How can I engage and support diverse learners, such as students

with special needs or English Learners, in their learning?

Gather round everyone! calls the teacher as she prepares to read a book aloud
to her 2nd grade class. One of the students, Maria Garcia, eagerly finds a spot in the
front. She loves the rhymes and colorful illustrations of childrens books. Maria, a
Standard English Learner from a Mexican-American household, might enjoy the story
her teacher has chosen for the class very much. However, the main characters often
have blonde hair and blue eyes, and do very different activities at home with their
families. She has trouble identifying with John and Jane Doe. The teacher could easily
enrich this daily classroom activity by intentionally choosing books that will represent
her diverse group of learners. Educators should constantly be thinking of multiple ways
to best serve their students education. I will engage and support diverse learners by
utilizing culturally responsive pedagogy and scaffolding instruction for English Learners.
Cultural diversity is one of the many factors that contribute to the unique
educational needs of a student. Burden and Byrd (2015) say a students culture is seen
as a source of strength on which to rely (p. 37). If I want to be an effective teacher, I
must utilize culturally responsive instructional strategies that incorporate and rely on the
norms and values of my students culture. Utilizing culturally responsive pedagogy is an
extremely effective way of meeting the expectations that are laid out in Teacher
Performance Expectation 4.1, which says to apply information about students'
cultural background to instructional planning purposes (Commission on Teacher
Credentialing, 2016). If my students have grown up interacting in ways that require
movement and verbal involvement, then my instruction would benefit from the regular
inclusion of participation protocols such as give one, get one, give a shout out, or
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round robin. These protocols demonstrate evidence of Teacher Performance

Expectation 2.2 which says to, create learning environments that promote productive
student learning, encourage positive interactions among students, reflect diversity and
multiple perspectives, and are culturally responsive (Commission on Teacher
Credentialing, 2016). Student engagement requires the creation of a learning
environment that is culturally responsive and facilities positive interactions.
Another culturally responsive way to affirm students' cultures is through
contrastive analysis. We will continue with our example of Maria, who speaks Mexican
American Language, MxAL, with her family. The teacher would help her to understand
the linguistic features and variations from Standard American English, SAE, so she can
translate between these two valid means of communication. If she commonly uses
all as an intensifier instead of very then the teacher can help her learn to replace the
MxAL linguistic feature with the the academically accepted SAL version. Her sentence
would change from He was all happy on his birthday. to He was very happy on his
birthday. This teaches Maria which language is appropriate for speaking and writing in
school without telling her that the language she speaks at home is wrong.
Educators must maintain the mindset students of cultural or language minority
groups are capable and not the problem but rather the source of a solution (Hollie,
2012, p.32). The instructions necessary to serve their group of students will serve all my
students. Burden and Byrd (2015) support this when saying, Good instruction for ELLs
is similar to good instruction for other English-speaking students (p.35). When I model
activities, provide concrete examples, teach key vocabulary to scaffold a lesson for my
ELs, my English speakers benefit from these practices as well. Scaffolding provides the

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support necessary for students to access the curriculum and reach the learning
objective with some assistance from the teacher. An additional accommodation for
English Learners and speakers of Nonstandard English, includes clarifying the cultural
context of a story. At times, characters actions, interpersonal relationships, and
responses may need explaining for the student to understand the text being used for
instruction (Zarrillo, 2011). For example, Marias family may celebrate holidays
differently or not even celebrate some American holidays at all. Scaffolding the material
by explaining traditions and defining key vocabulary words might be necessary when
discussing certain stories or historical events. Teacher Performance Expectation 3.2
says to use knowledge about students and learning goals to organize the curriculum to
facilitate student understanding of subject matter, and make accommodations and/or
modifications as needed to promote student access to the curriculum (Commission on
Teacher Credentialing, 2016, p.14). As a professional educator, I must make
instructional decisions that accommodate my students needs and will be the best
practice to help them learn the material.
Engaging and supporting each and every one of my learners will be a high
priority as a professional educator. Understanding my students and their diverse assets
and capabilities enables effective scaffolding of instruction. If I can adapt my instruction
to become culturally responsive and address the diversity of my students, I then
maximize their engagement, learning, and development.

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References
Burden, P.R., & Byrd, D.M. (2015). Methods for effective teaching: Meeting the needs of
all students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016). Preliminary multiple subject and single
subject credential program standards. Retrieved from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/
educator-prep/standardsPrelimMSstandard.pdf
Hollie, S. (2012). Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning:
Classroom practices for student success. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell
Education.
Zarrillo, J. J. (2011). Ready for Revised RICA: A Test Preparation Guide For
Californias Reading Instruction Competence Assessment. Boston, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.

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