Diversity and Curriculum Development in High School

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Addressing the Needs of Culturally Diverse Students: What Must Be Taken into Account

Key Issues: Culture-Specific Learning Styles, the Identity Crisis, and Language Barriers

A culturally diverse environment requires a lot of flexibility, as well as the crucial skills of cross-cultural communication. Despite the development of numerous teaching strategies that are supposed to invite learners to participate actively in the activities of a diverse academic environment, some learners may feel uncomfortable because of a range of factors.

For example, the cultural specifics of learners with different backgrounds may imply that their learning styles are different from the ones of the rest of the students (e.g., more emphasis should be put on visual elements in the course of the lesson,). Furthermore, students may need simple English vocabulary as EFL learners, which may be hardly possible given the complex topic of the lesson. Finally, the fact that learners need to retain their cultural identity, at the same time accommodating in the new environment, needs to be brought up (Rahimi & Chabok, 2013).

Curriculum for Addressing the Problems: Preventing Misunderstandings, Using Compromise-Based Negotiation Styles, and Designing an Individual Approach

When considering the curriculum approach that will help learners acquire the necessary skills, including the language-related ones, and at the same time retain their identity, one should consider using the behavioral-rational approach. Given the fact that shaping the learners’ behaviors and attitudes toward the issue of cross-cultural communication needs to be shaped, the identified framework is completely justified. It is suggested that the students should be provided with essential information about the specifics of the target cultures, the concept of cultural identity, and cross-communication skills. The devices for delivering the necessary information and training the required qualities will include games (Grades 1-3), discussions, and research projects on the subject matter (Grades 4-12). It is expected that the students will be able to engage in the cross-cultural communication process successfully, resolve conflicts efficiently, and retain their cultural identity.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Framework: Time Constraints and the Related Issues

The identified approach creates the foil for the students’ further personal and academic growth, allowing them to build relationships with others based on the principles of equality. Thus, their opinions will remain unbiased. However, the framework requires an elaborate teaching strategy that will take a significant amount of time and resources for research (unless the teacher is familiar with the learners’ cultures).

Gender-Associated Concerns and How They Can Be Managed: above the prejudices

Female-Related Issues: Why Girls and Young Women May Feel Uncomfortable in a Diverse Academic Setting

The portrayal of women in media and its effects on the perception of female students. Modern gender stereotypes may affect the way in which female students are perceived by their peers. As a result, a drop in motivation rates and academic performance can be expected. Succumbing to the simplified concept of femininity, the target audience may fail to get their priorities straight.

Focus on the nurturing role as the only possible social function and role that a woman may play. Unless the teacher encourages female learners to explore the opportunities that they have as far as the choice of societal roles is concerned, the learners may feel uninterested in pursuing academic progress. It would be wrong to dismiss the concept of nurturing as the role that a woman may want to explore. However, restricting the female audience solely to being supportive members of the family and preventing them from exploring other options is also unacceptable. Thus, an educator must provide female learners with an opportunity to explore their potential.

Lack of access to education and the absence of encouragement from family members. Unfortunately, in some cultures, women’s options for accessing education may be restricted. Therefore, an educator is likely to face the challenge of encouraging female students to be active in their learning (Tsai, Liang, Hou, & Tsai, 2015).

Male-Related Issues: What Makes Students Feel Reluctant to Learn

Silenced victims: preventing instances of bullying among male learners. Although women are typically considered the most vulnerable demographic when it comes to gender biases, men also suffer significantly from social injustice. For instance, bullying rates are much higher among male learners than female ones. However, the learners refuse to shed light on the issue out of fear of being ostracized.

Lack of enthusiasm about learning: getting male students’ priorities straight. Studies show that the number of diligent students is much lower among the male demographic than the female one. The reasons for the identified factor should also be sought in the depth of social prejudices. Therefore, it is crucial that male learners should realize the significance of knowledge and skills acquisition.

Being the best at being the worst: pushing male learners to the edge. An opposite problem is often the case. With the current societal concept of a man as a leader, male students may be pushed to the brink of exhaustion with an overly strong emphasis on the importance of success. As a result, the students who fail to be the best may be discouraged from acquiring any skills or knowledge at all (Huang, Liang, & Chiu, 2013).

Curriculum for Addressing the Issues: The Concepts of Equality as the Foundation for the Communication Process

To create the environment, in which male learners will be able to acquire the necessary academic skills, as well as evolve personally, a teacher must consider becoming the transformational leader that will reinvent the learners’ concept of gender in education. With the help of games (e.g., role-playing), as well as educational videos, lectures, and group projects, the educator must shed light on the issue of stereotyping. It is expected that the learners will not only realize the importance of gender equality but also refuse to succumb to bullying the students that have a different idea of their gender roles. Discussions and role-playing can be viewed as the primary tool for assisting students in managing the identified issue. Therefore, the appropriate activities will have to be included in the curriculum.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Tool: Gender Stereotypes as a Societal Concern

The idea of promoting equality in the academic setting is admittedly positive as it teaches learners to be tolerant toward others and helps them develop communication skills. Furthermore, the use of role-playing as the means of subverting societal stereotypes is admittedly helpful since it will help learners accept their unique characteristics and understand others better. However, the identified framework does not imply that the family members should be involved in the teaching process. Thus, the lessons may fall flat if the concepts of equality are not supported in the environment in which learners spend most of their time.

Students with Disabilities: Addressing the Specific Needs of Learners with Disadvantages

Key Issues: Physical Constraints, Absence of an Individual Approach, and Stereotyping

Students with physical and mental disabilities face a range of obstacles on their way to academic success. Apart from obvious physical impediments, the gravity of social stereotypes needs to be mentioned as the primary factor affecting people with disabilities in the academic environment. To make the matter worse, designing an individual teaching approach that will help the target audience progress along with the rest of the learners is barely possible (Altharwa, Neyman, McLaughlin, & Johnson, 2014).

Curriculum for Managing the Problems: Flexibility as to the Guiding Principle of the Learning Process

In order to meet the needs of students with disabilities, including both physical and learning ones, one will have to consider scaffolding as the tool for assisting the target audience in their academic progress. Furthermore, it will be necessary to use software tools that will help learners with disabilities carry out the tasks with which they will be assigned (e.g., OCR tools for dyslexia learners, etc.).

Advantages and Disadvantages: Problems and the Opportunities of the Approach

The approach under analysis is bound to make a difference in the modern learning environment as it will help address each case individually. As a result, the learners will receive more opportunities for academic progress. The use of scaffolding and the application of the software that will help the students keep pace with the rest of the class can also be viewed as an improvement. However, the framework requires substantial funding for the acquisition of the required IT tools. Nevertheless, with careful and sustainable use of resources, the environment for learners to grow in can be created.

References

Altharwa, H., Neyman, J., McLaughlin, T. F., & Johnson, G. (2014). An evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing DI flashcard procedure to teach basic multiplication facts with an elementary private school student with learning disabilities. International Journal of Innovation and Research in Educational Sciences, 1(1), 21-24.

Huang, Y. M., Liang, T. H., & Chiu, C. H. (2013). Gender differences in the reading of e-books: investigating children’s attitudes, Reading Behaviors and Outcomes. Educational Technology & Society, 16(4), 97–110.

Rahimi, A., & Chabok, S. (2013). EFL teachers’ levels of reflective teaching and their conceptions of teaching and learning. Journal of Advanced Social Research, 3(1), 12-29.

Tsai, M. J., Liang, J. C., Hou, T. H., & Tsai, C. C. (2015). Males are not as active as females in online discussion: Gender differences in face-to-face and online discussion strategies. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 31(3). 263-277.

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