Introduction
Diversity among U.S. schools has grown tremendously in the last decades and with it has brought a challenge for teachers and administrator. (O’Hara, 2008). Diversity, which enriches the education of the students, is part of our school system. Batt (2008) reported that the growing population of English Language Learners (ELLs) is dramatically increasing as shown by “rapid growth in the ELL and Hispanic student population’s demands attention among educators and teacher education program…” (Batt, 2008, p.39). Given that diverse students continue to grow in American schools, the need for research on embracing diverse students such are becoming more important. This research paper will cover the challenge that the U.S. educational system faces when educating English Language Learner students, curriculum modifications for ELL and culturally diverse students, strategies to engage cultural diverse students in mathematics and my reflection over the content covered in EDCI 602 with Dr. Dixon.
Relevance of ESL Education to Diverse Learners
The No Child Left Behind Act defines ELL students as “students whose native language is not English and or a student who is not born in the United States” (Sheng, 2011). O’Hara (2008) informs us that in the state of California over 1.5 million ELL students attend both public and private school (p. 43). The U.S. faces the challenge to educate a diverse population of students but given the deficiency of professional training, many teachers lack the knowledge on how to educate ELL students (Batt, 2008). The need to educate teachers on how to teach cultural linguistic and diverse students has lead the state of California passing Senate Bill 2042 which requires professional development training for teachers to gain the basic knowledge on how to educate cultural linguistic students (O’Hara, 2008). This type of professional development is highly needed across the Nation.
The majority of ELL students in U.S. classrooms are Spanish native speakers (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). The most recent research relating to multicultural education for ELL students shows that Hispanic students are the most seen in ESL classrooms. Similarly, they are also the most seen group of students who are not meeting the academic scores under NCLB when compared to the rest of the school population (Sheng, 2011).The lack of understanding, education and training has frustrated teachers and administrators to the point of saying that ELL students “shouldn’t be here, send them back to Mexico” (Batt, 2008, p.41). A more educated education system is a better educational system. According to O’ Hara (2008), it is crucial for educationalists to fill in the gap between ignorance and understanding through professional development training in order to better educate the diverse population of students.
Engaging Diverse Learners
Countless schools in the U.S. encourage the embracing of diversity through cultural events but it’s beyond promoting, it is about being inclusive of diversity (Thomas, 2010). U.S. schools are full of students from different parts of the world, different “age, race, and gender,” (Thomas, 2010, p.300), ethnicity and religious beliefs (Batt, 2008). According to Thomas (2010) the purpose of being an educator is to instruct students to do well academically and to develop them to become leaders who have an understanding of inclusiveness. It is necessary that students are able to find relevance in the content taught in the classroom. ELL students come from different parts of the world and have unique life experiences and backgrounds which teacher and students could take benefit from (Thomas, 2010). Engaging in cultural activities such as dancing, road trips to museums and traditional games opens the door for students to share about their culture (Skoning, 2010). Thomas (2010) expresses that it is important for students to have an appreciation of each other’s background in order to seek respect and acceptance because otherwise this can lead to being “disruptive, disrespectful, or who simply turn off” (p. 303). If teachers are able to create a safe environment where students can get an education, they have achieved success.
Integrating the student culture into the content is a relevant approach for diverse students to feel part of the class, “one strategy recommends the integration of multiple identities and dominant group experiences in the teaching content.” (Thomas, 2010,p.305). When students feel empowered in the classroom they start to gain ownership of their education which leads to academic success (Thomas, 2010). When thinking of ways to modify the content for diverse students Skoning (2010) articulates “the curriculum, then, is built around each classroom of students and what is important to them.” (p. 172). An illustration, subjects are now intertwining, for instance, Mathematics is incorporating literature into its curriculum (Skoning, 2010).
Math teachers who have students from different countries could integrate the student’s culture and diversity into word problems. In ESL classrooms students could have group projects to share with other students about their backgrounds and then display it to the entire class. According to Skoning, (2010) students from different cultural experiences tend to enjoy working and collaborating with their peers. She states, “Students from diverse background and experiences learn how to work together, set group goals, and succeed as a group.” (p.172).
