UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 1

UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE

EDUC 5710

INTRODUCTION TO DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT

UNIT 1

FEB 01, 2023

According to The Century

Foundation (n.d. as cited in
Anderson, 2018),
inclusive classroom settings
lead to beneficial academic
outcomes and better
interpersonal relations for
students of all backgrounds.
(para. 2) I believe this
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 2

is true in many aspects. By

having an inclusive learning
environment, one
will create more opportunities
for more diverse students to
enroll and be
involved in the learning
activities in class, which can
bring many good things.
Diversity in the classroom will
help students to learn tolerance
and empathy
towards a variety of different
cultures and quite possibly learn
and get useful
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 3

knowledge from other cultures,

for I believe every culture in the
world have
something good to offer.
“Learning empathy, flexibility,
and how to work with
people from different
backgrounds and cultures will
prepare kids to navigate
an increasingly multicultural
future.” (Matthiessen, 2018)
Now, to answer the question
“what surprise you the most?” I
believe it is
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 4

that fact that Matthiessen

(2018) mentioned that after
several high level
school integrated students by
socioeconomic status, the
results were great,
where it showed that there were
increased achievements for
lower-income
students, but at the same time,
there were no drops in the
higher-income
students’ achievements. There
is always a stigma that when a
good school
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 5

opens a door to students from

lower-income households, the
quality of the
school will drop, since the IQ or
brain ability of those lower-
income students
are generally lower than those
who came from a higher-
income households,
due to the nutrition provided at
home and the overall quality of
life, which
may affect the brain and
physical development of a
child. “There is a vicious
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 6

circle between poverty and

higher education because
socioeconomic
disadvantages generates
educational disadvantages and
vice versa. Unequal
economic distribution makes
educational opportunities
more difficult to
access.” (Flores et al., 2015)
When that happens, there is a
big chance that the teachers
need to hold
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 7

back the pace of the learning in

order to accommodate these
students that
are in need of extra help, which
will ultimately resulted the lack
of focus for
accelerated learning processes
for those students from the
higher-income
family whose parents set a
really high expectations
academically. However,
as it turns out, that is not the
case here. Perhaps it has
something to do with
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 8

the teaching-learning practice

conducted in these schools.
Which brings us
to the second question.
“What suggestions would
you offer the school to
improve the
climate in its diverse
classrooms?” One suggestion I
could give here is to
conduct well-mixed group
activities and provide learning
materials that is
UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING 9

inclusive for all the students.

These two simple guidelines
can easily burn
down any barriers between
students from different social,
racial, religious,
economical, or cultural
backgrounds. Yet, many
educators all around the
world often overlook it.
 UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING
10

According to Anderson (2018) and The Century Foundation (n.d.), inclusive classroom

environments improve academic performance and interpersonal interactions for children from all

backgrounds. (para. 2) In many ways, I think this is accurate. The creation of greater possibilities

for students from more different backgrounds to enroll and participate in class activities will

result from having an inclusive learning environment, which can have a number of positive

effects. As I believe every culture in the globe has something positive to offer, diversity in the

classroom will help pupils acquire tolerance and empathy toward a number of various

civilizations as well as maybe learn and gain helpful knowledge from other cultures. Children

will be better equipped to manage an increasingly multicultural future if they learn empathy,

adaptability, and how to work with individuals from different origins and cultures. 2018

(Matthiessen) What most surprised you, then, is the question we now have to address? I think

Matthiessen (2018) made reference to this reality when he said that when numerous high-level

schools integrated students by socioeconomic status, the results were excellent and showed that

lower-income students' accomplishments grew while those of higher-income kids remained

stable. Since lower-income students' IQs or brain abilities are typically lower than those of
 UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING
11

students from higher-income households due to the nutrition received at home and the general

quality of life, which may affect a child's brain and physical development, there is a persistent

stigma that when a good school opens its doors to students from lower-income households, the

quality of the school will suffer. "Poverty and higher education are mutually exclusive since

socioeconomic disadvantages lead to educational disadvantages and vice versa. Access to

educational possibilities is made more difficult by unequal economic distribution. (Flores and

others, 2015) When that occurs, there is a good chance that the teachers will need to slow down

the pace of learning in order to accommodate these students who require additional support. This

will ultimately lead to a lack of focus for accelerated learning processes for those students from

higher-income families whose parents have very high academic expectations. It turns out,

though, that's not the case in this instance. Maybe it has something to do with how these schools

approach teaching and learning. Which brings up the following query. What recommendations

would you make to the school to enhance the atmosphere in its multicultural classrooms? To

conduct well-balanced group activities and provide inclusive learning resources for all the pupils

would be one proposal I could make in this situation. These two straightforward rules will help

break down any barriers that exist between pupils from various social, ethnic, religious,

economic, and cultural backgrounds. Yet many educators all across the world frequently ignore

it. Of course, there are arguments against these methods as well, with some arguing that by

preventing students from choosing their own groups, there may be scroungers or difficult-to-

work-with pupils. However, it can be quickly fixed by completing peer evaluations after each

project. Regarding the instructional materials, there are occasions when they just concentrate on

one or two distinct groups and do not record any images or first-hand accounts from other groups

that would also be pertinent to the subject matter. All of our kids can feel more involved in the
 UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS TO LEARNING
12

learning process and a greater feeling of belonging if we, as educators, work to make it more

inclusive. It can be as easy as writing stories about various people from various backgrounds and

customs for case studies in math class, or it might be as simple as assigning art projects from

many ethnic practices to a diverse collection of students in the classroom. I will conclude by

agreeing with Matthiessen that diversity is important in the classroom and that it can benefit the

students as well as the outcome of the teaching and learning process. It can be of tremendous

assistance to students in grasping the rapidly globalizing, ever-evolving environment in which

we currently live. Students will be able to develop empathy and tolerance when interacting with

people from different parts of the world by learning about and understanding other people's

cultures, and this will undoubtedly aid them in their future endeavors. In that regard, I think class

variety will be quite beneficial.

REFERENCES

Fox. (2015, April 19). FOX 26 NEWS SPECIAL: DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM!

[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=YEw0Rv5cmzc&feature=emb_logoMatthiessen, C. (2019, November 18). Why diversity in

classrooms matters. Parenting. https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/why-diversity-in-

classrooms-matters/