Cultural+Diversity

Cultural Diversity

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"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."

--Maya Angelou

Cultural Diversity at Heritage Heights Cultural diversity is a very important aspect of the education curriculum and lifestyle at Heritage Heights. Our school accepts all forms of diversity and believes in multicultural education. No student will be turned down from Heritage Heights, as we believe that all students, regardless of their cultural background or socioeconomic status, deserve equal education. At Heritage Heights, we pride ourselves on our richly diverse environment, and we strive to provide multicultural education to our students. According to Anita Woolfolk, multicultural education is “Education that promotes equity in the schooling of all students” (Woolfolk 181). English Language Learners   Students who are English learners will find that our school is very accommodating and offers many opportunities for these students to learn English and yet still be a part of the regular classroom. We use many different strategies to help our English Language Learner (ELL) students. Every class is very welcoming to all ELL students, and our teachers work to lower the anxiety that follows with learning a new language. Visual cues and cooperative learning groups also are used to help students become integrated into the class and learn the language. Our experienced staff also works closely with the students and scaffolds lessons. We also believe in using different forms of assessment besides the traditional test format to give all students an equal opportunity. Heritage Heights also believes in helping the families of ELL students understand English as well. Heritage Heights offers English classes after school hours for family members who want to become more proficient at English.

Our curriculum also works to incorporate cultural diversity into the classroom. We provide our students with literature that gives students a wide perspective of different cultures from multiple time periods. Students are also able to become a part of the rich cultural diversity in their class by being engaged in cooperative learning groups. In these groups, students interact closely with each other and are able to gain multiple perspectives in a hands-on, active manner. Through these groups, students gain a deeper understanding of the diversity in their classroom and community. We encourage students to express their cultural diversity, and we help them to feel welcome in their school.

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This is a video of Joanne Yatvin sharing information about her book regarding ELL students in the classroom. This video also reflects our philosophy of cultural diversity and ELL students at Heritage Heights.

For more information about cultural diversity, click on the following links for articles. [|Incorporating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom] [|Diversity and Complexity in the Classroom]