Teaching In A Pluralistic Society
One of my most interesting classes I’m taking this semester is Teaching in a Pluralistic Society. We are learning how to teach a classroom filled with all sorts of cultures, races, backgrounds, etc. I went into the class thinking I pretty much knew everything. I had heard about the discrimination of Irish, blacks, women, etc. I soon found out though, that knowing these events and knowing how to teach students in light of these events are two completely different things. I always thought that race and culture were things best not to be addressed in the classroom, however Teaching in a Pluralistic Society has proved to me quite the opposite is best for classroom teaching. It is our responsibility as teachers to view each and every child as children ALL created in the image of Christ and therefore they must be shown love for that very reason. Race is something to be valued, appreciated, and noticed because it was a creation of God.
Today we went to a school that would put us, being white individuals, in the minority. As I observed the classroom I was in, I tried to soak in as many of the teacher’s methods as I could. They had been learning about Africa and had had a guest speaker who came in for three days to teach them about African music and dancing. The kids loved the lesson and it really seemed to catch their interest. In this classroom the white teacher, who was the only white in the classroom, was not afraid to talk about race. Because of her ability to talk about race she was able to love the students for who God had created them to be.
What a class though! Teaching in a Pluralistic Society has definitely been a challenging class. It has asked me the hard questions. However, through it’s challenges it has taught me better how love my students better through my teaching.
Published on 4 Apr 2008 at 10:09 am.
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