There is a mutual dependence which exists between parts and whole. Without parts, there can be no whole; without a whole, the concept of parts makes no sense. The idea of “whole” is predicated on parts, but these parts themselves must be considered to be wholes comprised of their own parts.

The American educational system has failed to effectively teach the ever-changing and diverse student population in our schools. It is no longer a choice but a necessity to include diversity into the content of the modern classroom.

The racial and ethnic makeup of the United States is in a state of constant change. Today, nearly 31% of the population is of non-Anglo descent. One factor is that 8% of the population of the United States was foreign-born (U.S. Census, 2000). This causes significant problems with language. Many of our students simply do not speak English and the majority of our instructors only speak English. The other major issue is that of the African-American and Hispanic students. African-Americans and Hispanics make up 26% of the population of the U.S. (U.S. Census, 2000). According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2000), only 15

To solve the problems that lay before us, teachers must ask themselves one question. Are you culturally competent to handle the problem? Billings believes that there are several ways to gauge your cultural competence (Billings 2001). She states, that cultural competence occurs when the following four criteria are met. First, the teacher understands culture and its role in education. These teachers understand that cultural stresses and difference may have an effect upon the way that students learn and achieve. They are also able to identify their own cultural beliefs and biases (Billings 2001). Second, the teacher takes responsibility for learning about student’s culture and community. The teacher must understand where each of these students comes from and the ramifications that this information may have of the education of them. If the teacher is unaware of a students cultural difference then that teacher need to learn more about the culture (Billings 2001). Third, the teacher uses culture as a basis for learning. If the culture of the students can be used to enhance the learning of the classroom then that is what needs to be done. Also, it is the teacher’s responsibility to expose students to different cultures so that the students can get along better in a culturally diverse world (Billings 2001). Fourth, the teacher promotes a flexible use of student’s local and global culture. This implies that not all local cultures have the same cultures as those throughout the world. An example would be that the holiday of Cinco de Mayo may not be celebrated by Hispanic Americans but would be celebrated in Mexico. The teacher must understand that global differences do not always apply locally (Billings 2001).

Cultural differences do not only fall upon racial lines. Much of the diversity can be seen in the structure of the families of diverse student populations. According to Schwartz (1999), there are several types of diverse families in urban schools. The first of these is single-parent households. The children from this environment often lack the support needed to achieve because of the high stress-levels of the single parent. The student may also be looking for attention from teachers of the same sex as that of the missing parent. The second group is children of multi-racial families. The multi-racial child may have trouble identifying themselves with either racial group of their heritage (Schwartz, 1999). The third group is the children with gay or lesbian parents. The problem that many of these children have is the homo-phobic insults that they have to endure from other students (Schwartz, 1999). The fourth group of children comes from foster families. Often children that are in foster homes have backgrounds that include abuse and neglect. These children can be very fragile emotionally and at times hard to deal with (Schwartz, 1999). The last group is that of children being raised by grandparents or other relatives. This group of children sometimes feels neglected by their biological parents in some way. Another issue with this group is that of the “acting” parents, they often have other children or in the case of the grandparents may lack the energy to give the attention that the children need (Schwartz, 1999). All of these factors go into the equation that classifies children as “at-risk”.

One approach used to reach children from diverse backgrounds is implementing more diversity into the curriculum. A method that has been used to achieve this goal is called heritage education. Heritage education emphasizes the achievements and contributions of different cultures throughout the world (Hunter, 1998). It does not focus only on the achievements of the Europeans, as curriculums of the past have, it brings a broader perspective to the lessons. An example would be that students would not only learn about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian empires they would also learn about the empires of

Some topics in this essay:
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