Improving Practice and Modifying Curriculum for Diverse Learners
In order for teachers to engage diverse students it is important to “modify existing curriculum to meet the needs of all students in their classrooms” (O’Hara, 2008, p.52). Integrating the student’s background and culture will make the curriculum more relevant and significant for the students. Students in the United States find themselves dealing with technology in their daily lives. A study done by Annetta et. Al., (2009) found that students spend 2.1 hours playing video games. One technique to engage ELL students with diverse backgrounds is using technology, more specifically computer games. Through study done, Kim (2010) found that “minority students who daily played computer games in math demonstrated higher math performances scores compared with their male English-speaking counterparts who never played” (p.224).
Kim (2010) describes how ELL students who play computer games in their classroom tend to be more enthusiastic and have higher participation rate. Students are already playing video games in their daily lives; teacher can benefit from this fact and incorporate fun into the curriculum “the inclusion of games for student’s learning resulted in significantly higher cognitive gains compared with traditional methods without games.” (225). Using computer games responsibly in mathematic classrooms is a great technique to engage cultural diverse students.
Skoning (2010) has found that students from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed when their culture is taken into consideration. Music is part of many cultures,“ in the inclusive classroom, the use of creative movement and dance offers effective instructional strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of students” (P.170). When students are involved in physical activities, such as dancing, with the educational purpose, they tend to have fewer behavioral problems and have higher focus and social skills (Skoning, 2010). Teachers, who want to engage ELL students with diverse backgrounds into their classrooms, should consider creative movement as part of their teaching strategies.
Personal Reflections
As a Honduran, male, Latino teacher I have always appreciated my own culture, but I was not sure how much I appreciated others. Over the course of this semester, I had the opportunity to interact and learn from students from Kenya, China, Pakistan, Korea and different U.S. states. After having conversations about religion, traditions and gender identity, I have for sure come to the realization that I do appreciate other people’s culture. After obtaining education from Islam, I feel empowered to break stereotypes about their religion. As a future teacher, I am sure that I will have Muslim students and it is my responsibility to educate and protect them.
Diversity has being portrayed as a wall that separates humanity. Through the course of this semester, I have learned that Diversity in fact is an open door that invites humanity to embrace each other differences and celebrate our similarities. As a future educator, I will take educate my students about the importance of being inclusive. I will present myself as a role model to them, one who asks questions before stereotyping. An example of how I will deal with conflict resolution in my classroom is the following: many schools don’t allow students to wear hats to school but Muslim students because of religious practices wear Hijabs (headscarves). I will ask the student to educate the entire class about Hijabs.
As a future teacher I will take advantage of every opportunity to educate my students on the need of embracing diversity and most importantly to be inclusive of it. I want to provide the finest education to all my students through inspiration, motivation, and patience but more importantly through Love.
Work Cited
O’Hara, Susan., & Pritchard, Robert. (2008). Meeting the challenge of diversity: Professional development for teacher educators. Teacher Education Quarterly, v35. p43-61.
Batt, Ellen. (2008). Teachers’ perceptions of ell education: Potential solutions to overcome the greatest challenges. Multicultural Education, vol. 15 n3, p. 39-43.
Kim, Sunha., & Chang, Mido. (2010). Computer games for the math achievement of diverse students. Educational Technology & Society, Vol 13 issue 3, p. 224-232.
Skoning, Stacey. (2010). Dancing the Curriculum. Kappa Delta Pi Record, p. 170-174.
Sheng, Zhaohui., & Sheng, Yanyan., & Anderson, Chrstine. (2011). Dropping out of school among ell students: Implications to schools and teachers education. Clearing House, Vol 84, p. 98-103.
Thomas, Keci., & Tran, Ny., & Dawson, Bryan. (2010). An inclusive strategy of teaching diversity. Advances in Developing Human Resources, Vol. 3 issue 3, P. 295-311.
U.S. Department of Education. (2004). U.S. Department of Education. Fact sheet: NCLB provisions ensure flexibility and accountability for limited English proficient students. Retrieved July 8, 2006 from http://www/ed/gov/nclb/accountability/schools/factsheet-english.h
