Transcript Diversity in Our Schools - Communication Techniques Training

Diversity in
Our Schools
By: Kristina Dronenburg
EDD-544, July 2013
Today’s Objectives
 Today, training participants will be able to:
 Connect communication with diversity in the classroom
 Understand the role and importance of understanding
diversity
 Describe strategies to avoid certain diversity concerns
Agenda
 Role and importance of diversity
 Diversity and communication
 Concerns of: sexism, ethnocentrism, classism, racism,
ableism
 How to handle: sexism, ethnocentrism, classism, racism,
ableism
 Diversity activity
 Closure
What is Diversity?
 Diversity can be defined as: the state of being diverse;
variety; a range of different things
 In our schools, this diversity is evident in the different
races, cultures, religions, genders, ability levels, and
socioeconomic statuses of our students
 Today’s classrooms have a wide variety of cultural
backgrounds and all signs show that diversity will
continue to increase
Why Does Diversity Matter?
 A student’s culture will influence both their
behavior and their psychological processes
 It is absolutely vital that teachers today
understand their students unique differences in
order to avoid stereotypes, communicate with
them effectively, and find the best ways for them
to achieve in the classroom.
Diversity and Communication
 Almost every aspect of our communication is
effected because of diversity. Those areas include:
 Attitudes: People of different cultures will have
preconceived ideas about those in other cultures; as
well as different views on education.
 Social Organization: Your culture will determine the
way you feel society should be organized. Who
should be at the top? Who should be at the
bottom?
 Patterns of Thought: Different cultures think
differently. They have different ideas on what is
important and what is not important.
Diversity and Communication
(continued)
 Almost every aspect of our communication is effected
because of diversity. Those areas include:
 Role Prescription: Your cultural background determines
how you think people should behave. Ex: “A teacher
should behave like this …”
 Language: As we all know, language is the means to our
effective communication. There are many different
languages in our schools today.
 Use and Organization of Space: Believe it or not, the use
of space can really effect those of different cultures who
believe it should be a certain way. Ex: a cluttered
classroom can be a stressor to certain students.
Diversity and Communication
(continued)
 Almost every aspect of our communication is
effected because of diversity. Those areas include:
 Vocabulary: Every culture has different vocabulary.
Some may use slang whereas some may be more
proper.
 Time Conceptualizations: Depending on your cultural
upbringing, you may have a different view of time. To
some, timeliness is critical. Whereas to others, it has
little to no importance.
 Nonverbal Expressions: Our culture determines our
use of nonverbal expressions. Some are very adept at
nonverbals while others use them sparingly.
Diversity and Communication
(continued)
 As educators, we must be highly aware of the
different communication patterns that our diverse
students may use for two main reasons:
 Cultural differences may effect learning styles
 Understanding cultural differences will help us
communicate more effectively with our students
Communication Concerns
 Based on the diverse nature of our schools today,
there are several communication concerns that may
appear and effect the teaching-learning process. They
are:
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Sexism
Ethnocentrism
Classism
Racism
Ableism
 We will discuss each in greater detail in the following
slides …
Sexism
 Sexism is discrimination based on gender
 While there has been a great deal of improvement
in women’s rights, there are still gaps in the
classroom. For example:
 Teachers praise boys more often than girls
 Boys receive more academic help than girls
 Teachers accept boys opinions during classroom
discussions more often than girls
How to Battle Sexism
 Teachers need to be aware of their interactions
with both boys and girls by:
 Allowing girls to participate to the same degree as boys
 Offering the same amount of assistance to girls as boys
 Avoiding preconceived notions of student success based
on gender
 Finding curricular materials that are gender neutral
Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is
superior to all others and that other groups are
inferior
 Ethnocentrism appears in the classroom by:
 Teachers/students viewing their culture as “the
best”
 Teachers/students not being open to the
differences of other cultures
 Teachers must work hard to ensure that they view
each student as equal, regardless of culture
How to Battle Ethnocentrism
 Teachers must be aware of their own beliefs and
their interactions with students of different
cultures by respecting students:
 Language
 Learning habits
 Nonverbal skills
 Time management skills
 Social interactions
 As was discussed before, teachers must work on
learning the cultural beliefs of all of their students
Classism
 Classism is the assignment of worth and ability
based on social class
 We determine class based on: where we live, what
kind of possessions we have, our language
(vocabulary, dialect), and our nonverbal cues
(clothes, posture)
 The two most common beliefs of classism are:
 Middle class and high class people are smart and articulate
 Lower class or “poor people” are not as smart or articulate
How to Battle Classism
 Teachers must be careful not to base ideas or
beliefs about their students on their class
 Teachers should strive to:
 Maintain an open mind
 “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”
 Give all students in the classroom a “clean slate”
 Communicate the same with students regardless of class
Racism
 Racism is when we judge people based on the
color of their skin
 While this country has made great strides to stop
racism, there are still gaps in schools, and
stereotypes of students based on race, such as:
 Asian students will get the best grades because
they study the most
 African-American students will struggle the most
 Hispanic students will need the most help because
they don’t speak English well
How to Battle Racism
 Teachers must be in the forefront of the fight
against racism and avoid any racist stereotypes in
the classroom by:
 Respecting students racial differences
 Understanding that students may learn differently
based on their race
 Learning the communication patterns of different
races
 Keeping an open mind to all students
Ableism
 Ableism is the devaluation of disability
 Though we have made great strides towards
special education and inclusion, ableism still
exists when teachers hold on to the beliefs that:
 It is better for a child to walk than roll
 It is better for a student to speak than sign
 It is better for a student to print than read Braille
 It is better to speak than use a communication device
 It is better for a student to “act normal”
How to Battle Ableism
 Students with disabilities are in public schools across the
country, therefore it is important for teachers to respect,
value, and communicate effectively with them, by:
 Assuming people with disabilities CAN do until being told they
CAN’T DO
 Allowing the person with disability control
 Always stressing the individual first, not their disability
(example: saying person with a disability rather than disabled
person)
 Treating all people with disabilities for what they are: PEOPLE
It’s Your Turn!
 Now it’s time to put what you have learned into
action by completing an activity.
 The activity:
 Work within your table groups (there should be five
groups)
 Each group will be given a situation involving one of
the “isms” that we learned about today
 Your group must decide how they would handle the
situation
 Your group will then be responsible for presenting to
the whole group
The Situations
 Group 1 – Sexism: You notice your student teacher is always calling on the
male students even when the females have their hands raised. What do you
do?
 Group 2 – Ethnocentrism: You find that your new principal (who is
Caucasian) is only supportive of Caucasian students. What do you do?
 Group 3 – Classism: Your colleagues in the lunch room are discussing how all
of the GT students are rich. What do you say?
 Group 4 – Racism: You discover that some of the students in your class are
picking on the new Asian students because they think he is a “nerdy Asian.”
How do you handle it?
 Group 5 – Ableism: You discover that one of your colleagues is not following
a students IEP accommodations or modifications because he doesn’t think
the student should have that kind of “special treatment.” What is your next
step?
Let’s Discuss!
 Each group will now share their situation and how they
will handle it
 Feel free to ask questions of each group or chime in with
ideas of your own!
Summary and Closure
 Today you learned:
 The importance of understanding diversity in the classroom
 Proper communication techniques to reach a diverse audience
 The communication concerns of: sexism, ethnocentrism,
classism, racism, and ableism and how to handle each
 Do you have any questions? Comments? Concerns?
 Contact me for more information at
[email protected]
References
Cooper, P. J., & Simonds, C. J. (2011). Communication for the
classroom teacher (9th ed.). Champaign, IL: Allyn and Bacon.