Effects of Teacher. Many times, teachers are given the curriculum materials from the district or administration. Understanding the cultural dynamics of your classroom may require modifications to the curriculum materials in order to best meet the needs of all learners.
Ruben Gonzalez is a kindergarten teacher in a culturally diverse Title 1 school. The students in his classroom are of diverse backgrounds and include African American, Latino, Vietnamese, and White students. Some of the students are children of migrant farm workers, and many others have parents in other working class jobs, often working more than one job.
He has noticed that the curriculum adopted by the district does not adequately address cultural diversity. With this in mind, Mr. Gonzalez would like to try some strategies and activities he learned from previous conferences on effective teaching practices. He believes these strategies would enable students to embrace their cultural differences. Therefore, the needs of culturally diverse students could be more easily met. He has also researched current literature in the field for effective strategies for teaching students from diverse cultures.
Mr. Gonzalez decided to implement strategies during his lessons and plan activities that would encourage students to work together and share information about themselves. In addition, he decided to plan some activities during math and language arts that would showcase students’ family traditions and culture. Finally, Mr. Gonzalez posted these projects in the classroom prior to parent-teacher conferences so that the students could show their parents their projects.
What effect might the teacher’s efforts have on the students, their families, or other staff at the school? How can families and other community members be include-d in order to help develop reciprocal relationships? What are 3-4 strategies that a teacher could implement to embrace the diverse cultures and backgrounds that are represente-d at school and in the community? How could a teacher approach curricular changes with the administration, keeping in mind the needs of the students?