I agree that age diversity can be difficult in the classroom. Not only is their outlook on life and experience different, but often times they have different goals. I try to focus on what we have in common so that the students can learn to accept each others differences.
Our population of students creates more of a socioeconomic diversity. This was a big challenge for me just starting out teaching. Being an Army brat I am used to diversity, but not necessarily to economic diversity. It was very hard not being able to relate to some of the problems that my students would have. Gradually, I've become more empathetic and have been able to be a confidant and liaison to help with some of the things they deal with.
I think that besides cultural and thnic diversity instructors need to be aware of the diversity in student's leanring styles. Some students are auditory learners and others are visual. Some students need hands on experiences and others need to be walked through the process verbally before attempting to complete the task on their own. Also, it is important to diversify one's teaching style to accomodate all kinds of learning styles. It is also important to realize that some students work well in groups and others do not, so adding some group assignments to any class is always a good idea.
In my classroom, which is a kitchen half of the time and a lecture room the other half, I experience a large amount of intellectual diversity among my students. Many of my students are college graduates, and many other barely made it through high school. Therefore, I have to be very aware of the many styles of learning that are taking place on a daily basis, and try to do my best to teach to each individual student in the manner that will prove to be most effective in terms of their understanding and internalization of the material.
I have noticed a great deal of age diversity in our student population. In order to be effective, an instructor has to be aware of this diversity and understand that an 18 year old student does not have the same experiential levels as a 50 year old.
Troy,
We agree. "Unity can never be achieved if people keep focusing on how they are different."
The focus not ON the diversity, it is understanding diversity exists and appreciating how much more our lives are enriched by embracing it.
terri
Diversity is key, if we all did everything the same way it would be kind of boring and predictable. The fact that we are all different makes us unique with the unknown expectation. People cannot predict or know whats going to happen. Thats really good for a teacher who relates to their students in different ways.
Terri,
Great summation. Glad you found this to be helpful and that it reinforces what you are already doing.
Philip Campbell
This WILL NOT be short. It is a subject dear to our heart…
To have had a career in a highly competitive and culturally diverse industry and lived in a socially diverse city, it was quite an “eye opener†to relocate to a very “white bread†city.
Fortunately the school does not reflect the city. It is a delight to instruct in an institution with a diverse student population. Students who spent formative years in other states and countries, in urban and rural settings are just the beginning of the diversity.
Students fresh out of high school sit next to grandmothers. LGBT students sit next to students who never met, much less interfaced, with LGBT. Students attend full time and others as part timers working inside and outside the home. Many students speak and read English as a second or third language. (And quite well we must add.) We have encountered students who face the learning challenges of ADHD, deafness and lack of reading skills.
Understanding the ways students take in information is crucial. We have had students who take not a single note during lectures (and ace exams) and others who write in in missing words in guided lecture notes projected on a screen, highlight key phrases and yet struggle in the same exam. Students who very successfully produce “hands on projects†have difficulty in research and writing.
As an instructor our challenge is to combine skills (hard and soft) acquired during our previous profession and connect with diversities in the classroom. We feel a need to prepare students for a tough and highly competitive industry. Standards must be set.
Students want to succeed. Is success measured in the grade or what is learned? As an instructor are we expecting too much? Do we maintain the integrity employed in the business? Do we dumb down? We listen, but are we hearing?
You as instructors on the “front lines†certainly have the same challenges, do you not? Issues we addressed were discussed by you. Bravo!
David,
You touched on something that all teachers need to do everyday. The effective ones are good at identifying student needs.
Philip Campbell
Effective teachers must understand that diversity is not only cultural and ethnic in nature. There is also diversity in terms of skill/ability. Some students are gifted, while others need extra help. Still others are somewhere in the middle. The challenge is to address the needs of learners at all skill/ability levels. This is an essential type of soft skill for all educators.
In my experience socioeconomic diversity along with age diversity play a huge role in how a classroom gets along.
In teaching culinary arts the biggest diversity I face much more so than cultural or ethnic diversity is age. My students can range in age from 17 to 70 which make it very challenging to relate to them not only on an individual basis but how to navigate through all of them on a group basis. As a 45 year old I fall right between that range which fortunately allow me to relate to most of them but this isnt the case for most instructors. There is a fine line that we need to balance in order to relate the material to each age group. There is a difference in work ethic that must also be maintained. An older student usually has work experience and an already built in work ethic where as a younger student will be more apt to not understand hard work. In general age diversity amongst the student population can be a very difficult path for an instructor to navigate through.
In every cultural and ethnic group, there are subcultures and sub sub-cultures.
People from the same background perceive things differently and that is a point that instructors need to take into consideration; blanket judgements tend to "typefy" certain groups and limit the instructor's ability to explore avenues of learning that wold certainly broaden the students' horizons and make the learning experience interesting.
One challenge we face as a career school is diversity of age. Some students come to us right out of high school at the age of 18 and others can be in their late 60s. Motivation, organization and communication style many times need to be adjusted - not to mention the soft and hard skills that need to be applied. Effective teaching in my mind means constantly modifying teaching style for every class as needed.
There is diversity in all of us and we all can use being diverse to make us different. A company has two employees that are totally different in most of their ways. One Creative and one being conservative but both meeting the needs of the company in their diverse ways...
I believe we have different types of learners therefore you have to taylor your classroom in which every student could learn
we should also be aware of econimic and gender diversity
There are any types of diversity that instructors must be aware to be effective in the class. We have several age ranges in the class, so we have our "younger" students that are tech smart and can quickly complete assignments that involve anything with computers/electronics, but they lack the ability to properly speak to someone; then on the other hand we have our "older" student who struggles with new technology, but they have the soft-skills needed to be successful in the work environment. I find the best way to be effective with such a group is to have them work on group projects, so they can not only learn from me, but from each other.
Stephanie Bernard
I totally agree. I don't think we have experienced in the past as we have today the experiences students bring with them and the impact it has on their ability to learn.
