"What are the different forms of diversity that you observe within the school and classrooms?"
The school is a very diverse school as a large percentage of their students are non-Canadian born, ESL students, First Nation Students and many other cultures are present in the school. The school does a very active part in integrating all the different cultures with posters, bulletin boards, decorations, crafts, etc. all being directed to explore different cultures such as different languages, religions, and traditions.
Today in our classes we had the 7/8s come, the all boys class. In this class there are many different cultures and backgrounds. The students all treat each other equally. The fact that the school is so diverse it's not out of the ordinary to anyone in the class. The class read from the 'Book Club' book "Loser". A read aloud to the boys and they are were very engaged and interested. They didn't want her to stop! She assigned to them to read 1 chapter for next time.
In the second group of 7/8s, its the same as the first group being very diverse in cultures and backgrounds. Once again, the students treat everyone equally. This group of 7/8s use this time in the Library for study and/or homework time.
The 1/2s no longer come as they have swimming lessons.
The school does a good job at incorporating the different cultues in a way that it's not "in your face" and seems to be enjoyable for the students.The one bulletin board had flags colored and the students were to decorate their flag that represented them. There were flags from all over the world. It's great that the students are exposed to so many different cultures at such a young age. Hopefully this stems to a much more accepting group of people to people of different backgrounds.
Diversity is viewed as an asset and not a liability and that is so important for you to see what this looks like in action. Incorporating, valuing, celebrating, respecting diversity...accepting everyone for who they are!
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