How to better Educate Diverse Students

I have been meaning to post on this for a while. I went to an education conference a couple Saturdays ago at West High School. It was for parents of the American Indian, African American, Latina/0, Asian(Korean), and Pacific Islander community we have here in Utah. I will just paste my paper I wrote for my Multi Ed class.....

When I first entered the doors at this conference I could only think of how out of place I truly felt. I was the minority in the cafeteria of West High School. Sadly I have never been in a room with such a diverse group of people. Then when the Sun Water Drum Group began there entertainment I got chills. I felt so privileged to be able to be there. When Dr Christine Kearl began her speech she compared about how much a person makes a year with a high school diploma (23,000), a AA degree (35,000), and a BA (50,000). She said that people who have determination and education will go far in life. She quoted Winston Churchill when he said “Never quite” and she also quoted Mark Twain when he said “If you think you can or can’t your probably right.” Knowing that she was speaking to a group made up of a diverse group of people, I think she chose the right words to motivated parents and educators to encourage their kids to try their best in school.

Dr. Theresa Martinez’s speech reflected her family and where she came from. She talked about how her mom raised 12 children on her own. Her mom always told her and her siblings how important school was. Her older siblings worked hard and sent their paychecks to their mom and younger siblings. Theresa and the younger siblings had a paper route and used Theresa with her cute little face as “bait” to get customers to buy from them. Her story was truly inspirational. She and her siblings all went on to college graduating with BA’s or above. Because they were always told how important school was at a young age.

I was a little disappointed with the break out sessions. They were geared more towards parents. It was more about telling them how to get involved in their children’s school and how effective it is. I was hoping to get more ideas as an educator.

The speakers were definitely the best part of this conference. And I met a lot of different people that did a lot of different things either as a parent or an educator. It was well worth my Saturday and I will be going every year they have it.

I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by so many different cultures. We should all embrace these cultures and learn from them....especially if your an educator!!