Schools are the most diverse places within the United States. It is a place where children from all over the world come together. Today teachers must tap into the culture of their students, make students aware of diversity, and making teachers aware of diversity.
“The cultural interplay between teachers, students, parents, and their school produces a context within which significant culture learning can occur” (Textbook page 112). Creating an understanding of the culture in which your students are from allows you to properly teach them. As Lisa Delpit puts it, “They knew the students. That’s really the only way to teach...Teaching is all about telling a story. You have to get to know kids so you’ll know how to tell the story, you can’t tell …show more content…
Some student may grow up in a small town where everyone around them is like them. Pamela Perry states, “teaching students about racism in society not only helps racial minority students feel seen and respected for their experiences, but also helps white students become more cognizant of the facts and causes of racial inequalities” (EAR page 228). Even though your class may contain one race, ethnicity, or culture it is still important to talk to your students about diversity. Incorporate in idea that there is more to this world than just them and that the world is full of diversity. Perry also states, “White teachers and white students are often oblivious to the painful and alienating effects that white-dominated classrooms can have on students of color” (EAR page 227). There is a doll study that was performed in which students were to pick who was the smart child, and who was the pretty child from five different dolls. These dolls were based on a scale in which one was light (white) and one was dark (black). When the children answered the questions the majority of them pointed to the white person for the positive questions and the black person for the negative ones. For instance, the one of the children interview was asked to point to the smart child and she pointed to the light skinned one. When asked which one was the dumb one she pointed to the dark skinned one. It is important that teachers encourage white …show more content…
Some teachers may have the state of mind that it is there way or the highway. For instance, in one of the readings from Everyday Antiracism, there is a case in which Mesquaki students did not participate in class discussion. Rather than the teachers understanding things from the perspective of their students they continued to view them from their very own perception. There was a workshop conducted to inform the teachers of the culture of the Mesquaki. Some teachers “continued to blame the Mesquaki students and saw them as lacking English language skills, motivation to succeed, self-esteem, parental guidance, and community support for education. Other white teachers embraced the message of the workshop: that Mesquaki youth were silent because this was the ‘Indian’ way of communicating and learning” (EAR page 223). If teachers not only knew about the cultures that make of their students but also accepted them, teaching them will become significantly better not only for the teacher but also the students. According to Pamela Perry, “White teachers in predominantly white classrooms must thus stay open to the feedback of students of color in order to learn when our behaviors unintentionally make them feel afraid” (EAR page 227). Being aware of this is important and incorporating the feedback of students shows them that they are
“The cultural interplay between teachers, students, parents, and their school produces a context within which significant culture learning can occur” (Textbook page 112). Creating an understanding of the culture in which your students are from allows you to properly teach them. As Lisa Delpit puts it, “They knew the students. That’s really the only way to teach...Teaching is all about telling a story. You have to get to know kids so you’ll know how to tell the story, you can’t tell …show more content…
Some student may grow up in a small town where everyone around them is like them. Pamela Perry states, “teaching students about racism in society not only helps racial minority students feel seen and respected for their experiences, but also helps white students become more cognizant of the facts and causes of racial inequalities” (EAR page 228). Even though your class may contain one race, ethnicity, or culture it is still important to talk to your students about diversity. Incorporate in idea that there is more to this world than just them and that the world is full of diversity. Perry also states, “White teachers and white students are often oblivious to the painful and alienating effects that white-dominated classrooms can have on students of color” (EAR page 227). There is a doll study that was performed in which students were to pick who was the smart child, and who was the pretty child from five different dolls. These dolls were based on a scale in which one was light (white) and one was dark (black). When the children answered the questions the majority of them pointed to the white person for the positive questions and the black person for the negative ones. For instance, the one of the children interview was asked to point to the smart child and she pointed to the light skinned one. When asked which one was the dumb one she pointed to the dark skinned one. It is important that teachers encourage white …show more content…
Some teachers may have the state of mind that it is there way or the highway. For instance, in one of the readings from Everyday Antiracism, there is a case in which Mesquaki students did not participate in class discussion. Rather than the teachers understanding things from the perspective of their students they continued to view them from their very own perception. There was a workshop conducted to inform the teachers of the culture of the Mesquaki. Some teachers “continued to blame the Mesquaki students and saw them as lacking English language skills, motivation to succeed, self-esteem, parental guidance, and community support for education. Other white teachers embraced the message of the workshop: that Mesquaki youth were silent because this was the ‘Indian’ way of communicating and learning” (EAR page 223). If teachers not only knew about the cultures that make of their students but also accepted them, teaching them will become significantly better not only for the teacher but also the students. According to Pamela Perry, “White teachers in predominantly white classrooms must thus stay open to the feedback of students of color in order to learn when our behaviors unintentionally make them feel afraid” (EAR page 227). Being aware of this is important and incorporating the feedback of students shows them that they are