2. PREPARING TEACHERS FOR CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM By Michael Valentino

3. MR. TIM MCWILLIAMS WAS SO FED UP WITH THE EDUCATION HIS DAUGHTER WAS RECEIVING DUE TO ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES THAT HE SOLD HIS HOME AND MOVED HIS FAMILY TO HANOVER COUNTY SO THAT HIS DAUGHTER COULD GET “A BETTER EDUCATION.” MR. MCWILLIAMS DAUGHTER ATTENDED HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOLS. MR. MCWILLIAMS SAID, “THAT SCHOOL SYSTEM IS RUN BY A BUNCH OF MIDDLE CLASS WHITE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TEACH MY DAUGHTER. THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES IN OUR LIFESTYLES.” HE SAID, “MY DAUGHTER WAS MAKING A’S JUST BECAUSE SHE ATTENDED SCHOOL. SHE HAD BECOME PART OF THE “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” THING. SHE STILL MAKES GOOD GRADES, BUT SHE IS ACTUALLY STUDYING AND LEARNING. SHE IS GRADED ON HER PERFORMANCE NOW. NOT HER SKIN COLOR.”NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

4. DEALING WITH DIFFERENT CULTURES AND ETHNICITIES CAN BE CHALLENGING IN CLASSROOMS THESE DAYS. THE EVER-CHANGING ECONOMY AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES HAVE CAUSED MANY FAMILIES TO RELOCATE TO HENRICO COUNTY NEAR RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. A LARGE NUMBER OF NEW STUDENTS HAVE STARTED ATTENDING HENRICO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.HENRICO COUNTYHENRICO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

5. THE COUNTY HAS STARTED PREPARING IT’S TEACHERS AND TEACHING THEM HOW TO DEAL WITH ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. THE COUNTY HAS TAKEN THE APPROACH THAT THEY NEED TO EDUCATE THE STAFF MEMBERS TO EXPAND THEIR PERSONAL VALUES TO INCLUDE THE VALUES OF THEIR NEW STUDENTS TOO. HENRICO COUNTY AND MANY OTHER LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS HAVE STARTED OFFERING IN-SERVICE TRAINING CLASSES TO STAFF MEMBERS.

6. DR. WILLIAM “BILL” BOSHER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH EDUCATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE AND FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOLS, SAID, “THE KROOT KEY REPORT THAT WAS RELEASED ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO INDICATED THAT THE MOST STARTLING FACT ABOUT RICHMOND AND ITS SURROUNDING AREAS WAS THE FACT THAT WE WERE NOT VERY WELL PREPARED FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY. MAINLY DUE TO THE RECENT INCREASE IN OUR LATINO POPULATION, ASIAN POPULATION AND FOR SOCIOECONOMIC REASONS.”COMMONWEALTH EDUCATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE Photo provided by Dr. Bosher via Google

7. DR. CHRISTENBURY, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY SAID, ”YES, ABSOLUTELY. COLLEGES ARE TEACHING HOW TO DEAL WITH ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM. IT’S TO THE HEART OF TEACHER PREPARATION. IT REALLY IS. IF THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT THEN ALL THEY ABOUT HOW TO DO THAT IS TEACH SOMEONE WHO LOOKS AND THINKS LIKE THEMSELVES.”DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY Photo provided by Dr. Christenbury via Google

8. TEACHER COLLEGES LIKE VCU AND LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY HAVE JUST RECENTLY INCLUDED CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THEIR CURRICULUM. Photo found on Google. Not Copy Right Protected.

9. WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY TEACHING? HOW DO THEY LEARN THESE SKILLS? MANY OF THE TEACHERS IN HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOLS HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY FORMAL TRAINING ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM.

10. DR CHRISTENBURY Photo provided by Dr. Christenbury via Google

11. IN CONCLUSION, IT SEEMS APPARENT THAT DEALING WITH DIFFERENT CULTURES AND ETHNICITIES CAN BE CHALLENGING IN CLASSROOMS THESE DAYS. THE ADMINISTRATION AT HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOLS ARE DEFIANTLY AWARE THAT TEACHERS NEED TO BE TRAINED IN THIS AREA AND THEY ARE MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO DO SO.

12. SOURCES: MR. TIM MCWILLIAMS, FORMER HENRICO COUNTY STUDENT PARENT. (804) 539-9114 DR. WILLIAM “BILL” BOSHER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH EDUCATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE AND FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOLS BILLBOSHER@AOL.COM - (804) 304-2060 DR. CHRISTENBURY, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING, AT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY LCHRISTE@VCU.EDU PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL VALENTINO SLIDES 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10 & 11 SLIDES 5, 6, 7 & 9 ARE NON COPYRIGHTED GOOGLE PHOTOS BILLBOSHER@AOL.COMLCHRISTE@VCU.EDU