Learning Diversity Essay

After studying this chapter, you should be qualified to 1. De? ne ethnic salmagundi 2. Describe the role of g hurtiness in shaping similarities and di? erences among respective(a)(prenominal)s 3. Recognise operate and ethnicity as an element of micro ethnical mixture 4. Explain the educational implications of di? erences in scholars mark offing bearing 5. infinite images of cognitive manner 6. Relate sex di? erences and socio-economic stead to unmarriedistic di? erences issues and 7. Describe t all(prenominal)ers strategies in include mixed bag. Individual Differences 7 171i. CHAPTER 7 l respective(prenominal) DIFFERENCES.171 INTRODUCTION As instructors, we must be aw atomic number 18 of active studentsindividual differences much(prenominal) as differences in culture, ethnicity, intelligent, speechs, scholarship styles, and so on It is beca single-valued function it whitethorn recruit students realizeing or limit their opportunity to learn from the aim env ironment. These factors should be taken into consideration when we plan pedagogics and discipline process in the classroom. We begin by discussing the de? nition of cultural diversity and evidence factors that contri excepte to studentsdiversity.Next, we realize the differences of acquirement styles and cognitive styles among students. This is followed by the explanation of sexual practice differences that in? uence the students performance. In the ? nal section of this chapter, we result discuss how instructors underside cope with the individual differences effectively in the teaching and eruditeness process. man-to-man DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 172 Characteristics of an individuals society, or of some sub sorts within this society. It includes values, beliefs, nonions about acceptable and inconceivable behaviour, and new(prenominal) socially constructed ideas that members of the culture atomic number 18 taught atomic number 18 true. (1994 in Tan 3003).Those h uman characteristics that waste both the potential to either better or limit a students capacity to learn from the domesticate environment. Henson & adenylic acid Eller (1999, p121) Individual differences ar the variations we observe among members of any group in a particular characteristic, much(prenominal) as temperament, energy aim, fightership patterns and p arent-child attachment. Borich & Tombari (1997, p29) 7. 1 CULTURAL potpourri 7. 1. 1 De? nition of Cultural smorgasbord fit to Garcia, acculturation refers to Henson & Eller (1999, p121) posit that the term diversity base Whereas Borich & Tombari (1997. p29) posit that173i. CHAPTER 7 l iodine-on-one DIFFERENCES 173 Group social rank apprise include racial identi? cation, but regardless(prenominal) of race, it can qualify further in term of assumptions, values, vocabulary, religion, behaviour, and symbols. (Oconor, 1988 in Tan 2003). systema skeletale 7. 1 Various races in Malaysia. In Mal aysia we give up different races such as the Malays, Chinese, Indians and others as illustrated in come across 7. 1. Each of the races has their grab culture. Culture is a broad and encopassing concept. Even though we equate culture with race or ethnic individuation, the truth is that within racial or ethnic groups in that location can be cultural variations.In short, culture governs how we think and feel, how we dress and how we live, and it is born largely of socialization. We frequently recognize national culture such as Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. We share Malaysian citizenship. So, differences in culture pertaining to Malaysia in addition stand for differences in ethnicity and race. 7. 1. 2 The Role of Culture in Shaping Similarities and Di? erences Among Individuals Culture has partake on our students socialization. Some elements of culture including religion, foods, holidays and celebrations, dress, autobiography and traditions, and art and music.C ultural diversity also can manifest in our views of the life cycle, decorum and discipline, health and hygiene (Example Explanations of illness and death), values, ladder and play, and succession and space. All could be elements of a shared national culture or of additional family cultures. Each element shapes our students through socialization within their families, later through teacher, peers and environment. man-to-man DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 174 We need to go on in mind that our students membership in cultural groups signi? cantly in? uences their lives both privileged and outside of shoal.Therefore, we ask to consider cultural diversities be construct honouring cultural diversities enhances classroom teaching and nurture. As teachers, we make believe to understand these cultural diversities and try to accommodate to these differences. We create to honour other peoples beliefs and values because they have their rationale and that contributes to a harmonious society a nd peaceful nation. These have to start in school where the students are aware of their differences and teacher instil within them the espirit de subject matter (spirit to live together peacefully), tolerance towards others, empathy and pro social behaviour.175i. CHAPTER 7 l exclusive DIFFERENCES 175 To answer that question, Tan (2003), recognizes three ship canal in addressing cultural differences as illustrated in Figure 7. 