Diversity Paper - PP
Diversity Paper - PP
Diversity Paper - PP
LaShelle Stanley
EDU 290
Pat Pritchard, Professor
October 8, 2013
A Disposition for Diversity: Teaching in the 21st Century.
The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding
and recognizing that each individual is unique and different. Aspects of diversity come in
various forms such as race, gender, class, language, cultural and ethnicity, sexual orientation,
faith, socio-economic, age, learning styles, cognitive abilities, affective abilities, and physical
abilities. Students come to teachers with many diverse points of view; searching into these
forms of diversity in a safe, positive, and nurturing classroom environment can enrich
everyone's understanding of diverse subjects as well as prepare students holistically enabling
them to communicate effectively with people of other groups. Making learning possible for
everyone is the main objective of teachers, and is often a dare. At the very least, it is the
educators professional duty to make educational learning equally possible for all students.
History supports diverse learners in a major way with the enactment of IDEA
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) formally known as Public Law 94-142
(Turnbull, Turnbull, Shank, Smith, & Leal, 2002). IDEA assures and insures that children and
adolescents receive free appropriate public education (FAPE) no matter the type or severity of
disability the student may have (Turnbull, et al, 2002). Since IDEA has been in place, students
with disabilities have been and will continue to receive special education services in a general
education classroom where he or she can interact with students that do not have disabilities.
The Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) is another piece of legislation that supports students with
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