Vandreia Sehnem

May 15th , 2014

ESC 769
Professor Herminio Martnez

Philosophy statement on teaching diverse students

As a future teacher I have realized that there are many extremely important factors to be
analyzed and understood before going to the classroom in order to make the difference in the
students life. One of this factors is that a classroom might be composed by a diverse group of
people, with various cultural backgrounds, and different life aspirations/expectations and beliefs.
Therefore, besides being knowledgeable of the given content to be taught to the students, it is
important for the teacher to be open minded and interested in learning about the different
ethnicities before making any assumptions about the different behaviors and learners attitudes in
the classroom.
After the Latinos in the US class, I can say that my pre-conceptions about the diversity in
the society and in the classroom have been challenged. I have realized that there is much more to
be considered when dealing with a multicultural group of students than the superficial
categorization into countries of origin, or the first language that they speak. It is necessary to
understand that a country can be very diverse, and that different ethnic groups can speak the
same mother tongue but be completely different among themselves. For instance, what might
happen is the assumption that because a given group of people speak Spanish as their first
language they all have the same ethnic background, while this group of people could come from
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distinguishable Spanish speaking countries with their own cultural values and ethnic
backgrounds. Thus, it is important for the teachers to know that not all Spanish speaking students
carry the same background, and this might reflect in different attitudes and beliefs, regarding
education.
Also, it is important that the teachers are aware of the different ethnic groups in order to
help the students to recognize and accept their ethnic identities. As it is known, people have been
migrating to the United States for various reasons and at different periods throughout the years.
Their culture and values have certainly gone through changes, by adapting to a new country and
getting to know a new culture, language, and values. As a consequence, their children could be
confused, or resistant to their ethnic background. In addition, it is known that racism and
discrimination are present in our society and it could be the reason for someone to try to hide or
even ignore their ethnicity. Therefore, by showing interest and respect, I believe that the teacher
can make the difference in the learners attitudes regarding their identities and help them to
accept themselves and their backgrounds. Banks (1988) suggests that Teachers should learn
how to facilitate the identity quests among ethnic youths and help them become effective and
able participants in the common civic and national culture. (Banks, 1988, pg 93) After this, I
would say that accepting their own ethnic identities is important and will certainly bring positive
consequences to an individual and his/her community.
Furthermore, when we think of families that came to this country without the knowledge
of the English Language, and moved to Spanish speaking communities, it is not hard to imagine
that many children who were born in the United States have poor language skills when reaching
school age. This might happen due to the fact that many families maintain their mother tongue
and the kids might not learn all the English vocabulary needed when reaching school age. Also,

there are studies that show that the success level in the second language is related to the first
language knowledge.
Figueredo (2006) conducted a study that investigated first language influence on English
spelling. The study, which was based on a literature review focused on ESL spelling studies,
points out different ideas regarding language transfer, which is the language knowledge
transferred from the first language or mother tongue to the second language, and vice-versa.
Figueredo (2006) explains that there is the Common Underlying Proficiency model, defended
by Cummins (1981), which suggests that academic skills are related across languages. In other
words, the academic competence of the second language learner in his//her first language is
partially related to the competence in the second language when he/she starts learning it. The
more knowledge and awareness the learner has of his/her first language the more knowledge
he/she will have to draw upon when learning the second language.
Based on this idea, if the child knows how to speak Spanish but is not literate in Spanish,
he/she might have problems when going to school and having to learn English, because his/her
language knowledge is limited. It does not mean that parents should not speak their mother
tongue with their kids, or that the child is not going to learn English, but this might make the
learning process a little harder. Thus, it is important for teachers to understand that there might
be many interfering factors blocking the learning process, which require some attention before
making any assumption and doubting the students capability to learn.
Even though culture and language are important subjects to be analyzed when
considering a diverse group of students, Ogbu (1992) explains that there is more to be considered
in order to solve the problems with the minorities education. When describing problems with the
core curriculum and multicultural education, in his article, Ogbu (1992) points out three

problems with the multicultural education. One of them is the focus on schools and teachers,
who have to learn and adapt themselves, while the students own responsibilities for their
academic performance is ignored. The other problem according to him is that programs and
theories in multicultural education are hardly often based on actual study of minorities culture
and language. The third problem is that multicultural education fails to separate minority groups
that are able to overcome cultural and language barriers from those that are not.
Not all minority groups present a low performance rate at school. According to different
studies, different minority groups have different performance results at school. In order to
explain the reasons for this difference, Ogbu (1992) divides the minority groups into three types.
The Autonomous Minorities, which he does not talk much about and gives examples such as the
Jews, Mormons, and Amish in the United States. Another group is called Immigrant or Voluntary
Minority, which is described as the people who moved to the country voluntarily seeking for a
better life, and likely continue with this perspective and therefore value education. The last group
is called Castelike or Involuntary Minorities composed by people who were brought to this
country against their will. According to Ogbu (1992) those are the ones with more problems with
school learning.
Ogbu (1992) also explains that the reason why the problems with education are
concentrated mainly on the last group described, is due to the fact that they were forced in the
country, and by accepting the education they are accepting the countrys rules and at the same
time they are losing their own culture and identity. He also explains that once someone from this
minority group decides to pursue education he/she is excluded from the group, and might suffer
criticism from his/her community members, as if he/she had the intention to abandon the
community to cooperate with the mainstream society.

The suggestions given by Ogbu (1992) to solve the problem with minorities and
education is by helping the students to recognize that they do not need to lose their own cultural
and language identity when seeking their academic education, instead they can participate in two
cultural and language settings. Also, the teacher can help by teaching the students that they are
responsible for their own academic success. In addition, it is presented the societys
responsibility in creating more job opportunities for minorities youths, and the importance of the
minorities communities members to value education, in order to stimulate minorities youths to
go to school.
After all this information, I would like to say that it is a great responsibility to be a
teacher in a diverse classroom scenario. It is necessary for the teacher to be aware of all the
implications in teaching a diverse group in order to help them to achieve success. My philosophy
about teaching diverse students is based on respect and understanding of the differences. It is not
always possible for a teacher to be able to know every detail about all ethnicities and cultures,
but by creating a respectful environment in the classroom, and showing interest to learn about the
students, can make the difference in the learners life. Being conscious of the diversity, even
between minorities, can be helpful in order to properly address each barrier that might be
blocking the students academic development.
In addition, I believe that the teacher should be involved and knowledgeable of the
characteristics of the community where he/she teaches. Participating in the communitys events,
and getting to know the students families, and their social relationships, can also be very helpful
in order to create a trusting and close relationship with the students and parents. This could be a
way to make the students more comfortable in sharing their problems, and more opened to the
teachers suggestions.

Another important point, in my opinion, is to develop the students critical thinking

ability, so that they realize the importance of education for social mobility, and so that they do
not see it as a threatening mechanism used by the mainstream society to pull them apart from
their own ethnic groups.
To sum up, I would like to say that teaching a diverse group of students is not an easy
job, and certainly a given teacher is not going to be able to impact all the students in a given
classroom, nor he/she is going to be able to solve all the problems with the minorities groups and
education, but certainly, by being knowledgeable of the main differences and attitudes towards
the importance of education, the teacher can make the difference in the life of many people.

.
References:
Figueredo, L. (2006). Using the known to chart the unknown: A review of first-language
influence on the development of English-as-a-second-language spelling skill. Reading
and Writing, 19(8), 873-905. doi: 10.1007/s11145-006-9014-1
Ogbu, J. U. (1992). Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning. Educational Researcher,
21(8), 5-14. doi: 10.3102/0013189X021008005
The Stages of Ethnicity, chapter 7, adapted from James A. Banks. The Stages of
Ethnicity Implications for Curriculum Reform. In Multiethnic Education. Theory and
Practice. Second Edition, Copyright 1988 by Allyn and Bacon.