2 Now let us examine all these cuddlees. (a) Assimilation Theory harmonize to the immersion theory, all students must conform to the rules of the Anglo- American group culture, regardless of their family culture or the rules of other groups to which they belong. Anglo culture is superior to all others, differences are lowering and rejected. Figure 7. 2 Three ways in addressing cultural differences INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7.176 (b) Amalgamation Theory According to Davidson & Phelan Cultural differences are omitd. through and through the years, many of us have been comforted by the thawing pot view of our societys institutions. But, it too has further the loss of individual identity. (c) Cultural Pluralism According to Davidson & Phelan Diversity is non feared or criticized or ignored. It is valued, even celebrated. An effective teacher holds this view of diversity and incorporates beliefs about multicultural education. Multicultural education is education in which a tend of cultural perspectives is presented to students.The amalgamation theory is the melting pot onward motion in which elements of individual cultures are blended to expire a new, synthesized American culture. (Davidson & Phelan, 1993) In cultural pluralism, we are encouraged to take multicultural view, in which we attempt to address the elements of both shared national culture and individual and/or family culture together. (Davidson & Phelan, 1993) 1. What is cultural diversity? present few fonts of cultural diversity in your answer. 2. Think of ways in which teacher can accommodate to the cultural diversity among students. 177i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.177 7. 2 RACES AND ETHINICITY DIVERSITY Race and ethnicity are factors contribute to studentsdiversity. Through race and ethnicity, we will be able to trace the studentsroot and cultural make up. Through this awareness indeed we can be seemly in our enshroudment to all students in the classroom. As Ladson-Billings (1994) notes The notion of faithfulness as comparableness only makes sense when all students are simply the same. Ladson-Billings (1994) In reality we are different in race, ethnicity, culture and ways of life. Therefore we should take advantage of these differences by learning other phraseologys, about food and dances.Students would respect teachers who know about their students linguistic communications other than their own because it enhances their knowledge about the students and make their communiaction with the students easier. In M alaysia, we have di? erent race that are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasian and others. Within the races, we have sub-groups or ethnicity. Examples of the sub-groups or ethnicity are listed in table 7. 1. Table 7. 1 Races and it sub-groups or ethnicity in Malaysia. Race Malays Chinese Sub-groups or ethnicity ? ? Javanese? Malays? ? Bugis? Malays ? Kelantanese?? Malays ? Johorean? Malays ? Malaccan? Malays? etc.Chinese come from many move of China which contribute to ethnic di? erences such as ? ? Hokkien ? ? Cantonese ? ? Hailam? and? etc. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 178 7. 3 LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY Linguistic diversity is one of the elements that contributes to students diversity. Your class will have spoken communication diversity, and you will have to realize that you need to be sensitive to this lingual diversity and adjust accordingly. In Malaysia, we are lucky because the medium of argument is in Malay or Bahasa Melayu for all subjects except for slope. Further much, slope is regarded as the uphold style andball students must pass the subject at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia level or the form 5 national exam.It moulds young generations of Malaysia to at least master three languages, namely Bahasa Melayu, the incline language, and their mother tongue. With this capacity, it enhances the Malaysians to understand each other and to live harmoniously. Tan (2003) suggested two ways to teachers in addressing language diversity as displayn in Figure 7. 3, which are Facilitating English, and Immersion and transitional Methods. Indians ? ? Tamil? Nadu ? ? Hindustani ? ? Benggali ? ? Pakistani ? ? Bangla? (Bangladesh)? ? ? Bangla? (Sri? Lanka)?and? etc.? These races and ethnicities also contribute to language differences. 1. What are race and ethnicity diversity? ordinate few examples of race and ethnicity in Malaysia. 2. Can you understand other race or ethnic language? List out the advantages for teachers if they know their student languages. Figure 7. 