Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw- Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Student Diversity: Who Will I Teach?

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Will My Classrooms Be Like the Ones I Attended ? Most likely “no”; school diversity is changing rapidly Many ongoing changes in nation’s schools –New immigrants –Change to more homogenous schools in some regions –Recent inclusion of previously excluded students, such as students with disabilities and English language learners

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Race and ethnicity –Total number of students in all populations continues to grow –By 2030, minority youth (non-European Americans) will exceed the number of majority youth (European Americans) –Non-European American students accounted for 22% of students in In 2006, they accounted for 43% of all students

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Why this dramatic change? –More European Americans are having smaller families in comparison to so-called minority families, such as Hispanics –Largest number of new immigrants in history Immigrant population grew by over 30% in 1990s Shift from a majority of European immigrants to Latin American and Asian immigrants

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Race and ethnicity –Students continue to be segregated according to economic background Majority of poor youth live in major cities or very rural areas Concentration of more prosperous students in major cities and suburbs –Regional migrations of different ethnic groups account for new diversity

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Black Americans –Ethnic category doesn’t account for the wide diversity of backgrounds Descendants of slaves brought to America between the 1500s and 1800s Afro-Caribbean New immigrants from Africa

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Diversity in Hispanic population –Latinos and Hispanics whose families have been living in America (or what used to be Mexico) for generations –Puerto Ricans –Cubans –Immigrants from Central and South American countries

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Native Americans –Comprise 1% of all students, though this number is growing –In the 1960s, following years of persecution, more Indian tribes were given control of their own schools Rough Rock Demonstration School of the Navajo Nation Indian Community School in Wisconsin

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Asians –Fastest growing group of students –Diversity among Asians Chinese and Japanese students with families who have been in America for generations New immigrants from countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and India –Many racial stereotypes which influence how they are treated in school “Model minority”

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? More than one race –2.7% of all students –Many young people see ethnic categorizations as labels those in authority seek to place on them –Youth want to be seen as individuals; a good teacher takes the time to do this with each student

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. What About Me? What do you want to be called? How would you “label” yourself in one (or many) words?

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Continuing racial segregation in the schools –Legal foundation of racial segregation ended in 1954 following Brown v. Board of Education decision –Racial integration began to be achieved in 20 years following Brown decision –School integration, however, has not only stalled but shifted backwards recently

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Gender and sexuality –New understanding of gender and sexuality among young people –Girls and boys, in the same classroom, will experience school differently due to different experiences and social roles –More open and accepting views of sexuality among young people

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Who Attends School Today? Hidden diversities –Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students Following gay rights movements in the 1970s, more students are “coming out of the closet” Commonly harassed in schools, often out of the earshot of teachers –Religious minorities Teachers need to know as much as possible about the different practices and beliefs of their students in order to teach effectively

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. How Can I Be Sure that I am Reaching All My Students? Looking at ourselves –Teachers must examine their own place in a diverse world –Examine your own privileges that you may not always recognize Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. How Can I Be Sure that I am Reaching All My Students? Seeing the diversities –Teachers can not ignore a student’s race or ethnicity –“Color-blind” teachers may teach all students as if White students were the “norm” –Different students have different needs –Teachers need to be curious about and learn from their students

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Join the Dialogue Have you ever been subject to discrimination? Have you ever been part of the dominant society? How did each experience feel?

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “Globalization, Immigration, and Education” by Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco Recent immigrants are highly heterogeneous group –Highly educated, highly skilled workers who thrive in America –Poorly schooled, semiskilled, or unskilled workers who settle in areas of deep poverty Children from the first group often outperform native-born children, however, regarding the second group especially: “Among immigrants today, length of residence in the United States seems associated with declining health, school achievement, and aspirations….becoming Americanized is detrimental to youngsters’ achievement, and terrible for their overall mental health”

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “Dude, You’ve Got Problems” by Judith Warner Examples of school violence connected to acceptable gender behavior: “Being called a ‘fag,’ you see, actually has nothing to do with being gay. It’s really about showing any perceived weakness or femininity.…It’s what being called a ‘girl’ used to be, a generation or two ago” Boys are confining themselves to narrowly defined examples of masculinity, while girls are spending more time than ever worrying about appearance and sexuality

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “The Silenced Dialogue” by Lisa Delpit Five aspects of the “culture of power” Issues of power are enacted in classrooms There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a “culture of power” The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier Those with power are frequently least aware of—or willing to acknowledge—its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence Delpit suggests that “appropriate education for poor children and children of color can only be devised in consultation with adults who share their culture”