Diversity and Learning Environments: Individual Frames of Reference for the Teachers

Diversity and Learning Environments Reflective Essay
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Schools play a vital role in shaping students' cognitive, intellectual, social and emotional intelligence abilities. With this goal in mind, diversity plays a vital role in ensuring students attain their anticipated educational goals. For instance, the individual frames of reference for the teachers can influence the student's outcomes in a major way. Therefore, this essay will analyze the personal frames of reference for the teachers, how they can create bias in the classroom, and how to reduce implicit bias. Finally, the essay will examine how Christian values corresponds to a multicultural classroom setting.
Describe personal frames of reference regarding cultural, linguistic, and gender differences.
The American Psychological Association (2023) defines personal frames of reference as the assumptions by which people judge ideas, actions, and experiences. The personal reference frame is vital in facilitating individuals to take diverse information and process it based on their preconceived value systems and experiences. It supports effective decision-making as well as life stability. Similar to individuals, groups should develop a shared reference frame that translates to team culture. Many factors can shape one's personal frames of reference, including someone's upbringing, values, and culture. For instance, a person brought up in a strict culture that values their commodities, including clothes and food, may view others with a different culture as being weird or having unacceptable practices. Additionally, individual frames of reference can influence how they perceive linguistic differences. For instance, a person may view their language as superior, which can affect communication with others. Finally, personal frames may assign some roles to a specific gender; for instance, cooking is for women. Therefore, I will likely judge and conceptualize situations, experiences, and actions based on what is expected of me, depending on gender, culture, and language (Ray & Welsh, 2018). In this way, the frames of reference play a central role in mitigating the potential for stereotypes and prejudice.
Reflect upon how your personal background and frames of reference can unintentionally create bias in your relationships with students and families, how you design instruction, and the classroom environment you promote.
My background and reference frame can unintentionally offer an impetus for bias. For instance, coming from a wealthy family can impact how I perceive and interact with students from marginalized backgrounds. This can manifest in the instructional design, whereby I may assume that every student has all the resources. Additionally, my language and culture may make me have assumptions and stereotypes from students from other backgrounds, which can affect how I teach and interact with them. Therefore, it is important that I realize my implicit bias and its impact on students and their performance.
Describe specific ways to decrease potential bias in your classroom, including ways to incorporate your students' abilities, interests, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds into the learn...