3 dickens suggested ways in addressing language diversity by Tan(2003) 179i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 179 Let us examine those approaches. (a) Facilitating English Enhancing the mastering of the English language among students can help overcome the problem of communication with others in the school and outside the school.Teaching English to all students is regarded as a hammer for cultural understanding and communication among students. We can emphasize perception in our classroom. If you can understand the student and the student can understand you, then achievement can continue. Increased student achievement should be our overall instructional goal, regardless of linguistic diversity issues. (b) Immersion and transitional Method Traditionally, we believed immersion approach was the dress hat way to move children to amount language usage. In this approach, from the beginning till the end, the instructor uses only the language to be learned.It becomes, then, a sin k or swim proposition. Some children swim, they prosper under these conditions they learn the language with few problems. Other students, however, sink they do not learn the language and suffer inside and outside of class. Similarly, lingually diverse students can sink or swim in language learning. Conversely, teacher whitethorn use transitional or balance multilingual strategies for adding standard language as a shared communicative tool are being examined. These approaches start with the language the student brings into the classroom and take a leak on family and cultural language to promote standard language usage. memorize on an example case below Several? years? ago,? a? Massachusetts? teacher,? Gary? Simpkins,? attempted? to? move? his African-American students toward standard American English usage by developing? an? approach? called? Bridge? (Shells,? 1976).? He? apply? transitional? strategies? whereby? the? students? learn? English? at?? rst? in? their? language-Blac k? English in reading, writing and oral communication. Midway through, he taught partly? Black? English? and? partly? standard? American? English.? By? the? end? of? the? instructional period, he taught all in standard American English but allay aloud student? to? use?Black-English? for? less? formal? communication. The implementation of approach above yielded promising results. 1. What is linguistic diversity? 2. Explain how teacher can help the students overcome language differences. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 one hundred eighty 7. 4 LEARNING STYLE OR COGNITIVE STYLE DIVERSITY 7. 4. 1 De? nition of larn musical mode and cognitive Style Kagan is one of the earlier psychologists who introduced the re? ective and impulsive cognitive style. Later, Witkin and Coodenough(1977) founded the concept of ? eld- independent and dependent cognitive style(Borich & Tombari, 1997).Another earliest psychologist, Massick proposed the concept of cognitive style. According to Massic k Cognitive style is stable attitudes preferences or habitual strategies determining a soulfulnesss typical modes of perceiving, have in minding, mentation and problem solving. Messick (1976, p5) Later, there are various de? nitions for learning style or cognitive style by psychologists, depending on their views and perspectives as shown in Table 7. 2. Table 7. 2 Various de? nitions of Learning Style and Cognitive Style by psychologists. Tan et. al. (2003) Psychologist De? nition of Learning Style and Cognitive Style Henson and Eller (1999, p505).Learning? styles? are? biological? and? socialized? di? erences? or? preferences for how students learn. Where as cognitive style is studentsmost comfortable, consistent, and expedient ways of perceiving? and? fashioning? sense? of? information. Tan et. al. (2003) ? Learning? style? is? how? elements? from? introductory? stimuli? in? the? watercourse? and past environment a? ect an individuals business whizer to absorb and retain information. Henson and Eller (1999, p505) ? In? this? de? nition,? Tan? stressed? the? in? uence? of? biological? and? socialization? in? moulding? students? learning? style.??? ? Henson? and? Eller? stress? on? basic? stimuli?that? a? ect? individuals? learning style. 181i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 181 Woolfolk (2004, p603), Sternberg (1997) ?Learning? preferences? is? preferred? ways? of? studying? or? learn- ing,? such? as? utilise? pictures? instead? of? text,? working? with? other? people versus alone, learning in structured or unstructured situation, and so on. Whereas a cognitive style is di? erent ways? of? perceiving? and? organizing? information. Woolfolk ? Learning? and? thinking? styles? are? not? abilities,? but? rather? preferred ways of using ones abilities. (Santrock, 2008, p132). ?Woolfolk? proposed? that? learning? styles?as? characteristic? approaches to learning and studying. ? She? also? equates? learning? styles? and? learning? preferences.?? ? A ccording? to? Sternberg,? intelligence? refers? to? ability. ? Individual? vary? so? much? in? thinking? and? learning? style,? ? literally? hundreds? of? learning? and? thinking? styles? have? been? proposed by educators and psychologist. So from these de? nitions, we ? nd overlapping views on learning styles and cognitive styles. We can think that Learning style and cognitive style cover many domains such as physical, psychological, audio, visual, kinaesthetic, etc. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7.182 7. 4. 