Outstanding Work

As part of the homework requirement for Multicultural Issues, students respond and reflect on a variety of assignments from their textbooks, Gollnick and Chinn's Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society and Kroeger and Bauer's Exploring Diversity, including scenarios, news reports, and questions posed on class situations and personal experiences.

The response below is an outstanding example of student work on this assignment.

March 2, 2008

"Critical Incidents," p.185

Meeting the Mandates and Challenges of Section 504

1. As stated in the book on p. 184, "section 504 prohibits the exclusion from programs solely on the basis of an individual's disability." Therefore, the coach is obligated to allow Massey to try out. However, the book also says that if a person's disability keeps them from being able to functionally participate in an activity, participation can be denied. Even with this said, the coach is still obligated to allow him to try-out and be a part of the team until it has been deemed that due to his disability he will not be able to perform the necessary tasks or duties required of players.

2. He should not discourage Massey from trying to play. He should look at him just like all other candidates and give him a fair shot at being part of the team. There is a chance that Massey could be a fine addition to the team. Even if his disabilities keep him from ever getting on the field, the coach could assign additional, less demanding duties to him that still make him feel like he has an important role for the team.

3. Until Massey proves his disability will affect his performance on the football field, he should not be treated differently than his teammates. The coach should look at him just like any other able-bodied player who is able to contribute to the success of the team. However, if his disabilities prove to affect his performance on the field, the coach might need to re-assess the situation to see what, if anything, he can do so that Massey will have a better chance to succeed.

4. As mentioned above, if Massey's disability does prove to produce challenges for him the coach should look at making special accommodations to help him. From the reading it sounds like the only things Massey may have trouble with are cognitive skills needed to learn and execute plays. If the coach is able to simplify these plays into a fashion that would make them more "learnable" for Massey, he should take it upon himself to do so. Ethically, I believe this would be the best thing to do; however, I do not think the coach is obligated to make any special accommodations for Massey.

5. If Massey is good enough to play, I think the coach will automatically be fostering acceptance by other members just by giving him a chance and allowing him to prove to his teammates that his disability will not limit his physical abilities on the field. Allowing him to play and compete with his non-disabled teammates will create a feeling of equality among all members. While they may differ in their abilities in the classroom they are all the same on the field. The coach could further reinforce this point by telling the team that he demands that all teammates be treated as equals and through various team-building activities. He could also be sure to point out things that all members add to the team, including Massey. He should let them know that the team would not be the same without ALL of its members, regardless of abilities or disabilities.

January 25, 2008

Embracing Diversity

Multiculturalism is a hard concept to define. It is a loaded term with many plausible definitions. Generally, "multiculturalism" brings to mind words like diversity, tolerance, acceptance, equality.... These are all valid descriptors; however, I believe a true understanding of the term goes beyond simply accepting and tolerating others who may differ from us. Multiculturalism signifies appreciating and moreover, embracing these differences. That is, understanding what others have to offer that can better us or our culture. Understanding what we can learn from them.

I took my selected image from psycprojects.cisat.jmu.edu/scdir/Elementary.htm. It suits my definition of multiculturalism perfectly as four different, or diverse, hands literally embrace each other to form a new, unified whole. Each part has contributed to create something that was not possible if standing alone.

As teachers, we should all strive to have classrooms where multiculturalism is a key component. It takes only a short glance to recognize diversity in a classroom. Tolerating and accepting it is almost as simple. When we begin to appreciate diversity we begin to look, not at how our students differ, but at what each has to offer as a unique being, and we embrace it.