Accommodating for Cultural Diversity

Last Wednesday we spent a good deal of the class time taking about cultural diversity within the teaching classroom of the public schools and whether or not we deemed it necessary. I thoroughly believe that it is essential for the cohesion of the class and to enforce the value of our country as a melting pot. Exposing our children to the value of cultural diversity is keeping our country’s history alive. We brought up examples of other opinions that vehemently disagree or are sitting on the fence as a way of not having to voice a direct opinion. In our schools today, there is a disproportionately below-average achievement rate for students of certain minority groups. Therefore, I can’t understand why disagreement still exists over including multicultural education in our present-day curriculums.

Rather than requiring individual in-depth cultural analyses by the teacher which is virtually impossible, multicultural education can be taught in a more simplistic way for early childhood education. A symbolic curriculum can be used. The children can make banners, posters or bulletin boards to accommodate cultural diversity. As a teacher, I will encourage my students to learn from this type of activity. It is my duty to clarify and explain inaccurate portrayals. Our children are exposed to a large volume of mass media that is not accurate and contains too stereotypes. Again, teachers should address these stereotypes as they might enter the classroom.

Cultural diversity can be accommodated into the classroom. Students can share their individual cultures with the class themselves. Parents and/or family members can be invited into the classroom to share their experiences and cultural differences. The class could have a multicultural day with food and clothing. For our young learners, accommodating cultural diversity will assist in giving the children both a feeling of increased satisfaction and appreciation of being human. A well-planned positive accommodating approach will allow the children to have a more logical understanding of the existence of ethnic diversity of not only our country but of the world. Educators cannot accommodate for cultural diversity alone. There are too many unique aspects of too many cultures. Therefore, teacher preparation programs should provide a clear understanding of students who are not from the United States. This is not possible for every ethnic group within our country; however, it could be focused upon the majority of ethnic groups for a specific locale.

Students can excel in a welcoming and diversity-accepting environment. The students will feel empowered with a classroom that supports diversity.