Workshop 3 Addressing the Diverse Needs of Students

Getting Ready (15 minutes)

Read the following statements about diversity.

To adequately attend to cultural diversity in the classroom, teachers must look first at their own cultural background and understand how their biases affect their interactions with students. Then, teachers can examine the backgrounds and needs of the student population and understand their students’ cultural biases as well. Classroom instruction can be designed to connect the content of a course with students’ backgrounds.

Center for Adolescent and Family Studies
http://education.indiana.edu/CAFISI/EvidenceBasedPractices/Resources/tabid/1692/Default.aspx

“Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common.”

Discuss what diversity means to you, your classroom, and your curriculum.

• What kinds of diversity do you find in your classroom?
• How does your arts curriculum address historical and contemporary world cultures, and how does this relate to the cultural background of your students?

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