Diversity Learning Style & Culture

Diversity, Learning Style & Culture

Pat Burke Guild

The big main point to this article talked about the idea that all students are different, and a big challenge that schools face is the balance between diversity and uniformity. Something that is agreed upon that should be uniform is the overall goals for students, but what needs to be diverse is how you accomplish those goals. For example, a goal for all students is for them to be able to read and to be able to read at a high level. On the other hand, because all students are different, they are going to learn to read at a high level at different paces and in different ways. As educators, it's our job to get to know our students so that we can help them learn in ways that are best for them.

Anther point that Guild brought up in this article that I've never really thought about is that teachers are often times treated unfairly just as students are. Guild brought up the point that obviously teachers don't all teach in the same ways, which means they shouldn't be evaluated in the same ways. Nobody knows what the perfect way of teaching is, there's no magic formula, which means teachers need to be judged by the impact they have on their students and nothing else. An example brought up in the article is that certainly all teachers should be expected to plan for their lessons, but if they have different styles, they shouldn't be expected to plan in the same way.

In summary, all teachers and learners are different, we all have different styles and different approaches to how we work, and as long as we're all working towards the same goals, that's okay!