Changing Demographics and Diversity

Changing Demographics and Diversity

This week I communicated with my contacts through a few questions.  They’re answers were quite intriguing.  I’ve really enjoyed communicating with them and growing in their areas of work in their different regions of the world.  It’s amazing and shocking to discuss some of these differences.  Below is a smaller portion of our communications.

Questions that began our discussions:

Have you seen a change in demographics of your students throughout your school or class?

What type of diversity is within your school or classroom setting?  How does this affect your class if any affects?

·         Kathryn Wonnacott – Belfast, Ireland, Nursery Asst. in a preschool of 3’s – 4’s with 52 children within the school.

o    Our children only attend for one year and then move to a new school, we are based in a working class area and the majority of children are from the local area. Over the last few years we have seen a sharp increase of children with language problems.  Recently also we have had a few children of foreign nationals, they have English as their second language. This provides a lot of speech difficulties and communication problems.

·         Lina Vasquez – Pre School teacher in Colombia

o    When we speak of the student population of preschool age we find variants related to preschool children and schools, few children start schooling in institutions that cover the entire academics and prefer pre-school more small with more personalized instruction.  Classes notice many changes relating to children who enter quickly due to two parents working and others that his first year of schooling is preschool, this indirectly affects the classroom diversity of age and hideout.  IE; in my group are 32 children of which 17 came from other locally known pre-schools they know, write the numbers and count and know to write his name. The rest of the population departed from 0 which means that the Group should be leveled and therefore the processes behind.  Also we have a symptom of unaccompanied children, most are separated couples, incredible that children from age 4 are living these processes, in particular that affects them, be alienated and many take attitude of violence against their fellow or just want to have MOM by his side types of diversity.

·         Melanie Buckley – Germany DoDs school system

o    Unable to reach this week as her father is hospitalized and she is bed side with him.  My thoughts and prayers are with her and entire family!

·         Crystal Trigaux – Incheon, South Korea,2^nd level teacher (In American terms equivalent to 2^nd grade)

o    The demographics don't really change, because Hagwons (Korean private school) run for more business than school. They will accept anyone who will pay, so the kids are sometimes very poorly mannered and because the expense is high, they are of mostly for the upper "echelon" of Korean society ie they all dress similarly in super expensive Tommy Hilfiger brands, etc. (Sorry to be blunt about it...I feel like this sounds so negative, but it's just the truth where I work/ not all schools are like this in Korea.)- My students are usually all Korean/ we don't much have mixed students or students of other nationalities. This may be partially because of racism in Korea, and the lower income of those of different races/ lack of equal opportunity here.) I think the homogenous effect is not always good. It teaches students that they are in fact privileged/ reinforces their bad behaviors, and sets them up for future failures if they think that because they have this fancy education, then they will most-certainly make something of themselves in life in the future. It is my understanding that though the students I teach are hard workers, because we do not "kick-out" or specifically offer one on one tutoring to those who fall behind (Korean parents do not like to hear that their kids are behind, so schools will often not even share with non-English speaking parents, that their children are not adequate in their learning.) That many student's parents will spend as much for Kindergarten at a Hagwon (Korean private school), as an American might pay for one year at Harvard University...and the child will continue into higher expense post graduate schools...graduating with little ability/ and not creating any greater job opportunity for themselves. The students lacking interaction with people of other races/ cultures, often makes them unable to relate to me as a teacher, and creates negative / lack of submissive qualities and stereotypes for them, in the learning process. Korean hagwons are trying to get rid of their need for foreign teachers actually, by training nationals to be able to proficiently teach English, so as to fill in the cultural gap...but I personally think this will only serve to create more ignorance and cultural bias/ cultural bigotry in a country which already seems (unlike my experience in a lot of other Asian countries,) to think that it is in some ways "better" "more intellectually adept," "superior in many ways" to cultures around them, and around the world.

·         Katie Meyler – Monrovia, Liberia (founder of “More than me foundation”, an organization that assists girls in West Africa to get off of the streets and gain an education)

o   Upon posting this, unable to reach Katie.  If communication is opened, I will update promptly.

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