STUDENT DIVERSITY " Individual Differences "

No matter what happen, "everyone is unique" because no two individuals can have
identical hereditary endowments or the same environmental experiences. Every
individual has their own characteristics, ability, skills, and learning styles.

In all learning environments, individual interact with others who are in some way
different from them and that. what we called "diversity". This diversity also comes from
other factors like SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS, THINKING/ LEARNING STYLES and
EXCEPTIONALITIES.

In socioeconomic status, it depends on how individual differ in lifestyle from that of

the middle income or lower income group. It also depends on a combination of variables
including occupation, education, income, wealth and place of residence. Socioeconomic
status is the measure of the influence that the social environment has on individual,
families, communities and schools. In many ways, socioeconomic status is related to the
concept of social class. The next factor is, thinking / learning style of every learner which
involves their different strategies and techniques on how they learn easily and effectively.
There are some learners learn by seeing and looking and others are by hearing and
listening. On the other hand, there are individual learn better by touching and doing.
Wherein they perform what they want to know and learn, that's why every learner has
their own styles in learning. And the last is the exceptionalities, in these factor learners
with exceptionalities as persons who are different in some way from the "normal" or
"average". Exceptional learners include those with special needs related to cognitive
abilities, behavior, emotional disturbances and giftedness. And the learners require a lot
of understanding and patience as well as special education and related services to reach
their full of development.

And to those factors that bring about student diversity, the teacher as a facilitator of
learning is task to consider the individual differences among the students in planning for
effective instruction. Every individual being diverse in terms of culture, race, gender, age,
learning abilities, social requirements, physical / mental disorders, learning strategies,
skills, past knowledge, socioeconomic and educational background and language.
How student Diversity Enriches the Learning Environment

A teacher may be " challenged " to handle a class with so diverse. Why? Because
there are students having different language, abilities, cultural background, different
attitude and behaviors. A wise teacher sees a diversity in a classroom in a respect way
and in a god term. For other teacher, having a diversity in a classroom is an exciting part
because not only the students are learned also the instructors as well. But a word "
hassle" is upset at the mind of the teacher who are difficult to adapt the diversity happened
in a classroom.

Let’s discover the benefits and learning opportunities that students diversity can bring
to your classroom.

STUDENT'S SELF AWARENESS IS ENHANCE BY DIVERSITY

- exposing students to others with diverse background may enhance their self-
awareness. Because they see the differences between themselves and other, and they
are given points to sharpen an assessment to their own attitudes, values, and behaviors.
STUDENT DIVERSITY CONTRIBUTES TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
-it is the opportunity to gain access to the perspective peers and to another student.
And not only the teacher can gain more cognitive knowledge, but also other student can
gain more knowledge and information with diverse culture of other students.

STUDENT DIVERSITY PREPARES LEARNERS FOR THEIR ROLE AS RESPONSIBLE

MEMBERS OF SOCIETY
- Suzane Mores argued: " the classroom can provide more than just theory given by
the teacher in a lecture. Which student’s diversity, the classroom becomes a public place
where community can be practiced.

STUDENT DIVERSITY CAN PROMOTE HARMONY

- when student diversity is integrated into the classroom teaching and learning process.
It can become a vehicle for promoting harmonious race relationship.

SOME TIPS ON STUDENT DIVERSITY"

1. Encourage learners to share their personal history and experiences.
2. Integrate learning experience and activities which promote students multicultural and
cross- cultural awareness.
3. Aside from highlighting diversity, identify patterns of unity that transcend group
differences.
4. Communicate high expectations to students from all subgroups.
5 Use varied instructional methods to accommodate student diversity in learning styles.
6 Vary the examples you use to illustrate concept in order to provide multiple contexts
that are relevant to student from diverse backgrounds.
7. Adapt to the student diverse backgrounds and learning styles by allowing them
personal choice and decision-making opportunities concerning what they will learn and
how they will learn it.
8. Diversity your methods of assessing and evaluating student learning.
9. Purposely, form small-discussion groups of students from diverse backgrounds. You
can form groups of students with different learning styles, different cultural background.
REFERENCE
https://jessajeanlyn.blogspot.com/2013/08/student-diversity-individual-differences.html
March 31, 2011 , Harri Daniel , http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-diversity-in-the-classroom/