Dixie,
I love that terminology, Persistent Optimism.
Philip Campbell
It's my motto. In tough times, it becomes Relentless Optimism.
Another type of diversity I feel instructors must be aware of to be effective teachers is the learning styles of each student. Once we're acquainted with the learning styles of each student we will be able to address them effectively and make sure that their interests are maintained.
Dixie,
Relentless optimism is a nice and refreshing way to look at things.
Philip Campbell
Positive attitudes play an important role in education. We have to let our students know that they can develop the technical skill and people skills that are necessary for success. Success in the workplace depends on technical skills and people (soft) skills. It is important for our students to know that these skills can be learned in an educational environment
Since I teach university courses to all foreign students, I have to be aware of their cultural backgrounds, their religious differences, there food preferences and their concerns about being in a foreign country. One person from China was concerned that he was being spied upon by some people from China;; hence, he was reluctant to put anything on paper. I had to satisfy him that he was completely safe in my classroom. Gerald Heideman
The great thing about diversity is the varying perspectives brought to the table. Teachers are challenged with the task of demonstrating to students the values of diversity.
I've found that younger vs. older students provide the most interesting challenges. Career-changers are often more cognizant of the investment they are making, and become impatient with the students who are less engaged.
Economic diversity is another form of adversity that instructors must be aware of to be effective teachers.
Students come from a variety of economic backgrounds and current economic situations. Instructors must be aware of economic related problems that can affect a student's ability to perform in the classroom.
As an instructor in Miami, Florida, and of a class titled Cultural Diversity, I have to deal with diversity in a number of ways, not just cultural. These include teaching styles, gender, economic, political and many others. As I tell my students, taking into account all these varities of diversity is very important to be successful. Personally when I teach, I always prepare myself before the class starts to realize the topic of the day and its connection to the diversity of the class: i.e., how I might teach it concerning teaching styles, whether or not someone might be offended by the topic, etc.
Hello Judy, I think that diversity in the workplace, plays a big role in creating a workplace culture. the more people you around, the more diverse you become
Matthew,
You are taking great steps to get prepared to teach daily. Also the fact that you recognize there are so many things that can impact a day of teaching is important. Some think it is as easy as getting up in front of people and talking. Great Job!
Philip Campbell
In healthcare, care givers are subject to provide equal care to anyone that walks through the door. In order to do that, caregivers must be able to put aside any prejudices they may have. That includes sex, race, religion, politics, handicaps, and any other identifiable feature that one may have a one sided opinion about. As an instructor in a healthcare field I need to emphasize this requirement to my students so that they can prepare themselves emotionally to provide equal care.
Students can be very diverse in their experiences, religious beliefs, socio-economic background and other attributes. Thus, they may perceive the same situations very differently because of their diverse backgrounds and beliefs.
Dliversity comes in many ways, but one of the main diverse topics I have come across recently is that of the returning veteran student. I have had several students who have served overseas in the military and they bring knowledge and experience to the classroom that most other students have difficulty relating to, including PTSD. Empathy and understanding is especially important to the success of these students and in their classrooms. I lead by example in giving the non-veteran students the "space" that they sometimes need to re-integrate back to civilian life, and by allowing them to share their experience and needs, and to identify with other veterans. I want them to know that they are welcome and appreciated.
Without a lot of ethnic diversity in my area, one of my biggest challenges in the first couple years of instructing was dealing with the socio-economic diversity. I had always just assumed that most people knew about the same rules of society as I did. I thought that eveyone learned these rules, and at least the basic soft skills in their home, growing up. I have found that as instructors, we often have a huge responsibility in teaching the basic soft skills. Teaching soft skills is often a bigger challenge than teaching the technical skills. It is our responsibility to make sure our students have the tools to go into their chosen field understanding and being able to implement basic soft skills.
Diversity in learning styles. In any given class of twenty students, a professor will need to address three different learning styles to effectively communicate with everyone in the class. This involves visual and auditory examples, as well as hands on demonstrations.
Instructors need to be aware of the diversity of age and experiences of their students. A student who has, for instance, fought in a war, may have a different attitude or performance than say, a person who is joining the workforce after spending two decades at home raising children. Also, people learn in many different ways, so the diversity of learners' emotional intelligence or learning stylees must also be considered.
As a tech instructor our classes are split between kids just out of high school and older learners that are just out of the military. These two types of students sometimes require completely different approaches to maximize their learning experience.
Age, maturity, civil status, having kids or not, being a full time or part time students, having or not working experience in the area of study, groups and students are different depending on all this factors as well, and when having all them mixed is really a challenge finding a teaching style that fits everyone.
Dixie,
I love that phrase, persistent optimism. I teach clinical dental hygiene and as difficult as the technical skills are to master, they are nothing compared to the soft skills the students need to be successful. I use lots of little phrases to motivate my students to improve empathy such as,
" patients do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." I also remind students gently to pretend like the patient was your mom, how would you manage her. The diversity and maturity, EQ, of my students is huge. Some are already high on the people skills development. Others need more motivation and when I empathize with them, I can get them to buy in to why it is important for them to develop their own clinical style.
