Diversity in the Classroom

[Alec Kotler]

As I walked into my classroom at the beginning of the term to embark on a journey of observation, tutoring, engaging, and being in a state of awe while seeing Mr. Johnson’s teaching tactics, I was pleasantly surprised by the ethnical diversity that filled through each classroom out of the three in which I observed. The surprise stemmed from my personal interactions with the Northfield community, mostly consumed by a generally white population. This was not the case in the small sample size of students I observed in three classes. Classrooms were sprinkled in with Black, Hispanic, and Asian students amongst White students as well.

First of all, it should be stated that Mr. Johnson is a fabulous teacher that promotes engagement throughout the day from his students. A lot of this is tailored by a classroom environment he creates where everyone’s voice is equally heard and respected regardless of appearance or personal beliefs. Some things Mr. Johnson cannot control that fall into the category of diversity issues. Other things he can. No teacher is perfect. Mr. Johnson is a white male teacher and he is accompanied by an aid to help out. The aid is white. Many people of color in the classroom cannot identify to their white teachers which brings in questions of can they trust their educators, can they be inspired by them because they can see themselves in their shoes. Both these concepts are flooded throughout readings we have done this term. This is a Northfield problem where most of the teachers in the city are white, which correlates to my impression of the ethnic population in Northfield. At least, Mr. Johnson’s teaching assistant is a female.

Mr. Johnson creates a collaborative atmosphere in his classroom which is a wonderful way to facilitate teaching as it is a really effective mechanism to ensure development in academia. He does this by splitting up the class into groups to work on things. The only problem with this is the students get to choose their groups. Mostly these groups are formed of people of the same gender, race, and personality. Mr. Johnson can ensure students receive exposure to and interaction to people who are different from themselves. This would occur by him assigning the groups so the students have opportunities to gage other people’s experiences which will further stimulate learning cause these students will be observing different opinions formulated from different experiences. It is also a better way to form inclusivity in the classroom. Students are more inclined to gain friendships with people who are not like them when they are forced to interact. This is something that the Slavin reading preaches on and it is backed by statistical evidence from actual conducted experiments. It would improve the quality of the classroom experience for all students if he assigned groups or even instituted assigned seating at the very least, and I think Slavin would agree.

It is very bittersweet that this tutoring journey is coming to an end. Each week I feel as I am more and more valuable to the classroom. I also feel that the students are benefitting from my presence and are more comfortable to approach me with questions. They really believe I am a meaningful resource to them and I appreciate it. It is a role I have not been in before and I have embraced it. This past week the students were working on an assignment regarding mitosis and this is a very difficult topic for high school students to grasp. I was making my rounds group by group offering my knowledge when it was needed and I thought I really helped the students understand this new concept. It is difficult I found to help by finding a balance between pushing them closer in the direction of the answer but without actually providing the solution. I think this is important because if the students skip the process of finding out the answer they won’t learn as well. How do you guys go about this in your classrooms?

I’d like to conclude this week’s blog of mine by expressing my exuberance that I got assigned a homework assignment for next Friday. Every other week the students present an article about some science news. The activity is actually called SNAWT which stands for science news around the world today. I have to find an article about cancer research for next week and discuss what it was about and it has to be from a country outside America. Cultural inclusion–YAY! Though I can’t talk about my cancer research this summer–sadL. I will come prepared to ask three questions about the article. This assignment I am really excited about and I can’t forget to do it because it will show the students that I value and respect the classroom I shared with them. They are counting on me to do this assignment with them and I can’t let them down. It will be a nice parting gift. They look up to me and it is my duty to set a good example . I think this is why Mr. Johnson wanted me to do this which is why I am so excited about a homework assignment!

 

[Logan Robinson]

Alec,

Thanks for your insightful blog post! I really enjoyed reading about your perspective on diversity in Mr. Johnson’s classroom. You bring up a good point in that some parts of diversity the teacher can control others they cannot. Regardless of the identity of the teacher, they will almost positively not fit or be able to relate to each of the students. But, it is nice to hear that, even in such a diverse classroom, Mr. Johnson does a good job making sure everyone’s voice is heard. I like your suggestion about focusing on group selection, as I think this is also something my teacher could work on.

I feel the same way about our tutoring journey! It has been so fun to watch these kids grow and open up. I’m glad they have expressed how meaningful your presence has been. I have similar experiences in my fourth grade class with working to help the students while not giving them the answer. Typically I ask them a lot of questions to gauge where the disconnect really is instead of assuming they know something that actually was the problem. This might be more annoying for high schoolers, but I use that tactic in coaching too which I have high schoolers for. Excited to hear about how your homework assignment goes in your blog next week!

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