Culturally Diverse Learners

Abstract:
“Over the last 30 years, the student population of U.S. public schools has drastically changed” (Hughes, Page, and Ford p.9). The number of culturally diverse students is steadily increasing at a significant rate. The demographic characteristics of culturally diverse students place them at risk for failure. “In contrast to the growing diversity of the student population is the persistent lack of diversity among the teaching force” (Hughes, Page, Ford p. 9). The cultural dynamics in middle school not only needs to be addressed in students but also in teachers in order for teaching and learning to be truly effective.



Culturally Diverse Learners



One Texas middle school, I previously worked at is faced with cultural diversity every



day. With 69.8% of the student population economically disadvantaged and the majority



consisting a little over 50% Hispanic, we struggled to provide resources that truly fit the needs of



our students. In 8th grade alone, the grade I have always taught, we have 70 students who speak



little to no English. These students are placed in general education classrooms and switch classes



every period. We only had 1 bilingual aide or assistant who was responsible for providing



translation and help for all these students. I don’t feel we have ever considered the actual needs



of this type of diverse learner.



Being an 8th grade Reading support teacher, my sole position and priority is to provide



accelerated instruction for our students who fall in “the gap”. There is a great amount of pressure



placed on me and pulling and reviewing data has been my only resource. All of the students I



taught were either Hispanic or African American. I am only going to focus on my Hispanic



students since they are the group with the most cultural diversity. The following information is



found on the AEIS report for 2012-2013:



The number of our 8th grade students who are actually enrolled in our Bilingual/ESL



Program is only 2.7%. This means, the parents actually filled out the necessary



paperwork and provided all required documentations which allow their students to be



placed in an ESL class and receive extra help from our bilingual assistant. In 8th grade,



we have 43% Hispanic students. 56% of these students met the expectation on the



STAAR test. To some that may sound like a good number, to others, such as myself, not



so much. On campus we only have 2.4% of our faculty members who are Hispanic.


The rest of the teaching staff, fall under the categories of White or African American. As a



whole, we really cannot relate or honestly support the needs of this particular group of diverse



learners.



Research and studies conducted, explain that teachers need to “expand their



understanding of students’ cultural backgrounds, values, customs, and traditions in order to



increase their effectiveness by welcoming students’ cultural differences” (Hughes, Page, Ford



p.10). According to the article written by Hughes, Page, and Ford, the practice of modifying



curricula and materials, classroom interactions, teaching approaches, and parent outreach in



response to students’ cultural background is referred to as culturally responsive practice.



As a school with many diverse learners, this practice needs to be put into action. There are not



sufficient resources or staff available to aide such a large group of diverse learners, so it’s up to



us, the teachers, to expand our own learning and knowledge to effectively teach these students.



Hispanic learners need much more than just to “get by” in our educational system. I



know, as a teacher, I am guilty of modifying curriculum to make the work easier, allowing



students to receive a better grade. But what good is a grade if there’s no depth or true learning in



it? We still need to maintain high challenge along with high support for our diverse learners.



Steven Athanases describes the importance of having a balance of challenge and support. A



different approach to modifying curriculum, especially for our Hispanic diverse learners is to still



hold the bar high and focus on a creative, targeted approach to engage, support and challenge. In



contrast to this practice, is what can be in my previous middle school and many others in Texas,



and that’s a pattern where there’s actually little support on achieving learning goals for our



culturally diverse learners. “Many of us have witnessed this sort of teacher who charges ahead



without monitoring what students have grasped, or who creates a learning climate that



discourages students from revealing what they do not understand” (Athanases p19).



The key to correct this pattern is not to lower the challenge. However, teachers need to



practice the exact opposite. We, myself included as a teacher, have got to look at our culturally



diverse learners and develop scaffolds to realize how our students need to be guided.


The key is instructional scaffolding. In summary, the construct of scaffolding began in research


on one-to-one tutoring, and navigated into classroom-based research and practice, in which scaffolding



indicates resources and processes a teachers uses to support the learning of a classroom of



students. Being a Reading/Language Arts teacher, there are many tools I can use to support this



concept with my Hispanic diverse learners. Similar to suggestions in the article by S. Athanases,



I can easily include vocabulary games, dialect journals to promote interpretation of text, graphic



organizers to generate and map ideas for writing, and all of which can be aligned with any



curriculum or TEK I teach. There is no “one-fits-all” approach when dealing with diverse



learners, but when looking and thinking about my cultural diverse learners, I need to remember



they need to be challenged in the same way I would challenge my other students, just in ways



that support their culture and background.







































References


1. Athanases, Steven, (2012). Maintaining High Challenge and High Support for Diverse


Learners.Leadership. (18-22).



2. Hughes, C., Page, A. and Ford, D. (2011). Cultural Dynamics in an Economically



Challenged, Multiethnic Middle School: Student Perceptions.Journal of At-Risk



Issues, 2011.Volume 16 Number 1, pg.9-16.