Student Diversity: Culture, Language, and Gender

1. Student Diversity: Culture, Language, and Gender Chapter 4

2. Cultural Diversity • Culture: the knowledge, attitudes, values, customs, and behavior patterns that characterize a social group. • Surface culture vs Deep culture

4. Cultural diversity: the different cultures you’ll encounter in your classroom and the differences that will influence learning. • Ethnicity: a person’s ancestry– the way people identify themselves with the nation they or their ancestors came from

5. Drastic Changes • Early 1900’s, most immigrants came from Europe. Now, 40% come from Central America; 25% come from Asia; 14% come from Europe, and 10% come from the Caribbean. • “Rodriguez” and “Garcia” have now replaced “Moore” and “Taylor” on the top 10 most common last names in the U.S. • Currently, 4 out of 10 students are “of color” with Hispanics and African Americans at the top. 60% of students are White. • By 2050, no single group will be a majority among adults.

6. Cultural Attitudes and Values • Each culture has a set of values and attitudes that are common among the people who share this culture. • Let’s discuss some of them… • Asians: • Hispanics: • Native Americans: • Indians: (value of education, language, gender roles, interaction patterns, etc.)

7. Melting Pot vs Tossed Salad • Assimilation: A process of socializing people so that they adopt dominate social norms and patterns of behavior. (Melting Pot) • Acculturation: Maintaining your own culture and traditions while adding to the dominate culture around you. (Tossed Salad)

8. Multicultural Education • A controversial approach that describes the various strategies schools use to accommodate cultural differences in teaching and learning. • Proponents assert that building on students’ cultures is nothing more than sound teaching (schema/ background knowledge); continues tradition of acknowledging diversity this country was founded with. • Critics contend that it is divisive because it emphasizes differences instead of similarities; textbook scrutiny because multicultural themes are emphasized over some basic content; national anthem controversy—(p. 107)

9. “Culturally responsive teaching” • Culturally responsive teaching- instruction that acknowledges and accommodates cultural diversity • Done in three main ways: • Accepts and values cultural differences : (show genuine interest, make students feel important and valued; involve ALL students in learning) • Accommodating different patterns of cultural interaction: (learn about and respect differences in cultural interactions; help students learn a “culture of schooling” while honoring and valuing home culture) • Building on students’ cultural backgrounds : (this is basic to all effective teaching– build on what students already know!)

10. Urban schools • The term “cultural minority” refers to various non-White cultural groups. However, based solely on numbers, this term is already obsolete and/or a misnomer in many urban areas. For example, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians- when combined- now make up the majority of the population in almost half of the 100 largest U.S. cities. • “Children of color” make up 90% of the new enrollment in Detroit, DC, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles.

11. Language Diversity • 10% of all students will speak a language other than English. • Terms for these students: • ELLs • ESLs • ESOL • LEP students NCLB (No Child Left Behind) legislature requires states to document educational progress of these students. BICS versus CALP

12. ELL programs • How a school approaches teaching ELL students largely depends on the ELL population they serve. • Bilingual maintenance language programs • Immersion / ESL pullout programs • Transition programs • *Note that there are stages to second language acquisition and students will not all be at the same stage or level. Various instructional strategies should be used depending on the stage of the student’s acquisition.

13. Gender • Your turn to talk for a minute. With an “elbow buddy”, discuss stereotypical differences between boys and girls.

14. Gender bias: discrimination based on gender that limits the growth possibilities of either boys or girls. • Gender-role identity: differences in expectations and beliefs about appropriate roles and behaviors of the two sexes. • Math and science scores – higher for boys than girls • However, more boys are retained than girls; more boys are diagnosed with learning disabilities; boys drop out of school 4 times more often than girls; boys are cited for discipline problems 10 times more often than girls.

15. Single-sex classrooms • Increasing number of them in US; ironically, England (which has a long history of single-sex classrooms) is moving away from them. • Benefits: • Boys don’t have to put on a big show for the ladies. • Girls don’t have to “dumb down” their academic abilities. • Girls are more likely to assume leadership roles. • Girls demonstrate higher self esteem and have firmer beliefs that they’re in control of their destinies. • Boys demonstrate more character development.

16. C0ns: • Exacerbate stereotypical views • Fail to prepare students for the “real world” • Possible legality issues because of Title IX

17. Gender and the Classroom • Communicate openly with students about gender issues and concerns. Work purposefully to treat both genders equally. • Encourage equal participation. • Make an effort to present men and women in non-stereotypical roles (women engineers; men teachers) • Encourage girls to pursue science/ math related fields; encourage boys to pursue nurse / teaching.