In the Ladson-Billings article there is a statement that reads, “When students are treated as competent they are likely to demonstrate competence” I believe this statement sums up my theory on how to treat children in the classroom in order to discover diversity among them.
I believe that the best way to get to know your students is to talk to them as adults and have meaningful conversations with your students whenever you can. A lot of kids will open up to a teacher once the feel that the teacher has respect for them and if they trust the teacher. You can build this trust and respect by treating your students like they are human rather than as an object that we call students. I do not believe that there is a set strategy out there that can explain the best way to get to know your students so you have to tailor your discussions to each child in your classroom. Once you have found out what your children enjoy and the kind of lives they lead you can expand on those principles to find out about the different experiences that each students has had. Diversity comes from the experiences that each individual has so in order to bring diversity into the classroom you have to give the children viable avenues to express themselves. (Writing, reading, stories, and group talks ECT)
It is important to get to know your students from multiple perspectives because as humans we are not 1 dimensional objects. Whenever we make a decision about anything there are hundreds of external and internal forces that influence that decision. If a student decides not to do his/her math homework and the only thing you know about that student is that he/she is not strong in math and you can easily write that off as the reason; however, if you know that he/she has no parental support, does not experience math in daily life, and the countless other factors you can create an environment where that student can become successful in math.
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Tim,
I find your distinction of students as objects vs. people really interesting. I haven't before thought of the "student" as this all-encompassing term that objectifies the people we teach. It's a new frame for me to consider and I will continue to do so. So thanks for bringing that up.
I also appreciate how you discuss the importance of experiences and internal and external forces and that we, as teachers, can never fully be sure of what the cause for a behavior is since we haven't experienced what our students have experienced. I agree that conversation is a huge and important forum for us to gain some insight into those forces and experiences.
I found one thing you wrote particularly interesting - "I believe that the best way to get to know your students is to talk to them as adults and have meaningful conversations with your students whenever you can." The conversations part is huge. I wonder about the "talk to them as adults" part. I'm curious to know more about what you mean by this. Do you see your students as your equal? Would this belief to talk to students as adults change with the grade level you're teaching? What does that kind of conversation look like? These are some questions for you to think about. Feel free to respond here if you'd like.
Sarah :)
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