Lizz Gage
Service Learning Journal Entry #3
Due to my observations at my service learning setting with the Refugee Center, I have noticed that students with similar social identities and characteristics tend to stay closer to each other or associate with one another more than they do with students that are different from them. However, at my site, we are teaching children English, so they are in four different groups based on where their English is, or rather their language ability. The lowest level of English who need the most work are the Yellow Group, then one step above them is the Purple Group. I work with the second highest group, which is the Orange Group and the students that speak the best English and are most familiar with the language
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I do not really see that the surroundings have a lot to do with the social groups that are present. Most of the posters just say inspirational quotes like “You can do it” or “Reach for the Stars” as a way to motivate the students to work hard and succeed. Race is visible, but not as much as language ability. Even though there are so many children with different ethnicities and that have different native languages, race and cultural differences is something that we really do not touch on at the after school program. The curriculum we have covered so far has been activities that include lessons on healthy eating, short-term and long-term goals, and “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. Tenorio states, “I changed my bulletin boards and literacy activities to correspond the holidays, and proudly integrated the activities into our daily lessons. We learned about our “differences” and celebrate our “similarities” (p. 25). I do believe that if the students talked and learned more about themselves and where they come from, there would be less fighting and arguing when they break up into groups that their friends are not …show more content…
I feel that they do not take my social identities into account because I am there to help. Also, because we do not really shed any light on cultural differences at the after school program, it is not something they really think about. I feel very different from my students one reason simply can be is that a lot of them wear a headscarf or some type of veil and I do not. I feel that I stick out like a sore thumb, but I do not feel them judging me. Also, I once saw a child, Rofaida, praying before eating her snack that we offer to them. I do not pray before meals, but I recognized what she was doing and encouraged the other children to keep their voices down while she did so. I feel similar to my students when I think about and analyze their language ability. At one point, I was almost in the same situation as them. English was not my second language, but I did know what it was like to learn a language and how frustrating it could be. Because of this, I want to be as much help to them as possible. Tenorio says, “It is not the awareness of racial and cultural differences that leads to prejudice and racism, but how people respond to these differences” (p. 26). Every student is different. It is up to me and every other future teacher out there to always be available to their students as well as to be open minded and
ICC9K1 Personal cultural biases and differences that affect one’s teaching. - Competency 4 I am very careful to be respectful of the various cultures and differences among the students at my school, so this does not impact my teaching. I differentiate my instruction in order to accommodate the needs. I am in a school with students from a wide range of countries.
Some strategies that can be used to enrich children’s understanding and respect for cultural identities within the services community may include: - • providing activities and opportunities that engage other cultures These activities could be a culture celebration for a day or week such as Chinese New Year, St Patrick’s Day, Christmas etc., where the children could come dressed up as something that represents that particular culture i.e. dragon, leppricon, Noah etc. and play games that originated from that culture, do drawings of things found in that culture or read books at story time that give information and embraces the culture. • engaging parents and families to discuss cultural practices.
If a school consists of only one type of race or ethnic group, then the students are isolated to the ideals of that specific community. But if diversity exists, the opportunity arises to learn about different cultures and become more well-rounded. This is illustrated by Owen and his best friend Dave, who is white. Even though Owen and Dave are two different races, they do not let that prevent them from being friends. They use their differences as an advantage to learn from each other and to help each other out.
As a teacher in training I have been taught the importance of viewing all students equally and have gained the personal belief that all students have value and are capable of succeeding. If I were to gain a job in a building I would want their values and beliefs to be similar to my own. I would not want to be in a building that excluded students based on their economic backgrounds, abilities, and behaviors. As a future teacher I want all of my students to succeed and would be welcoming of any and all students that enter my room. Each year students would enter my room with a clear slate.
We must find a positive way to incorporate their backgrounds into our classroom and level the playing field of education so that these students are all on the same
Issues such as racism and xenophobia consistently surface and there is a mutual distrust and resentment of other races amongst the pupils. This results in the teachers struggling to do their jobs in a tense environment and having to tackle complex issues such as discrimination. They are forced to attempt to unite students of differing ethnicities who are completely unaccustomed to co-existing with each
I had the opportunity to spend my service learning hours with an amazing young lady by the name of Paige. Paige is 25 years old and has a twin brother and a younger brother who she recently lost to suicide. It affected her deeply and she now battles depression. Paige was born premature, 3 months before her due date and weighed in at a whopping .??ounces. From the gate Paige had complications and had open heart surgery at ?
According to Voight’s, Hanson’s, O’Malley’s, and Adekanye’s study, many black children reported of having less favorable relationship between their white instructors compared to white students, while black and hispanic instructors tend to have a steady report of positive relationship and attitude with their students from all races (Voight, Hanson, O’Malley, Adekanye, 2015). Moreover, in a sample from the Texas school districts, districts with more Hispanic and Black teachers have better success in their students’ academic performance for all races, compared to districts that have a larger number of white instructors (Voight, Hanson, O’Malley, Adekanye, 2015). This goes back to the discrepancies in a student-teacher relationship when both parties do not share the same understanding of each other’s background and cultures. The rift in the relationship is mended when a mutual understanding manifests between the two. Hispanic and Black instructors already have a similar background with the current students, which makes their attitude towards these groups more sympathetics and understanding compared to a white teacher who may had the mainstream
Thus, I acknowledge that minorities are treated differently in classrooms at my college as well as other institutions of higher learning. Therefore, I must make a concerted effort to engage minority students in my classroom to promote their academic
The importance of ethnicity in fostering a welcoming learning environment should be highlighted in schools. Research has shown that kids are more inclined to participate in the subjects they are learning, clubs, and improve their academic performance when they feel included and respected at school. A National Bureau of Economic Research study found that all students do better academically when the student body is more diverse. Students are less likely to harbor
Social division has always been a problem in our world’s communities. People are divided in groups, by Socio-economic status, race, gender, etc. However, what if two different social groups are made to coexists together in an academic environment? This is exactly the situation in our¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ Colegio Alemán Humboldt, where Matutina and Vespertina, two different groups of students, belonging to two different socio-economic groups, attend school in different schedules¬. These students don’t interact with one another, the basically ignore the other’s presence at school and when they don’t, they make fun of each other.
As Gay (2010) states, although cultural diversity is seen as a positive and valuable in theory, it is often seen as a threat and tried to be eliminated in real life; and because of this reason teachers mostly deal with aspects of cultural diversity that won’t cause trouble for them. However, I believe that if a person chooses to be a teacher he / she has to have some responsibility to the society to be genuinely sensitive about these issues and has to act to promote acceptance of cultural diversity both in the society and in the education area.
Once I realized that this was a difference in cultures. I was able to adapt and adopt a more relaxed teaching style. This helped everyone open up more and in the end we got more
Public schooling can benefit one’s social skills by having events such as dances, sports, and extracurricular activities. Without realizing it, students interact with people of different races, ethnicities, religions, and more everyday. When teaching a lesson,
Introduction When I first saw the syllabus of this class, I was looking forward to doing the service learning project as I have only been to only one in the past. I believe that service learning is important as part of a quality college education because I believe that people learn best through experiences. Also, service learning is important as part of a quality college education because, during the service, there will be numerous opportunities for students to learn new things. For instance, I am a business major student but I know about the history of the Gold Park and the benefits of the plants there through the service learning project.