Cultural Diversity Plan 1

Creating a Plan for a Culturally Diverse Classroom

University of Phoenix

January 16, 2011

Christie Guite

Deborah Stevens
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Final Project: Teaching strategies for Classrooms with Cultural Variety

Current teaching strategies must be designed to account for the multicultural classrooms

of today. If not teaching is doomed to fail. I am studying to be a teacher. As such I understand

that I too must plan for the multicultural classroom. As a result I will discuss the varied elements

of my plan. Doing so will help me to refine my plan. My plan would have to incorporate

patience and regard for all of the cultures present in the classroom. Plans have to be tailored to

the specific area of the country where one lives so I will focus on my home town area. An

important aspect of my plan is that the classroom should have an activity board. Important

events, e.g. holiday celebrations, should be posted to this board. Holidays in particular should be

events that all students participate in. Therefore they should be celebrated in the context of all

relevant cultural viewpoints.

Today the diversity of students in the classroom is higher than it has ever been. Old

teaching strategies, which were designed for less diverse class types, must make way for new in

order for students to be properly educated. This proper education must contain elements of all

of the cultures present in the classroom. According to Johnson, et al “Provision of social justice

and equality is a moral and ethical responsibility of educators; the goal is to help all students

learn and reach their potential, regardless of their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, language,

gender, religion, and ability” (Johnson, et al,. 2005). In order for these goals to be achieved

schools must mandate that all students have the right to equal opportunity in education. This

mandate must be known to all who influence our children. This includes school boards,

principals, teachers, students, parents, and the general community (Gollnick & Chinn, 2006).
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The mandate must be reflected in the classroom curriculum as well. This curriculum must

contain viewpoints from a variety of ethnicities. The mandate must be reflected in teacher and

student attitudes. These attitudes should favor human rights and cultural respect. All should be

reminded of the first amendment to the Unites States Constitution which preserves freedom of

speech, freedom of the press, religious freedom, freedom of assembly, and right to petition. In this

regard curriculums must include sections relating to interpersonal relationships and the influence

on these of racism, sexism, and physical or mental disability. None of this will work unless

students and teachers exercise tolerance. Tolerance will give the students time to learn that

diversity is ok, in fact, it is very important. Education should reflect these facts. The most

effective education systems today will take into account the learning styles of various cultural

groups. Educational systems that don’t adapt to today’s diverse clientele will fail.

In my particular geographic area there is only one teaching style in the classroom.

Furthermore the teaching style is not really geared towards moving students into professional

careers. As such there is a high need for teachers that can bring a variety of teaching approaches

to the classroom. Also we need teachers that can help the students learn skills that will benefit

them in their future professional lives. Teachers each have their own style of teaching this

creates an ambient background of teaching diversity. However this diversity is not enough. The

schools must proactively insert it into the classroom.

In my view students are best taught by practical experience. Students who do good

things in these practical experiences should be praised. This will contribute to a happy and

constructive classroom. Teachers must be able to use a variety of strategies to teach the variety
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children in their classrooms. Practical information from real world experiences should percolate

throughout the class. Students are more efficiently educated if there is a teaching style that is

consistent with their particular backgrounds. The teaching style should also encourage logical

thought and not simple memorization of factoids. The logical thought should then allow

students to decide, on their own, specific expertise areas that they would like to develop, for

example art, mathematics, science, or teaching. Overall I wish to construct a solid, encouraging

situation that focuses on good viewpoints, first amendment rights, and optimization of student

learning (Gollnick, 2006). When the students are educated in this way, they stand a far better

chance at dealing with real-world situations. Teachers should be adept at teaching the class as a

single group while at the same time allowing students some freedom to focus on certain learning

areas.

Classroom studies must focus on equal educational opportunity for all (Gollnick, 2006).

Classroom teaching should be multiethnic in nature in order to satisfy the needs of all types of

students in class. In order to determine the cultural make-up of the class, on the first day of

studies students should write a few paragraphs about themselves. This should focus on their

cultural background, holidays celebrated, things that make them angry and things that make them

happy and things that are important to their parents. With this information in hand the teacher

will better be able to design appropriate classroom teaching strategy. In addition the students

should read their material to the class. This will allow everyone to get to know each other a little

better. After this the students should then be organized into various groups. Their assignment

would be to do nothing but talk to each other. This provides unique opportunities to understand

what the various other cultures are like.

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These group strategies really help the students to learn about the other cultures in the

classroom. Another way to do this is through holiday celebration. In the United States certain

holidays overshadow others, e.g., Christmas. If the class celebrates Christmas in the traditional

way, many students will be left out of the celebration. All cultures should participate in the

holiday. I would ask the students each to think about how they would celebrate Christmas, in

terms of food, gifts, prayer etc. Then I would have the class construct a Christmas poster. This

poster would reflect how the holiday is celebrated form a variety of cultural viewpoints. The

poster would be placed on the class bulletin board for everyone to see. In addition one day

should be spent in the actual holiday celebration. The students would be encouraged to bring

their parents and to bring food and drink. Everyone should be prepared to share stories pertaining

to their own style of holiday celebration. This will allow all to understand different holiday

traditions as well as to build their own holiday into class routine. The bulletin board and

activities surrounding it should help to remove prejudice against the different types of holidays.

At the same time understanding concerning ethnicity improves. In the end my approach is

multicultural. All students should feel that the different cultural holidays are equally important.

In the strategy as I have presented it thus far, I would make sure that the classroom

goings-on were approved by parents and principal. None of the activities should be

inappropriate in any way. In the case of children with disabilities I would make sure that the

proper equipment and/or personnel were on hand to allow these children to get to all regions of

the classroom. In addition I would make sure that their school work passed minimum standards

requirements. In short all students will have equal opportunity to excel in their education.
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We all should pay attention to the Golden Rule which states “do unto others as you would

want them to do unto you” If this rule is adhered to the classroom experience will be interesting,

happy, and encouraging.

References:

DLTK, Growing Together, (2008). DLTK’s Educational Activities: December Bulletin Board
Project. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://www.dltk-
teach.com/boards/mdec1.htm
Gollnick, D., & Chinn, P. (2006). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall
Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., Halle, G. E., Gollnick, D. M., & Dupuis, V. L. (2005). Introduction
to the foundations of American education (13th ed.). Boston: Pearson.