Teaching in Diverse Classrooms, PID 3260

Anyone who reads my blog knows I have immensely enjoyed reading The Skillful Teacher by Stephen D. Brookfield. Chapter Eight centers on teaching and working within a diverse learning environment, something I can attest to as can most educators nowadays, I'm sure. I personally love the diversity at the VCC and especially in my program. The Hair Design Program at VCC has a large international student body in addition to many new immigrants from all around the world.  I enjoyed chapter eight as it focused on gauging the diversity in your classroom, team teaching, mixing modalities and student groups, and preferred forms of communication in the diverse classroom.

Team teaching is not really possible in my department; I do however rely on pairing and grouping my students so they can help each other in their learning. According to Stephen D. Brookfield (2015), "Teachers faced with students who exhibit wide variations in their academic readiness, racial and cultural identities, motivation for learning, learning preferences, and temperaments sooner or later face the choice of how to group such individuals to accomplish specific learning tasks."(p.103).  Personally, I couldn't agree with this statement more and I would be providing my learners a great disservice if I did not utilize pairings or groups that would aid in collaborative learning.

Due to a high percentage of my classroom being ESL it is most effective to find the commonalities of learners within a short period time when starting a new class.  If there are communication barriers that can be dealt with by pairing a classmate with the same languages it is then done.  Though it can be positive for students to be paired with a classmate when both languages are not common. I find when I pair/group people with commonality early in the program and when working on absolutely essential concepts the students learn with a lot less anxiety.

Stephen D. Brookfield (2015) maintains, "Grouping students together who share common curricular interest, or who are at the same ability level, allows them to learn without having to accommodate interests that are not their own or to be asked to work in ways that are too slow or fast for them".(p.103). Alternately, I love to use pairs/groups of students from different backgrounds and learning styles when I'm working on creative work and client relation/salon business material. When the students work on client relation material it is an excellent chance for them to learn from each other’s cultures and experiences. Business and Professional conduct is different around the world. During these interactions domestic students can gain insight to other cultures whilst helping international learners to understand North American “norms” in professional settings.

Naturally, the Hair Design Program centers on creativity and expression! The diverse classroom is the perfect environment for all to gain insight in to looks and influences from around the globe. I love seeing students come up with interesting looks and styles that relate back to the many cultures that are collaborating in my classroom. Chapter Eight provided me some assurance that I'm moving in the right direction with my diverse group of learners, and it also provided insight into areas I may need to address or develop further. Love this book! 

References

Brookfield, S. (2015). The skillful teacher: on technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass