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Madeline Miner

EDUC 310 Wasta


December 8, 2014
I abide by the honor code.
Philosophy in Diversity
I. Introduction
Throughout the semester we have been learning about diversity in education
through various sources so that we can create our own view on diversity in the
classroom. My definition would be something along the lines of: representation of,
knowledge of, and acceptance of people regardless of where people come from, in
terms of race, gender, disability, religious belief, and much more. I think that this is
a concept that is extremely important for use in the classroom, and I truly plan to
use it in my classroom someday. It reminds me of how important it is to always
consider the diverse backgrounds of all of the students in your classroom. This is
important because it creates an environment in which children want to be included.
They need to feel accepted and loved in a classroom and one way to do that is to
lean toward the definition of diversity that I provided.
II. Guiding Framework of Culture Competence
The 4 key components that make up my model of cultural competence are:
1) understanding the culture-learning process for yourself and others, 2)
understanding the differences that there are between people, 3) adjusting to these
diverse settings in various, appropriate ways, and 4) embracing those things and
incorporating them into education in the classroom. One key aspect that comes
with understanding the culture-learning process is knowing that there is more to

defining oneself than just in physical and social attributes. One page 79 of the
Cushner textbook, it says that many people tend to identify themselves in a very
broad manner, and that interactions with these people can be shaped by those
broad identifications. I believe it is of the utmost importance that each student is
given the chance to express themselves fully, rather than be defined by how they
look or act outwardly. It reminds me of the iceberg model of culture on page 75 of
the Cushner book. We should seek to learn about the students subjective culture in
addition to the objective culture. We should also encourage students to seek
answers to these questions, provided in an article by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, of
Who am I? Who do I want to be? Who do others think I am and want me to be?
and so on. This provides students with a sense of what their identity is. They learn
that they can determine their identity, not the assumptions of other people. This
also brings up the fact that everyone is different, and those differences between
students are important for them to learn about as well. Cushner phrases it very well,
saying that culture learning is a two-way process in which individuals are both
forming and being formed by incoming cultural messages (Cushner 97). This
means that in learning about these differences, students have opportunities to grow
even more. It reminds me of the story we read about the student with disabilities,
Ro, and how as other kids learned more about her and her disability, the more they
were able to learn about acceptance and kindness, which they can take with them
for the rest of their lives. It also makes it easier to adjust your classroom according
to the diverse environment that is present there and then embrace what is present
in that environment. In the article titled Education Week Teacher: Embracing
Discomfort: Speaking Out for Cultural Relevance, it discusses being able to push
ourselves out of our comfort zones in order to provide a good environment for all

those who are represented in the class as a whole. Roehl phrases it perfectly in this
article, saying Culturally relevant teachers do not teach all students the same way
in the name of equality. Instead, they create lessons in which students' experiences
are discussed and infused in the learning, and in which students have the
opportunity to learn by building on their personal backgrounds and academic
strengths. I believe that these 4 steps of 1) understanding the culture-learning
process, 2) understanding differences, 3) adjusting classroom activities and things,
and 4) embracing the diversity and incorporating it into academics are solid
components that I can use as a framework for a diverse and accepting teaching
environment.
III. Examples of Teaching Practices
In order to make this philosophy of mine come into my classroom, there are a
few things I would try to do. First, I would spend time with my class, probably at the
start of the year, simply getting to know one another better through various
activities. One thing that I did in my practicum this semester was have each student
make a Facebook page with information about them so that I could know them
better. That was with only 4 students, so with a larger crowd Id do something
different and something more geared toward knowing their background so that I can
know them and the students can know and support each other. Second, Id make
sure my classroom is a place that actually looks welcoming and inviting, with
different posters and pictures reminding them of the values that we hold in the
classroom. This is also an idea that I came up with during my practicum. If the
environment even looks friendly and open, then students will be more likely to
share. Third, I would want to have discussions about topics that are not typically
discussed in the actual curriculum, just like the video we watched on the last day of

class when the kids talked about homosexuality. It would be difficult in some way,
Im sure, but also very beneficial to getting students to open their minds and think
in more depth about what diversity means to them also. Fourth, I would want
them to read books that have challenging stories and topics, maybe even simply
using the Literature Circle method that we did in our class. When I read The Pact
and got chances to discuss it with my group, I learned a lot about how different
issues that the 3 men went through also applied to my own life, even if it was in a
different way. I think that all 4 of these examples are great starting points for me to
initiate in my future classroom in order to start the process of getting my own
philosophy of diversity inserted into the classroom.
IV. Personal Goals and Professional Development
This class has been really eye-opening into what it means to promote
acceptance and diversity in the classroom, and I know it has had an effect on my
own goals and hopes for when I get my own classroom. In order to continue my own
understanding of diversity in society and how to continue to integrate it into my
classroom, I think it is key to just continue gaining knowledge and never stop
seeking answers about different aspects of people that I may not understand right
away. It makes me think a lot of a few different parts in The Pact and how the mens
lives were changed because they did not stop trying to gain knowledge about
others, whether it was positive or negative knowledge. For example, there is a
quote in The Pact that Rameck says at one point in the novel about how you dont
need to give people things in order to enrich their lives. He says that anyone with
passion or purpose can do so and enrich others lives. This is exactly my hope. I
want my passion for teaching to be a fuel that gets students motivated and have
this passion of their own inside of them for diversity, acceptance, tolerance, and

being nonjudgmental. Another quote from our class that has stuck with me is from
our very first reading about culturally competent teachers and being uncomfortable.
It says We need to experience discomfort in order to effect real change from the
status quo that leaves so many students woefully behind. We need teachers who
are uncomfortable with the racial predictability of enrollment in AP courses, of
identification in gifted and talented programs, of academic achievement. We need
teachers to be uncomfortable enough with the way things are to courageously fight
for a more equitable and more just education for students (Roehl). This quote stuck
out to me so much because I can say from personal experience in my life, and even
as recently as with my practicum students this semester, that even at the times
where I was not fully comfortable with what the student was saying, I know that
they needed to talk about it. By making myself uncomfortable, I can make them
comfortable. Students need a person and an environment where they can feel 100%
safe and secure in who they are. I feel like with my own philosophy of education, I
will be able to create this classroom. It will be a challenge, but it will be worth it to
see the students become better students, citizens, people, and friends of the world.
Works Cited
Cushner, Kenneth. Human Diversity in Education: An Intercultural Approach. 7th ed.
New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. Print.

Davis, Sampson, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt. The Pact: Three Young Men
Make a

Promise and Fulfill a Dream. New York: Riverhead, 2002. Print.

Roehl, Jackie. Embracing Discomfort: Speaking Out for Cultural Relevance.


Education Week Teacher. July 10, 2012.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/06/10/fp_roehl.html?print=1

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