Growing Diversity = Growing Problems

A major problem in education today is the increase in diversity in the classroom and how to manage it. I took an education course last semester that focused entirely on this diversity, with emphasis on English language learners (ELL). This semester, I am enrolled in another education course that has a broader focus on the issue. The class deals with how to create an inclusive classroom environment and meet the needs of every student.

Why is this increase in diversity a problem? The answer is simple. Education is one of the most important factors to being successful in life. The more education you have, the better chance you have of  obtaining a higher job. The better job, the more you get paid, and it snowballs immensely from there. As such, America's educational system is meant to have every student have a "level playing field," or as close to level as we can get it. The problem lies in how we achieve this level playing field when you have students understanding on completely different levels. Every student is unique and learns at their own pace. Without outside diversity, our schools have an uphill walk both ways to get every student to the same level. Throw in diversity such as: PA Statistics, and you just turned that walk into a sprint.

PA is only one state, however, and it's not even a high immigration state. It only gets worse as you go to states such as California and other high immigration states. Now we just mixed in a high percentage of students that have no understanding of the English language, have a lower education than average, and are being tested one year after they arrive at schools. The playing field isn't so level now.

Diversity Video

The question that everyone should ask themselves is "What can we do about this?" There are many solutions, but they are only as effective as the teachers make them, and it takes time for an entire education system to adapt to growing diversity. The emphasis is on the teachers. Change the way instruction is given, and pedagogy classes for upcoming teachers needs to adapt instruction on how to deal with this issue. Realize that not no two students are the same and teach specifically to each student's needs. That is definitely a good starting point, but it still needs to grow exponentially.

The real issue is that our future is involved in our education, and we need to grow our education system to manage diversity in the classroom. Everyone is a stakeholder in the problem.

To read into this farther, I found an article that highlights main points of the increasing diversity problem and names multiple ways to deal with it. Diversity Article