each other, and do not respect each other.

The only opportunity I have observed, for students to have a chance to express themselves is by being the student of the week. Every Monday a new student has a chance to put a picture and information about themselves up on a bulletin board. The students then are given five minutes in the morning to ask questions to that student of the week. I believe that this helps students to get to know one another, but there are better ways that the teacher could do this. I also believe that every student should be given a chance to share information about themselves the first week of school, instead of throughout the whole year. This would provide students with opportunities to get to know one another and build a trust in the classroom before the actual curriculum is being taught.

Student’s desks, in my host teacher’s classroom, are in clusters. This provides an opportunity for the students to work together on assignments and activities. There have been a few occasions where the teacher provides this opportunity. However, the students are usually working independently or in a small group with a teacher. Therefore, there is little time for social interaction.

Throughout the entire day there are a total of forty-five minutes for students to interact socially together. This is broken down into thirty minutes for lunch and fifteen minutes for recess. I believe this is the main reason that the students do not know each other. If more group time was provided, for the students, they will have a chance to get to know one another better and will in the end help to create a better sense of community.

One effect I have noticed about how the students interact is that there are numerous fights going on throughout the classroom. A few days ago a student created a secret group that only certain students were allowed into. The whole class knew about it and everyone wanted to be part of it. I am not sure of the exact criteria, but I believe entrance was based solely on whether or not the girl who created it liked you or not. The teacher found out about this and took the sheet of paper away. He then had a conversation with the girl who started it explaining how her actions were disruptive to the classroom. However, he did not address the whole class on this issue. Therefore, one student was punished and the students who were segregated before were still feeling left out. My host teacher puts in a great deal of effort for the students to get along; however, he just does not do it in an effective way.

The main goal for dealing with diversity is for every student to understand each other’s differences so that they can all feel equal to one another. Therefore the classroom environment must provide an opportunity for this to occur. Even though my current experience has not shown this very well, I feel as if I learned a lot. I have learned how to improve his classroom to make each student feel comfortable within the classroom and with their classmates. I believe this is crucial in order for students to succeed in learning.