So what kinds of cultures might exist within a classroom? Educators also need to learn more about sociolinguistics both in teacher preparation programs and in ongoing professional development. Socially responsive and responsible teaching and learning requires an anthropologically and ethnographically informed teaching stance; teachers and teacher educators must be introduced to and routinely use the tools of practitioner/teacher research in order to ask difficult questions about their practice. View. Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education, Chapter 12. Linguistic diversity also includes speaking multiple languages, such as English AND Spanish. New York: Routledge. We also believe that effective literacy teachers of diverse students envision their classrooms as sites of struggle and transformative action in the service of academic literacy development and social change. Promote dialogue in teacher education courses about concepts such as praxis, empowerment, pedagogy, etc, and why they are important. Its useful to have a specific class focus for the interviews and to brainstorm with students to arrive at the focus. The Importance Of Linguistics In The Classroom. Teachers and teacher educators must respect all learners and themselves as individuals with culturally defined identities. Incorporate popular culture (e.g., music, film, video, gaming, etc) into the classroom curriculum. The song is unfinished: The new literate and literary. by Christine K. Dungan In this edition, three members of the Vanderbilt community engage some of the questions surrounding the issue of diversity in the classroom. Accordingly, we will first briefly enumerate our eight principles and then follow with a more detailed discussion about and expansion of each principle, particularly in terms of what each means for literacy and literacy education classrooms. Surface-level diversity refers to differences you can generally observe in others, like ethnicity, race, gender, age, culture, language, disability, etc. One way to form strategies for promoting an inclusive classroom is to use self-reflection and think of potential classroom scenarios and how one might address them. This contrasts starkly with the student-teacher ratio for Hispanics (27 percent of students, 9 percent of teachers), Blacks (15 percent of students, 7 percent of teachers), and Asians (5 percent of students, 2 percent of teachers). Reading lives: Working-class children and literacy learning. These strategies will encourage all students cultural awareness, enhancing each students sense of identity, and foster inclusion in the classroom community. This module will not offer a comprehensive definition of the term, instead, this module will highlight two key areas related to diversity: Identify how diversity affects the classroom Provide practical tips for promoting an inclusive classroom Accomplish the projects above via audio and video tape interviewing; transcribing, studying, and compiling the stories of people from different cultures/places; collecting oral histories; all to be used as classroom resources. Learner diversity refers to both the group and individual differences in our students, it exists in every classroom and it can have a powerful effect on learning. This expansion includes an unpacking of the belief followed by a chart of suggestions and resources for K-12 teachers, teacher educators, and researchers. Language and communication may also require adaptive materials or assistive technology, such as sign language or braille, each adding layers to linguistic diversity. New York: Bantam. Personality type in the foreign or second language classroom: Theoretical and empirical perspectives. A person's age, race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, and nationality all comprise a person's social identity. When working and learning with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures present in the classroom, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Developing these tools would require new ways of collecting and analyzing information about students and their families, and then reflecting upon the appropriateness of their curriculum and practices to be more effective educators. Through praxis, the combination of active reflection and reflective action (Freire, 1970), teachers and teacher educators are able to build and strengthen collective efforts toward individual and social transformation. We find ourselves charged to teach native speakers and second language learners alike. And they begin to develop their self-concept (at least in part) from how others see them. In a bilingual maintenance program, students continue to use their primary language while "the emphasis on English increases in each subsequent grade" (Kauchak & Eggen, 2017, p. 85). Hunger of memory. Teaching diversity exposes students to various cultural and social groups, preparing students to become better citizens in their communities. The child and the curriculum/The school and society. But that's just good teaching! Invite students to bring in culturally relevant texts (e.g., songs, self-written poetry) and ask them to create a glossary for difficult (for the teacher) to understand language. Our Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness Certificate Programis a great opportunity for teachers to learn how to create positive classroom environments and can serve as a foundation for understanding how to promote diversity in your classroom. Promoting diversity is a goal shared by many in American colleges and universities, but actually achieving this goal in the day-to-day classroom is often hard to do. Generally, the term English language learner describes a student who is learning English in addition to their native language. Kozol, J. Your documents are now available to view. School systems are beginning to understand the need to better prepare their teachers to understand and to draw upon the linguistic resources that students bring to the classroom. For all the above, we must bet on stimulating gender equality and equity and to erase those stereotypes that cause prejudices to be present in a very harmful way. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. In 2014, U.S. public schools hit a minority majority milestone with Latino, African-American, and Asian students having surpassed the number of white students. cultural diversity. Ask preservice and inservice teachers to make a list of the most interesting activities that they did when they were in school. What sorts of moves do teachers make to initiate it? Four main reasons include lack of time, fear of making a mistake or teaching stereotypes, a lack of testing and assessment on culture . Have learners read autobiographies of children their age and then write their own stories. The United States Census Bureau projected that the U.S. would become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043. This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE. Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. Make things as visual as possible by writing on the board, diagraming, and using pictures. Keywords. This allows students to practice their language skills in a more personal, less intimidating setting than the front of the classroom. One program is referred to as bilingual maintenance. If you use them, provide in parentheses a description of what these are so oth-ers can learn to use the same language you do. Identifying and thinking through notions of difference and how they affect the classroom allow both students and teachers to see the classroom as an inclusive place. Develop locally and historically situated blueprints for the realization of these dreams. New York, NY: Garland. Language diversity, or linguistic diversity, is a broad term used to describe the differences between different languages and the ways that people communicate with each other. Have students make dialectical translations (e.g., writing a Shakespearean soliloquy in street language or a poem written in a marginalized dialect into a privileged dialect), then discuss what gets gained and lost through such translation. Part of the curriculum for English educators will involve crossing personal boundaries in order to study, embrace and build understanding of other. The purpose of boundary crossing is not to simply have an experience with the other, but to use that experience to advocate for the advancement for all. Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes. What does a critical education look like? (2004). Multicultural and multilingual literacy and language: Contexts and practices. Interview/research multiple generations (young and old) to gain insights into their dreams and aspirations. Step 2. The term "diverse learners" covers a broad range of abilities, communities, backgrounds, and learning styles. New York: The New Press. Supporting multilingualism in the classroom can be a valuable pedagogical practice with positive effects on students' academic performance, as well as social and emotional well-being. The first step in addressing cultural and linguistic diversity is to be aware. Giroux, H. (2001). Lee, C.D. Diversity simply put, is to have variety or differences inside of a group. Among the most spoken languages, Chinese Mandarin has more than a billion speakers, English has 760 million, Hindi has 490 million, Spanish has 400 million, and Arabic has 200 million speakers. culture. . Bootstraps: From an American academic of color. Have course participants conduct community ethnographies as class assignments. Raymond J., and Ginsberg, Margery B. Diversity and Motivation : Culturally Responsive Teaching . (1995). Reflect on Who You Are and Your Experiences With Race In order to create a learning environment that authentically supports racial diversity, educators can start with self-reflection. There exist a variety of reasons for this disconnect between language teaching and culture. Handbook on research on multicultural education (2nd Ed.). and other organizational language that may not be understood by others. In F. Boyd, C. Brock, with M. Rozendal (Eds.). Teachers should respect their students identity and use preferred pronouns when interacting with their students. (1999). Programs that promote a love for language learning have several characteristics in common. (2003). First, recognize your own expectations about nonverbal communication, and then find ways to learn about those of individuals and other cultures. (2003). Is this English? Race, language, and culture in the classroom. Theory into Practice, 31, 132 141. What is another way the stories could have been told? Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Go into a different cultural community and interview people different than you. This volume is appropriate for in-service or preservice teachers; it is particularly relevant for training programs in language arts, second or foreign language teaching, and bilingual or multicultural education. Politics, praxis, and the postmodern. The Persistence of Linguistic Deficit, Chapter 8. Write about a border crossing and study the contrasts between prior/known experience and others experience. A. Writing words, changing worlds. Develop projects on different cultural practices. (2004). Third, planned experiences introduce children to diverse languages. Handbook of instructional practices for literacy teacher-educators. There is and will continue to be a disparity between the racial, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds of English educators and their students. Diversity is a term that can have many different meanings depending on context. decades, thus a need exists to prepare teachers to work within . Teachers and teacher educators must be willing to cross traditional, personal and professional boundaries in pursuit of social justice and equity. It argues that, although our field has often been cast as a kind of corrective to the 'problem' of language diversity by helping to teach language norms, literature can - and should - be made a preeminent space for students to reflect on their . As a successful teacher, it is necessary to . Language Diversity in the Classroom: From Intention to Practice. (1983). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. ), Understanding literacy. As public intellectuals and agents of change, we recognize that English teachers and teacher educators are complicit in the reproduction of racial and socioeconomic inequality in schools and society. Villanueva, V. (1993). Allington, R. L & Walmsley, S. A. Language. Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Snyder, T. D., & Hoffman, C. M. (2002). Although not comprehensivegiven space and time, we could have easily added more ideas and resourcesthis document represents what we consider to be a minimum philosophical outline for supporting learners whose cultures and language fall outside the boundaries of mainstream power codes. Encourage students to develop critical perspectives through community-based research and action projects. Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. The discussion may lead to a subsequent discussion on what texts students have read during their formal school careers. Similar to sexual orientation, it is important to understand each students gender identity and how they would prefer to be recognized. These changes present significant challenges for educators, requiring them to rethink their curricula and teaching strategies. How does one practice critical education in literacy classrooms? (1995). . All too often, these experiences remain unrecognized or undervalued as dominant mainstream discourses suppress students cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1990). Korina Jocson, Taking It to the Mic: Pedagogy of June Jordans Poetry for the People and Partnership with an Urban High School. Learn more about American Universitys Online EdD in Education Policy and Leadership. What issues do they bring to the surface? While addressing diversity in the classroom largely consists of focusing on ELL students, cultural and linguistic divides are not exclusive to that segment of learners. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Ask students to examine newspaper articles, television reports, and websites about their cultural group. Students bring funds of knowledge to their learning communities, and, recognizing this, teachers and teacher educators must incorporate this knowledge and experience into classroom practice. Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Second, interactions happen throughout the day in ways that bring children's interest and focus to language. Examples and reflections from the teaching lives of literacy scholars. Digest of education statistics 2001 (No. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools. Types of research:Participant-observer; ethnographic; action research; self-study. Curricula experiences should serve to empower students, develop their identities and voice, and encourage student agency to improve their life opportunities. Yet, according to contemporary research, native speakers know all of the rules of their native dialect (typically by the time they enter public schools at the age of five or six), and second language learners need not so much instruction, but immersion.