Sammie Cohen

MUED480

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices and Policies

During my time at Walker Upper Elementary, I witnessed quite a few practices and

policies which promoted inclusivity for all types of students. These occurred not only in the

music classroom, but throughout the school. Many of the teachers and administrators I spoke

with felt passionately about keeping these practices and policies at the forefront of their teaching

and student interactions. This dedication to such an important concept really ties the school,

including students, families, and teachers, as a community which respects and cares for one

another.

The staff of the school follow a philosophy that at each moment students are trying their

best. Another policy of the school is to utilize terminology that is void of judgment. When

students behave or perform outside of expectations, teachers and administration refer to this as

“unexpected” rather than “wrong”. The population of the school is particularly diverse and due to

the variety of backgrounds I believe the policy and implementation of removing judgment has a

very positive, inclusive effect on the school’s environment. One practice that I witnessed at my

time at Walker was in the orchestra program where they incorporated discussions of culture

which respectfully and meaningfully incorporated and celebrated the students’ own cultures and

backgrounds. I hope to include cultural learning such as this in my teaching to better enrich the

students’ education and develop their appreciation of diversity. Additionally, my cooperating

teacher sets aside time in her schedule to work with two students who, due to exceptionalities,

cannot enroll in full band classes. I was able to work one-on-one with them and help develop

 their skills on band instruments using different teaching strategies in order to optimize their

learning. There was also a particular class period in which several students spoke or were

learning English as a second language. My cooperating teacher and I worked to make the

instruction accessible through modeling and repetition of actions, phrases, or words. One of the

most rewarding parts of this placement was getting all students involved and facilitating their

learning and growth.

Overall, the school and many of the programs ensure success for their students no matter

what their backgrounds may be. One of the schools’ fundamental beliefs at the core of their

mission is to empower and encourage students to take care of themselves and to take care of each

other. I hope that going forward more schools will work to sincerel celebrate diverse cultures and

backgrounds and shape their curriculum, policies, and practices towards doing so.