As part of the Masters of Art in Teaching Program that I am presently enrolled in, our wonderful Professor (Hey, Dr. Z!) has given us the assignment of exemplifying the diversity of our students. This does not mean just the cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity of the students, but also the various other forms of diversity present, such as personality, gender, learning styles, etc. Being a graduate of the high school in which I am teaching, I have a somewhat recent historical perspective on the student population. Just stating things factually, while I was a student, the population of my high school was approximately 95% white and 5% minority. The diversity, or lack thereof, within the community mirrored that found within the school system. Why? I don't think I could give a well informed or educated answer other than where I grew up, there was not much in the way of an appeal or a draw for minority families (or any families, for that matter). It was just a small, lower income town in NWA.While the town has stayed pretty much the same, there have been
quite a few population changes (for the better) since I was a student and now a teacher in the area. There has been an influx of overall diversity within the very community that I grew up in. There is still the overall white majority, but the ethnic diversity of community as a whole has increased quite a bit over the past 15 years. So, while my students do exhibit several different forms diversity among them, (personality, socioeconomic background, interests, learning styles, learning levels, learning difficulties) the growing ethnic diversity in the school is one of the most prevalent.
From deer hunters, socializers, athletes, academically gifted, even the slightly "off" (class full of posers), classrooms are a diverse world unto themselves.
