Topic 3
Student
diversity
EdCK 1- Facilitating- learner centered teaching
Learning outcomes
✓ Identify the different factors that bring about diversity in
the classroom
✓ Demonstrate a positive attitude towards diversity as an
enriching element in the learning environment
✓ Come up with teaching strategies that consider student
diversity
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
(STUDENT DIVERSITY)
Individual Benefits of Classroom
Differences Diversity in the Strategies for
Factors Classroom Student Diversity
FACTORS THAT BRING
ABOUT STUDENT
DIVERSITY
FACTORS THAT BRING ABOUT STUDENT DIVERSITY
✓ In all learning environments, individual interact with others
who are in ways different from them. Recall how these
differences were shown in your class tally-gender and
racial, ethnic or cultural background (nationality, province,
language).
FACTORS THAT BRING ABOUT STUDENT DIVERSITY
This diversity also comes from other factors like the following:
1. Socioeconomic status-The millionaires lifestyle differs from that
of the middle income or lower income group.
2. Thinking/ learning style-Some of you learn better by seeing
somethings others by Just listening and still others by
manipulating something.
3. Exceptionalities. In class there maybe one who has difficulty in
spoken language comprehension or in seeing, hearing, etc.
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
❑ A teacher may be "challenged" to handle a class with students so diverse.
❑ There may be students having different cultural background, different
Language abilities, different attitudes and aptitudes and behaviors.
❑ Some teachers might see this diversity as a difficult predicament, really a
hassle! Yet a more reflective teacher may see a diverse classroom as an
exciting place to learn not just for her students, but for herself, as well.
❑ A wise teacher may choose to respect and celebrate diversity!
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
1. STUDENTS' SELF-AWARENESS IS ENHANCED BY DIVERSITY.
Exposing students to others with diverse backgrounds and
experiences also serves to help students focus on their awareness of
themselves.
When they see how others are different, students are given
reference points or comparative perspectives which sharpen
assessment of their own attitudes, values and behaviors.
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
2 STUDENTS DIVERSITY CONTRIBUTES TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
The opportunity to gain access to the perspectives of peers and to learn from
other students, rather than the instructor only, may be especially important for
promoting the cognitive development of learners.
Supreme Court Justice, William J. Brennan said: "The classroom is peculiarly
the 'marketplace of ideas. The depth and breadth of Student learning are
enhanced by exposure to others from diverse backgrounds. Student diversity in
the classroom brings about different points of view and varied approaches to the
learning process.
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
3 STUDENTS DIVERSITY PREPARES LEARNERS FOR THEIR ROLE AS
RESPONSIBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.
Suzanne Morse stresses one competency that has strong implications for
instructional strategies that capitalize on diversity:
"The capacity to imagine situations or problems from all perspectives and to
appreciate all aspects of diversity".
Furthermore, she argues: "The classroom can provide more than just theory given
by the teacher in a lecture . With student diversity, the classroom becomes a
'public place' where community can be practiced.
HOW STUDENT DIVERSITY
ENRICHES THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
4 STUDENTS DIVERSITY CAN PROMOTE HARMONY
When student diversity is integrated into the classroom teaching and
learning process can become a vehicle for promoting harmonious race
relations.
Through student-centered teaching strategies, diverse students can be
encouraged to interact and collaborate with one another on learning tasks
that emphasize unity of effort while capitalizing on their diversity of
backgrounds.
SOME TIPS
ON
STUDENT DIVERSITY
SOME TIPS ON
STUDENT DIVERSITY
✓ Encourage learners to share their personal history and
experiences. Students will be made to realize that they have
something in common with the rest. They also differ in
several ways.
✓ Integrate learning experiences and activities which promote
students multicultural and cross-cultural awareness.
✓ Aside from highlighting diversity, identify patterns of unity
that transcend group differences
SOME TIPS ON
STUDENT DIVERSITY
✓ Communicate high expectations to students from all
subgroups
✓ Use varied instructional methods to accommodate student
diversity in learning styles.
✓ Vary the examples you use to illustrate concepts in order to
provide multiple contexts that are relevant to students from
diverse backgrounds.
SOME TIPS ON
STUDENT DIVERSITY
✓ Adapt to the students' diverse backgrounds and learning styles by
allowing them personal choice and decision-making opportunities
concerning what they will learn and how they will learn it.
✓ Diversity your methods of assessing and evaluating student
learning.
✓ Purposely, form small-discussion groups of students from diverse
backgrounds. You can form groups of students with different
learning styles, different cultural background, etc.
SOME TIPS ON
STUDENT DIVERSITY
✓ Adapt to the students' diverse backgrounds and learning styles by
allowing them personal choice and decision-making opportunities
concerning what they will learn and how they will learn it.
✓ Diversity your methods of assessing and evaluating student
learning.
✓ Purposely, form small-discussion groups of students from diverse
backgrounds. You can form groups of students with different
learning styles, different cultural background, etc.
