Understanding Diversity
In addition to cultural and ethnic diversity, briefly discuss the other types of diversity that instructors must be aware of to be effective teachers.
We, as teachers, really don't know what kinds of previous educational (classroom) experiences the students who sit before us may have had. A student's anxiety of a subject area may stem from past failures or extreme frustrations.
This is an excellent reason to "up on your soft skills" so the past is the past and now is now.........provide a comfort zone where mistakes don't mean failure, they're just one step closer to learning.
Good points about past experiences. That is something that is not considered all the time. "One step closer to learning" is what we are striving for. Explaining that to them will also help them along the way.
Aside from ethnic and cultural diversity instructors need to be sensitive to socioeconomic diversity. Regardless of a person's race or ethnicity students learn form the socioeconomic backgroond. They vary in their values and behaviors. For example some students have learned to be very quiet while others have learned to be very loud. In order to teach all students it is vital to establish classroom expectations for class discussion and acceptable behavior in the classroom.
Freda,
If you had to choose two items, what would you select to be important for your expectations in your classroom, what would they be? Remember only two.
I am going to drop a bomb here with the following: my 'classroom' is the cab of a class 8 truck. That's a 'semi' to most people. I teach hard skills. Hands on. The people I see and instruct are black, white, brown, yellow and all shades in between. We are all human, we bleed red, we work for a green buck. I demonstrate, they follow. Hands on skill. No ambiguity, no interpretation, no room for emotion. Don't think, just do.
Now with all of that being said, the human side comes out: the frustrations of not being able to do said hard skills. People respond to adversity and challenges, but unlike a chemical reaction, you don't know what you'll get. Add vinegar and baking soda and you get a set reaction. But with individuals, people, you never know just what the person is going to do.
Because of backgrounds, different people respond differently. Thus I must "get into their head" with those soft skills. Communicating with my students, one on one, is probably my greatest tool. When I listen, really listen, I hear those small scared voices coming from the pupil. Loud and clear.
And gender is another topic of diversity. The female student is usually more timid and afraid of the truck at first. The males less so. The women really listen to you at first, the guys less so. The women do really well because they listen and tend to communicate better. The guys, less so. Thus, at the end of the course, the shy, timid women have not only caught up to the guys, but in many ways surpass them. Question: do women typically have better EQ and interpersonal skills than men? Or is it just my perception?
The 'hard' skills I present could be learned by a fifth grader. The kids would do better! Why? You ask? Ah, human nature again. The adult sees, hears, and expects to DO! And when it doesn't work just right, he or she is upset. The degree of upset varies, and thus my work load. The child will play, play, play until the skill is learned, and not think about the dozens of failures. The adult remembers every one. So, I remind my charges to "play" with the equipment! Yep! I said play! The most difficult the chore, the more important it is to remember to relax and play. The skills will come with time and practice.
Please excuse my lengthy reply. I tend to run on at the mouth.
William,
Thanks you for that response. Is it lengthy? Yes. Is it accurate? Yes. Do women typically have a better EQ than men? I would say so, but I am man and I am not afraid to admit my deficiencies. Hard skills tend to be the easiest to teach, regardless of age. As you said it is the soft skills that can get in the way. So the question begs to be asked, if we can teach hard skills, how can we teach soft skills?
Socio-economic diversity is another aspect of understanding others. Usually we think of challenges stemming from poverty, but it’s helpful to understand the perspectives of the different classes and how these different perspectives can affect the learning environment. Ruby Payne has written some good books that address the hidden rules among classes. Her web site at www.ahaprocess.com is another good source for information on this topic.
economic diversity would be the big one for me because money does play a roll in what and how you learn.,
As a commercial driving instructor, my students have to learn a set of hard skills that require the soft skill of using common sense to implement. My students only have twelve days to learn the requirements for testing. My experience has taught me that students, who place very high or very low in hard skills (IQ), seem to have the most difficulty implementing the use of common sense. Unfortunately, this group of students has the lowest initial success rate. We cannot assume that the average IQ provides the fastest success rate. In my field the two areas of diversification that seem to have the largest impact are; primary education and mechanical type life or work experience.
We have two areas of achievement; classroom and hands-on. We have to rapidly determine the student’s background to assist in their progression. Weaker education requires more classroom assistance and weaker mechanical skills require more hands on assistance. All of the soft skills mentioned in this course are required for me to close the diversity gaps.
Mike Adams
There are many other diverse factors within the education system, particularly in higher education. The economic status of the country has resulted in many older students in the education system. So the age diversity within classes is much more evident. I teach in an area that has low socio-economic status and that fact alone encroaches upon knowledge base, health issues,overall attitude and behaviors.
I totally agree. I don't think we have experienced in the past as we have today the experiences students bring with them and the impact it has on their ability to learn.
Thats a good question. I don't know if they can be taught, or at least not easily taught. People have innate personality traits that pervent soft skills from being natural to them. This is the area that all the characteristics and traits you have inherited and learned from infancy to adulthood preside. A person has to truely want to learn a different approach and it in many cases means changing their personality. For example type A personality would have a very difficult time with soft skills. I'm speaking from an area I know well. LOL
I address diversity of student learning styles/preferences (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) by selecting learning activities and materials using each of these modalities.
Susan,
Can you give any examples of activities that you may use to help reinforce this as well?
Living in the Los Angeles area, the other types of diversity we have to deal with is a large economic divide within the population of students I teach. There are student who live and went to school in affluent areas. These students usually do well academically. Students who live and went to school in impoverished areas usually do not do well academically. I also teach in a school with large Asian population. Some students are enrolled in the program I teach due to parental pressures to get a job in the medical profession. These students are not personally motivated to succeed in the program.
Age range comes to mind as far as classroom diversity. Especially technology use that some older students may not have been exposed to in previous educational settings
The diversity I see in my classroom is age. I have students that are older than me, students that are younger than me and students who are my age. I have to be sensitive to the generation gap that exists and bring them all together with common interests. I do this by refering to things in the past, present and future and give examples.This helps them understand where we came from and where we are going and how we can all be a part of the future of our career.
Apart from cultural and ethnic diversity one must be aware of diversity in principles and attitude towards people and the factors shaping it.
The diversity in the levels of knowledge my students have is what I find the most difficult to manage in my classes. They are reluctant to say they do not understand or have never been taught a certain concept, and I am left to either assume they have the background they need to do the work required or teach the concept to the whole class even though some or most already know it. Dealing with all this certainly requires soft skills on my part.