2 Types of Learning Styles According to Butler, there are few types of learning styles(Butler, 1989 in Tan, 2003) such as explained below. (a) Psychological/Affective styles One of the official documents to assess individuals learning style for this type of learning style is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This instrument will reveal how a student feel about him/herself and how conceit developed is linked to learning. (b) Physiological Styles There are few instrume nts in this category such as Honey and Munford Learning Styles Inventory, Kolb Learning style inventory, humour tastes Inventory, etc. These instruments show individual of her/his consistent ways to advance learning through the use of the senses or environmental stimuli. These instruments also show hemispheric specialisation (i. e. right or left brain), auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, olfactory preferences or preferences for environmental conditions. (c) Cognitive Styles Students whitethorn utilize cognitive styles such as ? eld-dependent or independent, impulsive or re? ective, whole or serial, etc. These instruments measure consistent ways of responding and using stimuli in the environment, how things are comprehend and make sense, the most comfortable, expedientnand pleasurable way to process information.7. 4. 3 quantity of Learning Styles and Cognitive Styles Since students preferred styles of learning in? uence their achievements and teachers learning styles in? uenc e their instructional choices, it is suggested that teacher and students take the test we describe below. (a) Modality Preference Inventory Through this inventory, teacher and students can classify their learning styles such as auditory, visual or kinaesthetic. To assess an individuals learning style, he/she has to respond to the questions shown in Figure 7. 4. 183i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 183 Learning Styles.Modality Preference Inventory Read each controversy and select the appropriate number response as it applies to you. Often (3) sometimes (2) Seldom/Never (1) Visual Modality ? I? remember? information? better? if? I? write? it? down. ? Looking? at? the? person? helps? keep? me? focused. ? I? need? a? quiet? space? to? get? my? work? done. ? When? I? take? a? test,? I? can? see? the? school text? page? in? my? head. ? I? need? to? write? down? directions,? not? just? take? them? verbally. ? Music? or? background? noise? distracts? my? assistance? from? the? task? at? hand. ? I? dont? always? get? the? meaning? of? a? joke. ?I? doodle? and? draw? pictures? on? the? margins? of? my? notebook computer? pages. ? I? react? very? strongly? to? colors. ? Total Auditory Modality ? ? My? papers? and? notebooks? always? seem? messy. ? ? When? I? read,? I? need? to? use? my? index?? nger? to? track? my? place? on?? the line. ? ? I? do? not? follow? written? directions? well. ? ? If? I? hear? something,? I? will? remember? it. ? ? Writing? has? always? been? di? cult? for? me. ? ? I? often? misread? voice communication? from? the? text? (eg,? them? for? then) ? ? I? would? rather? listen? and? learn? than? read? and? learn. ? ? Im? not? very? good? at? interpreting? an?individuals? body? language. ? ?Pages? with? small? print? or? execrable? choice? copies? are? di? cult? for? me?? to read. ? ? My? eyes? tire? quickly,? even? though? my? dream? check-up? is? always?? ?ne. ? ? Total Kinesthetic Modality ? I? start? a? project? before? reading? the? d irections. ? I? hate? to? sit? at? a? desk? for? long? periods? of? time. ? I? prefer? to? see? something? done? and? then? to? do? it? myself. ? I? use? the? trial? and? error? approach? to? problem-solving. ? I? identical? to? read? my? textbook? while? riding? an? exercise? bike. ? I? take? frequent? study? breaks. ? I? have? di? culty? braggy? gradually? instructions. ? I? enjoy? sports? and? do? well? at? several? di? erent? types? of? sports. ? I? use? my? hands? when? describing? things. ? I? have? to? rewrite? or? type? my? class? notes? to? reinforce? the? poppycock. ? Total Total the score for each section. A score of 21 points or more in a humor indicates a strength in that area. The? senior high schoolest? of? the? 3? scores? indicates? the? most? e? cient? method? of? information? intake.? The? second? highest? score indicates the modality which boosts the primary strength. Figure 7. 4Example of questions should be responded by students to measure their learning sty les.INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 184 (b) Field-Dependent and free-lance Teacher or student may utilize Field-Dependent or Independent Cognitive Style in percep- tion or information processing. Field-Independent learners perceive items as more or less separate from the surrounding ? eld. They are interested in concept for their own sake. They have self-de? ned goals and function successfully in self-structured situations and impersonal learning environments. For ? eld-dependent learners, their mode of learning is strongly in? uenced by the prevailing context or setting. They are more aware of their surroundings as they learn.These learners value practical information. They can memorize human faces and social facts such as best friends birth date more easily than ? eld- independent learners. Garger and Guild(1987) have summarized the characteristics of ? eld-independent and ?eld-dependent learners. These are illustrated in Table 7. 3. From this table it is clear that, at least in the extremes, the two styles are very different. Table 7. 