UNIT 2
2.4 Diversity
DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Diversity
The educational community is challenged to meet the goal of creating successful learning experiences for "all students." Legislation and grant funding is stressing that "all students" must become successful learners in our schools. High drop-out rates and failing grades are no longer being tolerated. New regulations prohibit "social promotion." In the California community college system, a new accountability system, entitled Partnership for Excellence is being implemented. With this system, community college funding will be tied not only to the number of students present on a census date; but on the number of students completing certificate and degree programs. These circumstances have put an administrative emphasis on the "learning," creating a reexamination of teaching methodologies that will motivate the diverse student population in California's classrooms to achieve in a learner centered environment.
This diversity coupled with the growing amount and complexity of knowledge creates new challenges for educators of the 21st century. The impact of technology on teaching is comparable to the changes in transportation due to the invention of the steam engine or the impact of the printing press on literacy.
Diversity of Learner
In the classroom with elders, you will have cultural, ethnic, language, age, learning styles, intelligence, gender, experience, socio-economic diversity and students with special needs. Accessibility is a key feature to online learning and therefore creates an eclectic mix of students. Some may think, that this creates an insurmountable challenge, but by applying a variety of teaching strategies coupled with an understanding of learning theory and a well planned curriculum, the needs of the students, although diverse, should be satisfied.
Our focus in this course will be on looking at the needs of the adult learner which for the most part transcends cultural, gender and ethnic concerns. Adult learners apply learning to real situations, test their own ideas, make decisions, draw on previous knowledge and have experienced team processes. Malcolm Knowles, a researcher, has used the term "andragogy" to refer to "the art and science of helping adults learn. It is based on students' self-directedness, experience, readiness to learn and problem centeredness."
In a paper by Linda Stilborne and Lindy Williams, they identified the following seven aspects of adult learning: