Diversity In Education

In today’s society, diversity in education is extremely important. America is no longer the melting pot it used to be. It has gradually transformed into a salad bowl filled with people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. As educators, we have to transform and adapt our teaching styles to fit all walks of life. Differentiation is the passport to diversity. In order to be successful in a diverse classroom, facilitators must be able to balance student awareness and community acceptance.
Instructional plans must be flexible and diversified in order to meet the needs of all students. Being employed in a school that is roughly 95% African American it is important that my curriculum is geared towards black culture, in order
Many students have a limited vocabulary because of their environment. One’s socio-economic status plays a major factor in their vocabulary development. Many students are only accustomed to their social dialect or African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) also known as “Black English” which places limitations on their vocabulary development and causes difficulty when trying to learn and speak Standard English. In order to speak any language correctly, one must immerse themselves in the language. If a student comes from an environment where only Ebonics is spoken it is difficult for them to relate to Standard English, which makes it difficult for them to write and speak correctly even if they read it on a daily
According to Leah Weidenhoft, standardized test isn't written for people that aren’t white or wealthy. Due to racially bias assessments, teachers are forced to teach students the “white” way to read and write. Educational practices in Virginia are not geared towards diversified instruction. Students are grouped by age and not by ability and they are all forced to learn the same material across the state in order to be considered successful in the eyes of white lawmakers. In order for instruction to be diversified, the assessments must be diversified. It is unfair to students from other cultures to be taught Standard English without being other forms of English such as AAVE. If diversifying assessments is not an option more media driven cross-curricular lessons should be created to teach students about all cultures and backgrounds.
In conclusion, after discussing diversity in education with my colleague I’ve learned that we have a similar thought process when it comes to injustice in education. Everyone should be given a fair and equal education and it is important to expose all students to different cultures. Success comes from exposure. Students must be exposed to different backgrounds in order for them to gain the background knowledge and be able to relate to and respect other cultures. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect and all students are