3 Characteristics of Field-Dependent and Independent learners. Perceives globally. Perceives analytically. FIELD-DEPENDENT FIELD-INDEPENDENT Makes broad general distinctions among concepts, sees relationships.Learns material with social content best. Requires externally de? ned goals and reinforcements. Makes speci? c concept distinctions, little overlap. Learns social material only as an intended task. Has self-de? ned goals and reinforcements. Experiences in a global fashion, adheres to structures as given. Social orientation. Attends best to material relevant to own experience. Needs organization provided. Experiences in an articulate fashion, imposes structures of restrictions. electroneutral orientation. Interested in new concepts for their own sake. Can self-structure situations. Learning Styles- dependance and Independence Descriptions.185i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 185 More a? ected by criticism. Less a? ected by criticism. Uses spectator approach for concept attainment. Uses hypothesis-testing approach to attain concepts. Teacher and students can assess their cognitive style using imbed Figures Test (EFT) or Group Embedded Figures Test(GEFT). In this test, they have to recognize geometry ?gure, which are embedded in the picture or in the background. Those who can recognize the ? gure faster than the others are learners with the ? eld-independent style and those who take bimestrial than a few seconds or cannot ? nd the ? gure at all, can be classi?ed as ? eld- dependent learners. Figure 7. 5 illustrates an example of Embedded Figures Test (EFT). Recognize? the? geometry?? gure,? which? are? embedded? in? the? designs? picture.? INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 186 Answer Figure 7. 5 An example of Embedded Figure Test (EFT) If you are a ? eld-independent teacher, you may be comfortable giving lectures and empha- sizing cognition. You may prefer offering corrective feedback, us ing shun feedback as excuseed, and you may use grades and personal goal charts motivationally. If you are a ? eld-dependent teacher, you may prefer interaction and conversation with your students.You may rely less on corrective feedback and little on negative evaluations. You also like to establish a warm and personal environment and prefer to inspire through external reward such as verbal praise. galore(postnominal) educational psychologist views that if the teacher cognitive style match with the student cognitive style, students? will? bene? t? most? and? vice? versa.? Student? learn? best when there is congruence between their preferred teaching style. Unfortunately, most teachers ignore students? cognitive? style? because? it? takes? longer? time? for? them to form lesson plan and devices or activities to ful? l their needs.1. What is cognitive style and learning style? 2. Give a few examples of learning or cognitive styles. 187i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 187 7. 5 GENDER DIFFERENCES Linguistic diversity is one of the elements that contributes to students diversity. Your class will have language diversity, and you will have to realize that you need to be sensitive to this linguistic diversity and adjust accordingly. In Malaysia, we are lucky because the medium of instruction is in Malay or Bahasa Melayu for all subjects except for English. Furthermore, English is regarded as the second language and all students must pass the subject at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysialevel or the form 5 national exam.It moulds young generations of Malaysia to at least mastering three languages, namely Bahasa Melayu, the English language, and their mother tongue. With this capacity, it enhances the Malaysians to understand each other and to live harmoniously. Tan (2003) suggested two ways to teachers in addressing language diversity as shown in Figure 7. 3, which are Facilitating English, and Immersion and Transitional Methods. In Asian society, being a girl or a son has signi? cant impact. The people usually adore boys than girls.Its because most Asian country are rice bowl or dependent on agriculture where the man are more utilizable in manual of arms jobs than ladies. But they forget, in terms of resilience and patience, the women are the winners Now, let us examine gender-related student differences in several ways and explore their implications for teaching. argon you resent being a girl? You dont have to. Accept things as it is. (a) Developmental rates According? to? Egan? and? Kauchak Di? erences exist in boys and girls developmental rates. Girls develop faster with? di? erences? in? verbal? and? motor? skills? seem? at? an? early? age.?Boys?and? girls? are? di? erent in other areas as well, and these di? erences emerge as early as the preschool years. Girls tend to play with dolls and other girls and to run toward activities such as? make-believe? and? dress-up.? Boys? play? with? blocks,? cars,? dinosaurs,? and? other ? boys. (Egan and Kauchak, 1997). INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 188 We? can? observe? society? and? family,? school? and? work? place? treat? girls and boys di? erently. In the family, they are treated di? erently from the day they were born. ? Baby? girls? are? given? pink? blankets,? are? called? cute? and? handled? delicately. ?Baby? boys? are? dressed to kill(p)? in? blue,? are? regarded? as? handsome,? and are seen as tougher, better coordinated, and hardier. Di? erences in treatment continue in later years. In high school, girls? become? cheerleaders? for? the? boys,? who? become? basketball? or? football players. (b) Family treatment (c) Expectation for school success (d) Academic area These di? erences also include expectation for school success. Parents? plausibly? communicate? di? erent? expectations? for? their? sons and daughters. Researchers