Blog E; Diversity

To me, DIVERSITY can be a number of different things. Diversity, in a nut-shell, is all aspects of life and human form that is different from you. Whether it be differences in race, culture, religion, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, interests, languages, or geographic locations; they are all forms of diversity. In the field of education, teachers and students will need to learn, preferable at a young age, to accept and welcome diversity instead of being scared of it. This means that students and teachers will need to learn how to act and learn in an environment consisting of all “walks of life”. They will need to all come together, in a single classroom, and embrace all the differences that make each of their students and fellow classmates unique and different individuals.

Growing up in a small town, with a graduating class of 64 students, non of which were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or really from any race other than the basic White-Caucasian. There wasn’t much diversity in areas of culture, religion, or disabilities either. The one major form of diversity I experienced in school was differences in socio-economic status. We had lots of students whose parents did not have jobs, they struggled for food, came to school almost every day in the same clothes and lacked cleanliness and manners. Most of their fellow students picked on them and forced them to be outcasts instead of understanding that it is not their fault and offering to help in any way possible. It is really sad to see when students are shunned by their peers for something that they cannot control instead of just accepting those students for who they are.

I am not quite sure how I feel about diversity being taught as a subject, but I do believe that it should be worked into the everyday curriculum. Students need to be familiarized with different ethnicities, cultures, and disabilities so when they are faced with diversity, they can embrace those fellow students instead of alienating them. I think that school’s need to teach in the form of Pluralism. This way, students can learn English, and the basic American culture, but still be informed about issues pertaining to he or she’s ethnic background. By teaching a non-traditional culture, the students who share that culture can learn about where he or she came from while students who do not share that culture, can learn more about the students who do.

“Freedom Writers” was an excellent movie to watch about diversity in schools. All of the different students formed groups with those who were “like” them and they refused to accept anyone else into their group that was “different”. As a teacher, Hilary Swank gave an amazing performance. I admired her because even though she was discouraged by her fellow staff members, she stuck to her methods and beliefs and never gave up on those students. She gained her student’s trust and was able to learn SO MUCH about each and every one of them and in turn, help them all in some way. Also, because the class was always doing things together, and working together, the students began to understand each other’s differences and started accepting each other. I thought it was a wonderful movie.