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Diversity & Differentiation Framing Statement

Sierra Afoa

Department of Education, University of Alaska Southeast

ED 698: Master’s Portfolio

Dr. Beth Hartley

April 24, 2024

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Diversity & Differentiation
The teacher demonstrates an understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures
in their community in order to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each
learner to meet high standards. The teacher interacts with parents and local communities
to identify resources that can be used to increase relevancy and learner engagement. The
teacher adapts instruction and uses modified materials, resources, tools, and technology to
address exceptional learner needs, including those associated with disabilities and
giftedness.
Diversity and differentiation both play huge roles in every classroom and are both things

that most teachers discuss often. In fact, it is something the education program at the University

of Alaska Southeast had students discussing from the very beginning. One assignment I

completed in ED680 that really stuck out to me and made me look inwards at my beliefs and

experience with diversity was diving into Cushner’s Twelve Cultural Attributes (2006). For this

assignment we were to reflect on different pieces of culture that impact the lives of everyone

around us. These included things such as race, social class, language, ability, disability, and so

much more. All students are different whether it be that they are a different race or ethnicity, or

they learn things in a different way. The more teachers can reflect and adjust based off of their

students’ backgrounds, the more learning and engagement can happen in the classroom.

I remember how eye opening the Twelve Cultural Attributes assignment was for both my

teaching and my personal life. For ethnicity, I reflected on how I had never felt my culture was

represented in the classroom. I am half Samoan, and I never had a Samoan teacher, read any

books by Samoan authors, or learned about the Samoan culture. The first time I had even heard

Samoan people mentioned was in my 8th grade social studies class and it was one single sentence

in a textbook we were reading. I did not realize what an impact that made on me until I started

taking classes to become a teacher. Students need the opportunity to see themselves in the

material being used at school. When students can connect what they are learning at school to
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what they know from their personal lives and their homes they have more opportunities to really

engage in their learning (Barry, 1998). Utilizing students’ backgrounds as a way to guide

teaching can build engagement, a deeper understanding of the information, and it can lead to

more understanding and respect for people who come from different backgrounds.

I currently have 19 students in my kindergarten classroom. My class consists of 7 girls

and 10 boys, 10 different ethnicities, 3 students who are English Language Learners, 2 students

who have IEPs, and 10 students who attended preschool. The students in my class have a wide

variety of knowledge they bring to the classroom even at a young age and they all learn and

interpret information differently. One way that I aim to represent all of the different cultures in

my classroom is through literature. I am constantly looking for new books to add to my

classroom library where students can easily look and see someone that looks like them or read

and hear someone that sounds like them. For example, it is currently Black History Month and I

have gone through my library and pulled books about historical figures and really represent and

celebrate Black history. As a class, we will read these stories and discuss them with each other.

“Literature presents readers with new worlds, new ideas, new options – stuff to reflect upon and

to use to better themselves as people, as well as readers” (Rasinski & Padak, 1990, p.576). The

takeaway from this is that reading different types of literature that represents different cultures

and is written by different people with different points of view, new ideas are made available to

students, and it opens up a world of endless possibilities for learning and reflection.

Another way that I have been differentiating instruction for my students is through our

new language arts curriculum. This curriculum has students sitting on the rug for 30-40 minutes

at a time while listening to the teacher talk. I have adapted these lessons to better fit the learning

needs of my students who are gifted and for students who need more support. To meet the needs
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of the gifted students and to engage them more with the learning I have them read parts of the

lesson to the rest of the class. They are given the chance to decode harder vocabulary words and

teach them to their classmates. This engages them in the learning more because it challenges

them beyond what the curriculum is calling for and provides them with leadership opportunities.

Tomlinson (2005) wrote about how challenging highly able students can come in many different

forms such as, advanced criteria for success, variety of approaches to learning, and expectation

for transformation of information and ideas. I have been told over and over again to teach the

new curriculum “with fidelity” and have had to be creative with how to do that while still

differentiating the instruction. For gifted students, that means finding ways to challenge them and

raise the expectations I have for them to show that they are learning.

In order to meet the learning needs of the students who need more supports, whether it be

an ELL student, a student with an IEP, or a student who just is not understanding the material, I

use multiple accommodations and strategies. One of the main accommodations I utilize is

visuals. Visuals play a huge role in supporting student learning and understanding in my

classroom. I use slides daily for our learning and these include pictures and visual cues of what

we are learning about. “Simplified language and visuals have been shown to have promise for

ELs” (Thurlow & Kopriva, 2015, p.334). This means that visuals help to bridge the gap between

language barriers and learning. If students are not understanding what is being said to them

verbally, they are given visuals to help them understand what is being discussed. Visuals are also

utilized in the assessments I give students. There are pictures shown for the comprehension

questions that allows students to circle or point to a picture instead of having to answer verbally

or in writing.
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I believe that I am able to meet the many different learning styles and support the

learning needs of all of my students in a positive way. I also believe that I am growing in my

ability to bring in different cultures and represent all of my students. One way that I would like to

grow in this area, however, is through utilizing more of the community and family members in

my classroom. Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (1997) described how self-efficacy impacts

a person’s belief in their own ability to complete a task. If I can bring more community members

of different backgrounds into the classroom, students will be able to see someone like themselves

who has experienced success in their life. This has the ability to increase students’ self-efficacy

and their motivation to perform at a higher level. As a new teacher, I feel like I am just starting to

feel comfortable with the curriculum, with my coworkers, and with the population of students I

am working with. The next step is to become organized enough to bring in community members

to share their knowledge and culture with my class as well. Bringing the community into the

classroom more and more is going to help my students become active participants in the

community they live in as well as engage them in the learning by hearing from many different

people (Sanders, 2001). In order to do this, I would like to reach out to places such as the Alaska

Native Cultural Center, the Anchorage Fire Department, and Alaska Fish and Game. These

would be great resources that can bring in a wide variety of knowledge into my classroom and

get my students excited about their community.

As a new teacher, I believe I have made a lot of strides towards creating a classroom that

celebrates diversity and differentiates instruction to support the learning of all students as

individuals. It is nowhere near perfect, and I am continuously learning more about ways that I

can differentiate instruction, but I have come a long way from where I started. I know the value

of bringing in as many cultures to my classroom as possible because I have been able to reflect
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on my own experiences as a student who went through the Anchorage school system. I know that

representation can play a key role in how students view themselves not only in the classroom but

as a part of their community. I plan on continuing to grow as an educator and continue to create a

space where ALL students feel welcomed and represented.

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References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman and Company.

Barry, A. (1998). Hispanic representation in literature for children and young adults. Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 41(8), 630-637. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40016960

Cushner, K. (2006). Human diversity in action. McGraw-Hill.

Rasinski, T. & Padak, N. (1990). Multicultural learning through children’s literature. Language

Arts, 67(6), 576-580. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41961778

Sanders, M. G. (2001). The role of “community” in comprehensive school, family, and

community partnership programs. The Elementary School Journal, 102(1), 19-34.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1002167

Thurlow, M. & Kopriva, R. (2015). Advancing accessibility and accommodations in content

assessments for students with disabilities and English learners. Review of Research in

Education, 39, 331-369. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44668661

Tomlinson, C. A. (2005). Quality curriculum and instruction for highly able students. Theory

Into Practice, 44(2), 160-166. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3497034