Ways To Promote Equality And Diversity In Teaching And Learning

Earth consists of some continents, of many countries and of many numerous people, animals and plants, which makes it a unique and awesome part of the universe. The culture, plant and animal diversity entices us to visit and get to know other countries. However, the greatest value that can be found in each and every country are the people living there, because they represent the uniqueness of the place and at the same time each of them has a personality in itself. Each person starts with a native land, where he is born, with his family, where he grows-up and acquires the skills necessary for life. Later comes school and teachers, who play an important role in human life. It complements and improves the child as an individual’s view of the world and every single person in promoting mutual respect and understanding.

The school and teachers should create an environment that would encourage and create in children an interest and desire to learn about other cultures and countries, and would make them proud to talk about their land, their traditions, to honour, understand and respect the differences between them. Appropriate teaching methods individually and collectively can help discern these differences and their role in human development. A particularly important role in the teaching-learning process is the cooperation of teachers and parents. In order to ensure equal opportunities of education for all, and developing and maintaining the individuality of each child at the same time, new methods have been developed and are constantly emerging. To know which methods to use when working with children, one should first assess the nature of each child’s characteristics. That could be achieved by making some questionnaires with pre-drafted questions. One of the most common method used is the work in groups, which facilitates the effective work in a group; makes it possible for each to use their experience;  allows children to learn from each other;  helps build self-esteem; makes them be aware of themselves and others as unique personalities; promotes interest in and concern for each other and the overall group results.

In my opinion, the most effective teaching is the use of non-formal environmental education process as it develops children’s curiosity, kindness, self-confidence, and enthusiasm. However when the work in groups takes place in the informal learning environment, it results in synergy that leads to a greater motivation than individual work or the competition. The result of the group in which members are closely cooperating is more than the sum of each individual’s work. Cross-tying creates a sense of positive energy. Nowadays, when countries have an open borders, people are free to choose the country in which to live, thus get to know, respect and understand the state of society and culture of that country. In order to achieve that, the schools could hold other countries cultural days.

Children could participate themselves with dances, songs, stories and costumes from their country. I would also like to mention some of the new teaching methods. One name is “engagement” and the idea is to encourage students to engage in real-life business areas and activities. For example, by visiting local firms, the young are able to observe how theoretical learning is applied in practice. See how and where abstract knowledge becomes a useful tool to do useful work to the public and at the same time generating revenue for themselves. I was working for seven years with 13-16 year olds as a mathematics teacher. I used a variety of teaching methods like interactive (“Icebreakers”, group work, team work, discussions, case studies, projects, learning by doing and teaching others) as well as traditional ones in order for more children to be able to perceive and understand the mathematical themes.

I planned my lessons so that not only books but also visually tangible objects were used. I was also the class teacher, so I had a key role in the development of children’s personality. Often had to deal with many situations, like problems that came from the child’s family or contact with peers, as well as sex education. In educational work I used the help of professionals and specialists, by attending a variety of organizations with the class, as for example I can mention one with the title “Alcohol and it’s negative effects on human health”. We together as a class performed research work about the car vent gas negative impact on the environment, created a presentation, a combination of different materials, and visited vehicle roadworthiness tests where gas concentrations in the effluent gets measured.

Those activities resulted in children in the class became more united as a whole. They realized that each person with their own uniqueness and particular skills when working together with others was able to build something grand and unique. In conclusion, my belief is that the only way to actually promote diversity is by letting it come out on its free will. To understand someone we look at his actions. When we are interested in someone, we carefully observe it without judging. The true path to witness uniqueness is to allow each person to express himself. This is the right way to teach and learn.