Handling Student Differences

My goal for my teaching career, no matter what school I am in, is to view my students as equal but to embrace their differences. I believe that racial differences are a problem in most organized assemblies, whether that is the workplace, school, church, etc. This problem is handled in a couple of different ways. Most people ignore the situation entirely or say that they are “color blind”. In theory this works because if someone does not see color they will treat all people equally, in reality this is not helpful at all. The more people in charge ignore differences, the more people who are not in charge will get agitated and will eventually rebel. Gloria Ladson-Billings says in her book The Dreamkeepers, "Given the significance of race and color in American society, it is impossible to believe that a classroom teacher does not notice the race and ethnicity of the children she is teaching. Further, by claiming not to notice, the teacher is saying that she is dismissing one of the most salient features of the child's identity and that she does not account for it in her curricular planning and instruction." (33) Other people deal with racial differences by extravagating them. These people are the people that teach a whole unit on Black History Month, not that there is anything wrong with that, but these people use the subject to highlight the differences in particular students. The best way to approach “the racial issue” is to embrace the differences while still keeping boundariesI hope that I will be able to teach each student with respect and pride. That I will expect much from each and every student. That I will embrace their culture. To acknowledge and accept each student’s background will show my students that they are all important and to treat each other accordingly.

I will also show students their similarities. When students have things in common with one another, they feel connected and therefore can more easily work together. Even if the similarities are generic, like “we’re all students” or “we’re all from the South”, they are still similarities. Even the smallest parallels connect students to one another. Connections come in handy when teaching. When students make connections over academic things, they all do better. For example, say two students really do not enjoy “Romeo and Juliet”, those students can connect through that, no matter their previous involvement together. These students can agree with each other to disagree with me (as the teacher). Agreement on any topic automatically brings people together. I believe that it is equally important to incorporate student similarities as differences. School is not only a place to learn academics, but also how the world works. Students must learn that not everyone is like them, and how to treat those that are different. In my classroom, I hope to integrate student differences into my lessons in a positive light. Ladson-Billings comments on the topic, "culturally relevant teaching uses student culture in order to maintain it and to transcend the negative effects of the dominant culture. The negative effects are brought about, for example, by not seeing one's history, culture, or background represented in the textbook or curriculum or by seeing that history, culture, or background distorted." (17) I hope that my students will walk away from my class with a new view of those that are different from them and a positive understanding of how to handle those differences. Knowing about these differences is going to be very important in the future. America is soon going to become what it has always advertized, being a great “melting pot” of all cultures. The minorities are slowing becoming the majority and before too long, I will not be teaching to a group of only a couple of cultures, but a greatly diverse group of young people.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. Print.