Standard #12 Foster respect for individual’s abilities and disabilities and an understanding of and appreciation of variations of ethnicity, culture, language, gender, age, class, and sexual orientation.
Through my practicum in both Greene High School and Whitney Point Middle School, I was able to spend a significant amount of time working with groups of diverse students, including students with developmental disabilities. What I discovered in this process is that educators need to be teaching lessons that promote diversity and an open mind. Differences need to be embraced and respected, including race, culture, socio-economic status, or sexual orientation.
Fortunately, this understanding can be fostered through a wide range of literature in the classroom that probes critical thinking skills and students to question the world in which they live. In every text that the students encounter, they should be questioning: who is it for? What does it do? Who does it consider? Who does it leave out? What assumptions are being made? Young adult literature is one avenue that can be used to enable students to think critically. In order for every student to have a chance to succeed equally within a classroom, the teacher must take the initiative to understand the backgrounds of each student, and then use that knowledge to choose relevant text sets. Choosing a book with relevant themes and issues that teens and young adults are dealing with will help students explore pressing topics in their age group. Presenting a range of texts that all explore the issue of diversity can reinforce the students’ outlook towards other people. Texts lend themselves to multiple interpretations and many students can read the same texts in very different ways. Multiple views add interest, variety, and room for deeper exploration not only in literature, but also in life. When literature is relevant and connects to students’ lives and interests, it can provide the means to help students participate in the world around them.
Classroom discussion and activities exploring the language that students use in school can also be used as a platform to teach. As teachers, when we hear students using destructive language in the classroom, we need to seize the teachable moment and help illuminate the harmful effects language can have on a person’s well-being. Regardless of abilities, sexual orientation, class, culture, etc., it is crucial for teachers to embrace the individual strengths of every person and open the minds of other students to this idea as well. When a teacher hears hateful language being used, the student(s) responsible need to be addressed immediately. This can be taken care of privately, or addressed in whole class instruction to educate every student on the issue.
In extended homebase, a period of time at Whitney Point High School dedicated to discussing bullying, acceptance, etc, I showed the students a YouTube clip where a student was bullied to the point where he contemplated suicide. This text was accompanied with powerful music, resulting in a very moving video. After, we had a discussion on the effect language can have, and how diversity needs to be embraced, not criticized.
Bullying video
Through my practicum in both Greene High School and Whitney Point Middle School, I was able to spend a significant amount of time working with groups of diverse students, including students with developmental disabilities. What I discovered in this process is that educators need to be teaching lessons that promote diversity and an open mind. Differences need to be embraced and respected, including race, culture, socio-economic status, or sexual orientation.
Fortunately, this understanding can be fostered through a wide range of literature in the classroom that probes critical thinking skills and students to question the world in which they live. In every text that the students encounter, they should be questioning: who is it for? What does it do? Who does it consider? Who does it leave out? What assumptions are being made? Young adult literature is one avenue that can be used to enable students to think critically. In order for every student to have a chance to succeed equally within a classroom, the teacher must take the initiative to understand the backgrounds of each student, and then use that knowledge to choose relevant text sets. Choosing a book with relevant themes and issues that teens and young adults are dealing with will help students explore pressing topics in their age group. Presenting a range of texts that all explore the issue of diversity can reinforce the students’ outlook towards other people. Texts lend themselves to multiple interpretations and many students can read the same texts in very different ways. Multiple views add interest, variety, and room for deeper exploration not only in literature, but also in life. When literature is relevant and connects to students’ lives and interests, it can provide the means to help students participate in the world around them.
Classroom discussion and activities exploring the language that students use in school can also be used as a platform to teach. As teachers, when we hear students using destructive language in the classroom, we need to seize the teachable moment and help illuminate the harmful effects language can have on a person’s well-being. Regardless of abilities, sexual orientation, class, culture, etc., it is crucial for teachers to embrace the individual strengths of every person and open the minds of other students to this idea as well. When a teacher hears hateful language being used, the student(s) responsible need to be addressed immediately. This can be taken care of privately, or addressed in whole class instruction to educate every student on the issue.
In extended homebase, a period of time at Whitney Point High School dedicated to discussing bullying, acceptance, etc, I showed the students a YouTube clip where a student was bullied to the point where he contemplated suicide. This text was accompanied with powerful music, resulting in a very moving video. After, we had a discussion on the effect language can have, and how diversity needs to be embraced, not criticized.
Bullying video