Learning/Thinking
styles and multiple
intelligences
Learning outcomes
✓ Describe the different learning/ thinking styles and multiple
intelligences;
✓ Pinpoint own learning/ thinking styles and multiple
intelligences;
✓ Plan learning activities that match learners’ learning/
thinking styles and multiple intelligences;
Learning/Thinking styles and
multiple intelligences
One factor that brings about student diversity is thinking/learning
styles Individuals think and learn in distinct ways. In any group of
learners there will always be different learning characteristics,
particularly in the learners' manner of processing information.
Some would absorb the lesson better when they work with their
hands than when they just listen. Others would prefer to watch a video
about a topic.
Students, likewise, have preferred ways of expressing their
thoughts, feelings and ideas. Some would prefer to write, others would
draw or even dance and sing.
These preferences involve thinking/learning styles and multiple
intelligences
Learning/Thinking
styles
Learning/Thinking styles
Learning/Thinking styles refer to the preferred way an individual
processes information.
They describe a person's typical mode of thinking remembering or
problem solving. Furthermore, styles are usually consider to be bipolar
dimensions.
For instance, your particular learning/thinking style would lie at a
point in a continuum. Having a particular learning/thinking style
simply denotes a tendency to behave in a certain manner.
Your style is usually described as a personality dimension which
influences your attitudes values and social interaction.
Learning/Thinking styles
There are several perspectives about learning-thinking styles.
We shall focus on sensory preferences and the global-analytic continuum.
SENSORY PREFERENCES. Individuals tend to gravitate toward one or two
types of sensory input and maintain a dominance in one of the following types:
VISUAL LEARNERS
These learners must see their teacher's actions and facial expressions to fully
understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting in front so no one would
block their
view.
They may think in pictures and learn best from visual aids including:
diagrams, illustrated text books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-
outs.
During a lecture or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take
detailed notes to absorb the information.
Learning/Thinking styles
SENSORY PREFERENCES
VISUAL LEARNERS
Ri Charde further breaks down visual learners into:
VISUAL-ICONIC
Those who prefer this form of input are more interested in visual imagery such
as film, graphic displays nor pictures in order to solidify learning.
They usually have good picture memory," a.k.a. iconic imagery and attend to
pictorial detail. They would like to read a map better than to read a book.
VISUAL-SYMBOLIC
Those who prefer this form of input feel comfortable with abstract symbolism
such as mathematical formulae or the written word. They would prefer to read a
book than a map and would like to read about things than hear about them.
They tend to be good abstract thinkers who do not require practical means for
learning.
Learning/Thinking styles
SENSORY PREFERENCES
AUDITORY LEARNERS
They learn best through verbal lectures discussions, talking
things through and listening to what other have to say.
Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech
through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances.
Written information may have little meaning until it is heard.
These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape
recorder. They can attend aurally to details, translate the spoken
word easily into the written word, and are not easily
distracted in their listening ability.
Learning/Thinking styles
SENSORY PREFERENCES
AUDITORY LEARNERS
Auditory learners also fall into two categories:
The "Listeners“
This is the more common type. Listeners most likely do well in school.
Out of school too, they remember things said to them and make the information
their own.
They may even carry on mental conversations and figure out how to extend
what they learned by reviewing in their heads what they heard others say.
The "Talkers".
They are the ones who prefer to talk and discuss. They often find
themselves talking to those around them.
In a class setting when the instructor is not asking questions, auditory-
verbal processors (talkers) tend to whisper comments to themselves.
They are not trying to be disruptive and may not even realize that they
need to talk.
Learning/Thinking styles
SENSORY PREFERENCES
TACTILE/KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
Tactile/Kinesthetic persons benefit much from a hands-on approach,
actively exploring the physical world around them.
They may find it hard to sit still for long periods.
They may not benefit so much from the discussion or the written materials,
and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.
Those preferring this form of input move toward active, sensorimotor learning.
They tend to prefer "learning by doing," preferring the use of psychomotor skills
to, say, abstract thinking skills.
They tend to have good motor memory and motor coordination.
Learning/Thinking styles
GLOBAL-ANALYTIC CONTINUUM
ANALYTIC.
Analytic thinkers tend toward the linear, step-by-step processes of
learning.
They tend to see finite elements of patterns rather than the whole; they
are the "tree seers."
They are more comfortable in a world of details and hierarchies of
information.
GLOBAL.
Global thinkers lean towards non-linear thought and tend to see the whole
pattern rather than particle elements.
They are the "forest seers" who give attention only to the overall structure
and sometimes ignore details.
Learning/Thinking styles
GLOBAL-ANALYTIC CONTINUUM
Several theorists have tied the global-analytic continuum to the left-
brain/right-brain continuum. In accord with Roger Sperry's model the left-
brained dominant individual is portrayed as the linear (analytic), verbal,
mathematical thinker while the right-brained person is one who is viewed as
global, non-linear and holistic in thought preferences.
