Faith Jones - Blog Post #4

Faith Jones

"Given your understanding of intentional and unintentional racism both through teacher-student interactions and curriculum development, how would you encourage diversity in the classroom?"

I would encourage diversity in the classroom through giving students assigned seats at all times. When students get to choose who they want to sit with in class, they pick who they are comfortable with, which is likely to be someone who they share a lot of similarities with. However, when students must sit with students they do not feel comfortable with, and also work with them, they are forced to have a lesson about diversity in doing so. I would also encourage diversity by encouraging teachers to teach a well-balanced curriculum. When students learn about their own history and the achievements of people who look like them, and this is what I know from personal experience, they are more interested and perform better when assessed on what they've learned. A diverse curriculum is the core of a diverse classroom experience.

When it comes to training, I believe teachers should be given more training on how to deal with several different students. They should be given better training when it comes to dealing with students of color in particular and not immediately expect them to perform lower than white students. I don't believe that teachers are given an emphasis on how to deal with students of color in terms of giving them proper attention and not just kicking them out of the classroom when they are frustrated. They should be taught that every student - at their core - is the same. Every student needs to learn and they need to be treated fairly. There should be more of an emphasis on the different races and the different challenges they face in education so that teachers will want to work to change that and provide them with as best of an education as possible.