Diverse teachers

by

Humanities

For this assignment follow the instructions:

DIVERSE TEACHERS

This activity is designed to give you an understanding of cultural diversity in the classroom from the perspective of an ethnically diverse teacher. For this assignment you need to interview a professor or administrator at any school who is from a culture other than the dominant culture. If it is not possible to interview a professor or administrator, you can sit in on a class taught by a professor whose ethnicity is different from that of the dominant culture and respond to the questions below based on your observations.

Possible interview/observation questions:

• What is the ethnic composition of your classroom?

• What are some of the challenges you face in teaching a culturally diverse class?

• About how much time do you spend lecturing? Facilitating discussion?

• What is expected of students’ participation and how do they actually participate?

• How is classroom time structured?

• How do you motivate students?

• How do you accommodate different learning styles?

• What are some of the primary values of your culture and how are they manifested in your teaching?

• Are classroom activities group oriented or focused on the individual?

• Is language diversity a problem for your classroom?

• What recommendations do you have for the multicultural teacher? For students in multicultural classrooms?

Questions for you following the above exercise:

• Was multicultural teaching competency important for this teacher? Did this teacher have an awareness of cultural differences among his or her students?

• How did the teacher’s ethnicity affect the classroom? Are the challenges faced by ethnically diverse teachers the same as those facing teachers from the dominant group?

• What multicultural characteristics and/or practices did you find most appealing?

Please use a #4 font and be sure to use paragraphs appropriately- not all jumbled into one long block. Make it easier to read for others.