Both sides of the brain can reason but through different strategies in an
individual, one side may be more dominant than the other. The left brain is
regarded as analytic in approach while the right is described as holistic or
global.
A successive processor (left brain) prefers to learn in a step-by-step
sequential format, beginning with details leading to a conceptual
understanding of a skill.
A simultaneous processor (right brain) prefers to learn beginning with the
general concept and then going on to specifics.
Learning/Thinking styles
GLOBAL-ANALYTIC CONTINUUM
LEFT BRAIN (ANALYTIC) RIGHT BRAIN (GLOBAL)
Successive Hemispheric Style Simultaneous Hemispheric Style
1. Verbal 1. Visual
2. Respond to word meaning 2. Respond to tone of voice
3. Sequential 3. Random
4. Process information linearly 4. Processes information in varied order
5. Respond to logic 5. Responds to emotion
6. Plans ahead 6. Impulsive
7. Recalls people’s names 7. Recalls people’s faces
8. Speak with few gesture 8. Gestures when speaking
9. Punctual 9. Less punctual
10. Prefers formal study design 10. Prefers sound/music background while studying
[Link] bright lights while studying 11. Prefers frequent mobility while studying
MULTIPLE
INTELLIGENCES
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) was first described by
Howard Gardner in Frames of Mind (1983). Gardner defines
intelligence as "an ability or set of abilities that allows a person to
solve a problem or fashion a product that is valued in one or more
cultures". Gardner believes that different intelligences may be
independent abilities a person can be low in one domain area but high
in another. All of us possess the intelligences but in varying degrees
of strength.
His most current research indicates that there are nine distinct
forms of intelligences. In order to facilitate learning effectively,
teachers should use strategies that match these kinds of intelligences.
The nine kinds are:
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
The nine kinds are:
Visual/Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)
learning visually and organizing ideas spatially. Seeing concepts in action
in order to understand them. The ability to "see" things in one's mind in
planning to create a product or solve a problem.
Verbal/Linguistic (Word Smart)
learning through the spoken and written word. This intelligence is always
valued in the traditional classroom and in traditional assessments of
intelligence and achievement.
Mathematical/Logical (Number Smart/Logic Smart)
learning through reasoning and problem solving. Also highly valued in the
traditional classroom where students are asked to adapt to logically
sequenced delivery of instruction.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
The nine kinds are:
Bodily/Kinesthetic (Body Smart)
learning through interaction with one's environment. This
intelligence is the domain of "overly active" learners. It promotes
understanding through concrete experience.
Musical (Music Smart)
learning through patterns, rhythms and music. This includes not only
auditory learning but also the identification of patterns through all the
senses.
Intrapersonal (Self Smart)
learning through feelings, values and attitudes. This is a decidedly
affective component of learning through which students place value on
what they learn and take ownership for their learning.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
The nine kinds are:
Interpersonal (People Smart)
learning through interaction with others. Not the domain of
children who are simply "talkative" or "overly social" This intelligence
promotes collaboration and working cooperatively with others.
Naturalist (Nature Smart)
learning through classification, categories and hierarchies. The
naturalist intelligence picks up on subtle differences in meaning. It is
not simply the study of nature; it can be used in all areas of study.
Existential (Spirit Smart)
learning by seeing the "big picture Why are we here?" "What is my
role in the world?" *What is my place in my family, school and
community?" This intelligence seeks connections to real world
understanding and application of new learning.
It is important for teachers to use their knowledge about thinking/
learning style and multiple intelligences in planning activities to help
their students learn effectively.
While researches on these typologies continue, it is clear that
the teachers can no longer just teach the text book. It is a sensible
practice to teach each child according to his/her thinking/learning
styles and multiple intelligence.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
GUIDED BY
THINKIN/LEARNING STYLE &
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
TEACHING STRATEGIES GUIDED BY THINKIN/LEARNING
STYLE &MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
1. Use questions of all types to stimulate various levels of thinking
from recalling factual information to drawing implications and making
value judgments.
2. Provide a general overview of material to be learned, i.e., structured
overviews, advance organizers, etc., so that students' past experiences
will be associated with the new ideas.
3. Allow sufficient time for information to be processed and then
integrate using both the right-and left-brain hemispheres.
4. Set clear purposes before any listening, viewing or reading
experience.
TEACHING STRATEGIES GUIDED BY THINKIN/LEARNING
STYLE &MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
5. Warm up before the lesson development by using brainstorming, set
induction, etc.
6. Use multisensory means for both processing and retrieving
information. (Write directions on the board and give them orally.)
7. Use a variety of review and reflection strategies to bring closure to
learning (writing summaries, creating opinion surveys, etc.).
8. Use descriptive feedback rather than simply praising ("The example
you've provided is an excellent one to point to the concept of.").
(From Cornett, C. E. (1983). What you should know about teaching
and learning styles. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational
Foundation).
