Handout


 * Hannah** The reality of how many Hispanic/Latino/a students are in Michigan schools is overwhelming. And they are in schools all around the country. I think often times we try to minimize the reality of the diversity in our schools and then as teachers we go in very unprepared. But diversity in schools is on the rise and the number of diverse teachers is not. The percentage of White teachers in schools is huge and it is going to stay that way for a long time. We are it and we need to be prepared for all that our students are going to bring to us. As we go into teaching, we need to be prepared for all the educational barriers that are going to come up in the classroom. We automatically teach from our own background knowledge and naively believe that all our students will understand it. But when students come in who have different background knowledge or they have language barriers, teaching methods must change. We need to do research on all of our students to further understand them and how they might learn. We also have to watch for discrimination in the classroom—both from ourselves and from the other students. It is easy to group together a people that we think all look alike but who in reality come from very different backgrounds and countries. We cannot ignore racist remarks or attitudes from the students in our classroom either. They need to be stopped immediately and need to be kept that way. Sometimes we as teachers are the only people who are going to protect out students—let’s take that seriously.


 * Zach:** What has become apparent through our studies is that different cultures are rarely properly and adequately included in American education. They are overlooked by teachers and administrators and ignored by curricula. Worst of all, few realize the assets they possess within their own diverse classroom. Opportunities lie within each student to present new and different perspectives if given the time and resources. Within education, this means seeking cultural connections and understanding in an appreciative, valuable way. As a future Secondary English and History teacher, I will have multitudinous opportunities to represent and empower cultural perspectives. This includes incorporating diverse literature selections, supplementing core curricula with variegated opportunities and resources. As a History teacher, the options are endless. Revealing cultural contributions (Hispanic influence on music and dance) and historical correlations (where are Hispanic Americans from and why did they leave) are among a few of the many. Ultimately, the lesson to be learned will apply to all cultures and diverse situations: give students time and resources to explore and present their own and other perspectives regardless of the content.


 * Olivia:** It is very important to understand the diversity of your students. Especially when a specific group of students are lumped into one category and in reality many of these students come from very culturally diverse backgrounds. In America, we like to categorize and group people, places, colors and many other things. I think that is why we so easily try to group students into specific ethnic categories when really they do not identify with the category they are assumed to be placed into. It saddens me to hear that these students are misplaced and then miseducated by the United States Educational System. This project has opened my eyes to see even more diversity within categories and how these students learn within an educational setting. I believe every student has a high learning and achievement potential they just need to be given the right tools to accomplish this. They also need an educator to understand where they are from, how they learn, and what experiences they have had. I hope and pray that in my future teaching I can better reach out to my students of Hispanic origin so I can help them achieve success in their education.