Transcript Document

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Teaching Effectiveness:
The Challenges and Opportunities
of Diverse Classrooms
Joseph McLaughlin, Urban Studies
Jennifer Ayala, Education
+ Opening activity
 What
are the smells and foods of
your childhood?
 Name
a time when you said
something you wished you didn’t.
 Name
a time when you felt
misunderstood.
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Dimensions of diversity
http://web.jhu.edu/dlc/reso
urces/diversity_wheel/
Demographic Factors
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New Jersey-Densely populated state and county
• Majority of student population is drawn locally from
Hudson County: 42% Latin@ 15% African American 14.8% Asian
Student population:
30.7% Latin@
26.8% African-American
10.1% Asian
Latin@-serving institution
•76%
of full-time student body is a member of a racial/ethnic
minority group
* 2010 baseline data when grant submitted
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Demographic Factors
 26%
of incoming class came from homes
where English was not first language
 For
the entire undergraduate population in
which English was not first language, 49.7%
listed Spanish as first language
 In
2012: 920 men, 1393 women
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Engaging diversity in the
classroom


Understand types of diversity
Know yourself

Know your students

Realize that not everyone learns the same way (regardless of
race/ethnicity).

Vary teaching methods
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Engaging diversity in the
classroom

Recognize any biases or stereotypes you may have
absorbed.

Treat each student as an individual, and respect each student
for who he or she is.

Rectify any language patterns or case examples that exclude
or demean any groups.

Do your best to be sensitive to terminology that refers to
specific ethnic and cultural groups as it changes.

Get a sense of how students feel about the cultural climate in
your classroom. Tell them that you want to hear from them if
any aspect of the course is making them uncomfortable.
From Barbara Gross Davis book Tools for Teaching
+ Engaging diversity in the
classroom

Introduce discussions of diversity at department meetings.

Become more informed about the history and culture of groups
other than your own.

Convey the same level of respect and confidence in the abilities
of all your students.

Don’t try to “protect” any group of students. Don’t refrain from
criticizing the performance of individual students in your class
on account of their ethnicity or gender. And be evenhanded in
how you acknowledge students’ good work.

Aim for an inclusive curriculum that reflects the perspectives
and experiences of a pluralistic society.

Do not assume that all students will recognize cultural, literary or
historical references familiar to you.

Bring in guest lecturers to foster diversity in your class.
From Barbara Gross Davis book Tools for Teaching
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Name three people you
consider to be intelligent.
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Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner
MI
MI

Linguistic

Musical

Logical-mathematical

Interpersonal

Visual-spatial

Intrapersonal

Bodily-kinesthetic

Naturalistic
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Activities
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical

Calculation

Deductive and inductive logic

Patterns
Interviewing

Abstract symbols/formulas
Journaling

Probability
Reading

Analogies
Classroom
Writing
Discussion
reports
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Activities Multiple Intelligences
Kinesthetic
Visual-spatial

Manipulatives

Flow charts

Drama/role play

Visual outlines

Dance


Athletic activities
Images/videos that
accompany lectures

Mapping/Concept map

Venn diagrams

Guided imagery


Tactile experiences
Hands-on learning
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Activities for Multiple Intelligences
Musical
Interpersonal

Song lyrics

Cooperative learning

Listening to music that
accompanies the lecture

Collaborative learning

Peer tutoring

Community involvement

Organizing events


Using music as memory aids
Finding patterns in sound
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Activities for Multiple Intelligences
Intrapersonal
Naturalist

Self-evaluation

Observations

Journal writing

Field trips

Independent study

Collecting data

Option for different choices in
course of study

Activities outside the phyisical
classroom

Time for quiet reflection
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Questions ?
After today’s presentation and
dialogue, consider what some
ways we could all better engage
our students in the classroom.
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Resources

Edchange Multicultural Pavilion– contains many links to
social justice education sites and educational materials
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/index.html

Jane Elliot’s Brown Eye-Blue Eye exercise, video and related
articles on PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc
/view.html

Interview with James Banks on his four multicultural
education dimensions
http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session3
/3.Multiculturalism.pdf
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Resources

Stereotype threat article by Claude Steele
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/52/6/613/

Johns Hopkins University Diversity Leadership Council– contains
reading list
http://web.jhu.edu/dlc/resources/suggested_reading/
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Gloria Landsing-Billings– a link to some of her recent work
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2513
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Critique of cultural deficit models, linguistic diversity
http://wiki.ggc.edu/images/6/6f/Transforming.pdf
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Ambivalent sexism survey, along with links to other exercises
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/asi/take