Competency 002
DOMAIN I-DESIGNING INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT TO PROMOTE STUDENT
LEARNING
The teacher understands student diversity and knows how to
plan learning experiences and design assessments that are responsive to differences
among students and that promote all students' learning.
Defense
Teachers often see diversity as the way they view their students
in the classroom and how they can prevent a bias, but I now see that diversity
is in the eyes of the beholder. My opinion has been changed from this
semester because of an incident that occurred while I was substituting for
a co-worker. Diversity is in the eyes of the students. Students
need to see that diversity is accepted and sometimes they need help in seeing
that their teachers are included in that diverse group. Many barriers
would be broken down if the students understood the diverse situation in
which their teacher comes from and that teachers are different too.
I am what many call “white.” Yes, I am very white and I don’t look
like I would know much about the Hispanic culture. Most of my students
are Hispanic or come from a Hispanic background. For the first part
of the time that I have been a teacher my students thought that I couldn’t
relate to them and their troubles, but once they finally started to understand
my diverse background and my cultural side they began to respect me.
A Portuguese male, my adopted father raised me, and my husband is Puerto
Rican. My students were shocked to hear a little bit about my up bringing
and the barriers in my teaching fell down. It was the students that
had the bias. The whole time I had been teaching I worked so hard to
see my bias and allow for diversity, but it was my students that needed the
help with their diverse thinking.
Diversity is an issue for everyone, but often it is seen that the teachers
are the ones with the bias. The fact is that students are bias, teachers
are bias, and barriers on all sides must be broken down. I have now
made it a point to explain where I am coming from when I teach my lessons
and let the students share more about their backgrounds, too. It is
funny how things work out, but whether we are “white”, Hispanic, “black”,
or another background we all have a long way to go.
Samples:
Personal/Professional
Cultural Diversity Critical Incident
