Culture And Diversity Case Study

Culture and diversity are important topics in contemporary educational circles. It is a major task providing for the successful blending of both culture and diversity in a school setting. This task is ultimately left in the hands of school leaders, who may or may not be skilled in creating a culture of diversity. That school leader as a servant leader takes on the responsibility to provide an educational environment which reflects some of the lived experiences of the students. This enculturation and diversification is done by involving the larger community as a resource, meeting the student 's academic concerns and needs, creating social activities meant to engage the new cultures and ultimately being open to personal and communal growth. …show more content…
Curley, as part of its academic program, had a Learning Center which did resource work with students who struggled with math and reading. This Learning Center Program was designed to provide support for students for only the first two years of high school. The rationale behind two years of resource was only to help build essentials skills needed to give student success as they moved through the rest of their high school career. The students usually accepted to the Learning Center where McKay scholars. These are students who have been tested, by a school district, and provided funds to attend a school of their choice for a better chance at success.(“Creating Competition Through School Choice,” 2016) Because Curley did not have a special education program, it agreed to provide some accommodations to student learning programs in order to guide them to success. Students who were accepted to the voucher program had to be admitted sight unseen. Upon arrival of their school records we learned that a vast majority of the students had learning needs that were far beyond what the schools Learning Center was prepared to provide. Because of their immigrant issues many of the students were not tested. A few were struggling with ESL and ELL issues. Curley was not ready for this and again the larger educational community was needed to help. District specialist and behaviorist became involved. Retired special education professions volunteered …show more content…
ACND was a school that had traditional extracurricular activities. The most exotic activity of the time would have been speech and debate and perhaps the Nightingales. Exotic meant that these groups traveled and left the campus, even the state, to compete with other groups like themselves. Some of the new students were drawn to the established activities, but many wanted to start new endeavors that would engage their own experiences. Hence, the start of the Gospel Choir for those students that wanted to sing more than the usual classics and traditional songs for mass. This same choir also sang Haitian folk songs and hymns in Kreyol. Their might have been a mention of various ethnic and seasonal celebrations, but now there was a demand for an assembly for Black History Month and more mention of Haitian national days. Along with the need for signing and cultural celebrations came the desire to have a dance group that reflected the needs of the group, so a Hip Hop Dance Team was created. Great efforts were made to welcome and accommodate our new students.
The acceptance of the voucher students was a major paradigm shift for Archbishop Curley - Notre Dame High School. The change in the equilibrium of ethnic groups rocked the schools in many ways. A true servant leader was needed to help with the transition in Curley’s school history. This leader needed to employ