Evelyn Torres Blog Post #4

Evelyn Torres
7/26/15
Blog Post #4 Prompt: Given your understanding of intentional and unintentional racism both through teacher-student interactions and curriculum development, how would you encourage diversity in the classroom?

Within the classroom, the group of white students often have the advantage with intentional and unintentional racism.  They share cultural experiences since most teachers are white, in fact, 83 percent of teachers in U.S. public schools were white as of 2007–2008. There are also more positive assumption made about them, especially for their economic standing. While students of color do not see themselves in the teaching materials or overall curriculum and are generally considered the problems of the school. With this type of thinking, if a non-white student is causing an issue, they are less likely to be handled with understanding, and are consequentially disregarded. Big issues that perpetuate the inequities of education and cause racial divides are zero tolerance policies and standardize testing. With zero tolerance policies there is a disregard to why the students violated such policies and there is no difference in mandatory punishments for offenses of different seriousness. The standardized testing widens the racial achievement due to the pre-existing inequities in our education system, leaving students of color and from low income less prepared for these tests. Instead  of the division by race, there should be encouragement of diversity. The standardized test have been causing big issues because it give a misconceived notion that all student are equally prepared for the tests. If the standard tests are to be implemented there most be educational equity, and be a test that is not only relatable to one race, by having a diverse set of question to a diverse audience. Also those who educate them should be relatable and comfortable to be learn from. The curriculum that is shaped should be formed for the entire audience, by not just sharing the winners perspective. There should not be a narrow view but instead multiple outlooks to enrich the conversation and have a more full understanding of the topic at hand. Overall there should be a larger diversity in the classroom and the student population. There is more diversity than race such as ethnicities, gender, and socioeconomic class. With this, there should come recognition that not all student start off the same way and have the same methods of learning, and using this to provide the best way of learning. Having such diversity is the best way to figure out the most universal way that student appreciate to learn and show enthusiasm for it. There are mindsets that will have unintentional assumptions based on nothing but a glance, but it is important to teach that those speculations are not the most reliable and to learn that the differences within each other only give more perspectives and richer learning.