The National Center For Educational Statistics - 1723 Words

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2015), the percentage of public school students in the United States who were English Language Learners (ELLs) in the academic year 2012-2013 was 9.2%, or roughly 4.4 million students. This trend towards the multicultural classroom, which has been steadily rising for over a decade, is one that is expected to continue. When we talk about a multicultural classroom, we are referring to the variety of races, languages, ethnicities, and social groups the students bring to that classroom. As these students come from a variety of cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, so too will the learning context from which they are accustomed vary. It is therefore up to the teachers to†¦show more content†¦In addition, students of diverse cultures will often find themselves to be in the minority with regard to the classroom. That is, theirs will not be the dominant culture. It is paramount, then, that the classroom environment be structured in such a way as to account for the non-dominant culture, and to incorporate it in order to not only preserve it, but to help students overcome obstacles that they will encounter because of it. Cooperative Learning So, how can teachers make their teaching more inclusive of diverse students? Teachers need to recognize the value in the backgrounds and experiences that each student brings with them to the classroom. And while these backgrounds and experiences differ, taken as a collective knowledge pool, they can contain a wealth of resources that will strengthen classroom learning. By embracing students’ cultural differences, teachers are facilitating their inclusion into the classroom community,