An issue I find often in education is the lack of support for English Language Learners (ELLs). There are so many students who may not speak English proficiiently who are many times, just thrown haphazardly into classrooms and left to drown so to speak. Now, some school district offer ESL teachers which predominantly helps students that speak Spanish as their native language. But what about the children from Europe? Africa? Even children from English speaking nations like Great Britatin and Australuia can have an adjustment.
If this problem isn't addressed, we will continue to let children of other cultures and different languages slip through the cracks. These children have so much valuable information and experiences to share with us, but often times we are not reaching out to them. Thus we are unable to learn from their vastly differentiated knowledge and use what we learn to broaden our horizons.
Personally, I am wildly passionate about differentiated instruction, multiculturalism and the rich vales international and multi national students can bring to the classroom. As a teacher, I would always make it my personal goal to make sure I am meeting the needs of all of my students. This can be very difficult but it is something I believe very strongly in. It's not fair for the child in the class who has only had, for example, a years worth of English inclusion, to be expected to be right on task with all of the other students in class who clearly have the advantage.
How can we as future educators ensure that we are meeting teh needs of all of our students?
How can we promote inclusion in the classroom?
What are the rewards that can be gained from a more multiculturally diverse classroom?
Meeting the needs of our students can be very challenging because each child is different. However, teaching is a process of nonstop learning, and I think that is where the learning truly comes into play. I also like the diversity issues that you address. I think to reward this, we must first be accepting of it. This is a major obstacle for many people. Likewise, we need to accomidate each lesson to better fit the diversity issues so that each child feels welcomed into our classroom.
ReplyDeleteThank you for addressing this topic. I can only imagine the frustration for not only the student but the teacher as well when the student doesn't even understand what the teacher is saying. It is impossible to teach a child that simply does not understand what you are saying. It is my personal belief that Americans are slightly self centered and under educated when it comes to speaking other languages and knowing other cultures. It should be a goal for all of Americans, not just teachers and students, to become more diverse in their knowledge of the world and other people in it.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome! I am glad that you both agree on this very important topic! I am very passionate about it.
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