Although I consider myself internationally and culturally nonbiased… I can suppose that is a biased statement because we all have intolerances and prejudices in some form, if only because of our experiences. What follows is a much-too-brief list of ideas that made an impression on me.
1. In their fight for equality, some promote inequality. In our text, Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit and her supporters demand special educational accommodations for black children because they learn differently. Which, of course, is ridiculous. While I can’t refute their experiences, to put all black children in the same category with poor, inner-city black children is beyond reason.
2. Addressing Race and Inequity in the Classroom made a great point that diversity should be taught as early as pre-school.
3. English Teaching: Practice and Critique supported increased diversity education should be introduced to pre-service teachers. I agree and add that each school should have specific programs to introduce school-specific diversities to new teachers.
4. What it Takes to do Diversity Education provided a step-by-step process in how to provide diversity training. The first step listed was to be careful of ones own social identity and the impact it has on others.
5. While America is the great melting pot… we are not the ONLY melting pot. The Social Barometers by the United Nations and other organizations, shows that every geographic area contains varying degrees of diversity.
6. Where the countries and cultures differ, is in the values and skills they deem most important for their child’s education. (Reports from the European Commission and CBIA.
7. When ELL students struggle in English, they FEEL like they are not able to do the work correctly or even to follow the basic rules of the class! They feel like they’ve failed before they started! Breaking the cycle of racism in the classroom: Critical race reflections from future teachers of color.
8. ePals and Skype Education are two AMAZING tools that can be used to connect classrooms from different cultures, giving them some good early diversity and tolerance training.
9. Despite the cultural differences between China and the U.S., I found it interesing that both had some of the same basic problems in connecting their classes.
10. The biggest challenge for teachers, in my opinion, is teaching across the multiple intelligences. Facing cross-cultural issues in addition to this. God Help Our Teachers!
spierson61 