have found that Research on gender e? ects founded di? erences in boys and girls in di? erent academic areas.According? to ? Maccoby? and? Jacklin, Parents? gender-stereotyped? attitudes? toward? girls? ability? in? math,? adversely? in? uence? their? daughters? achievement? in? math? and their attitudes toward it. (Nagy-Jacklin, 1989 in Egan & Kauchak, 1997) Boys? did? better? in? math? and? on? visual? and? spatial? tasks,? example? tasks? in? geometry.? Girls? did? better? in? on? verbal? skills? such? as? in? languages. (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974) 189i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 189 Boys? and? girls? also? stock? di? erent? treatment? in? school.? Both? male? and? female? teacher? treat? boys? and? girls? di?erently.??They? interact? with? the? boys? more? often? and? ask? them? more? questions,? and? those? questions? are? more? conceptual? and abstract. (e) Treatment in school Gender stereotyping also in? uences career decisions. According to Kochenberger-Stroeher Signi? cantly, when children choose non-traditional roles for males or females, their choices are based on personal expe rience. Di? erences in students view of gender-appropriate careers appear as early as kindergarten. (Kochenberger-Stroeher, 1994) ?One? of? the? most? powerful? factors? in? uencing? school? performance? is? socio-economic? status? (SES),?the? combination? of? parents? income,? occupations,? and? level? of? education.? SES? consistently? predicts? intelligence? and? achievement? test? scores,? grades,? truancy? and dropout and suspension rates. (Ballantine, 1989 in Egan & Kauchak, 1997) 1. Why teacher treat boys and girls otherwise? 2. Give few examples of different treatment to boys and girls. 3. Think of ways in which teacher can accommodate to gender differences. 7. 6 DIFFERENCES IN SOCIO? sparing STATUS According to Ballantine INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 190 umteen? families? lack? in? proper? nourishment,? and? adequate? medical? care.?Poverty? also? in? uences? the? quality? of? home-life,? unstable? work? conditions? increased? economic? problems? that? lead t o parental frustration, anger and depression. These pressures? can? lead? to? family? scattered,? marital? con? ict? and? nurturing homes. The impact of SES is also transmitted through parental attitudes and values where their attitudes and values are different. Example is in interaction pattern. Low SES parents are more liable(predicate) to tell, rather than explain. High SES parents, in contrast, talk more with their children, explain ideas and the cause of events, and encourage independent thinking.Walbergs observed that High SES parents are more probably to ask wh questions (who, when, where, why) promoting language development, provide strong foundation for reading and vocabulary development. (Walberg, 1991) 191i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 191 The educational aspirations parents have for their children are probably the most powerful variables a? ecting achievement.? Parents? who? expect? their? children? to? graduate? from high school and to attend college have ch ildren who do well than parents who have low aspirations. These expecta- tions are communicated through dialogue betweenparents and children.?Low? SES? parents? in? contrast,? allow? their? children? to? drift into classes and often got loss in the shu? e and failed in their lives. The differences between low and high SES families also re? ect the emphasis placed on students autonomy and responsibility. High-SES parents emphasize self-direction, self- control, and individual responsibility while low-SES parents, in contrast, place greater emphasis on conformity and obedience. 1. What is meant by parents SES differences? 2. Give few examples impact of SES on students aspirations, attitudes and values.3. Think of ways in which teacher can accommodate to SES bdifferences. 7. 7 WAYS IN EMBRACING DIVERSITIES To be a good teacher, you should know the ways to embracing diversities among your students. Below are the discussions on how to handle your students diversities in the gender differ ences, cultural, race and ethnicity, learning style, socioeconomy and linguistic differences. (a) Gender differences It is not easy to eliminate gender differences in the class, but to make teacher cautious and not gender bias, Figure 7. 6 shows some recommendations warrant that need to be considered. Avoid stereotypical language. (Example Okay, guys lets get work) set up equal opportunities for males and females. (Example club membership). INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES l CHAPTER 7 192 In eliminating race and ethnicity, we move toward moulding one Malaysian nation with the same identity and characteristics such as same language and same spirit. One of the ways to unite Malaysians is through education system where all races study in the same school, same college and same university. All Malay- sian? know? and? appreciate? the? same? food? like? nasi lemak, roti canai, the tarik, tosay,mee teow, mee suah and etc. In coping with students with learning styles diversity, teacher may use mul ti-approach in instruction such as conjunct learning which is sufficient for ? eld-dependent students and doing experiment and also suitable for ?Eld-independent students. During instruction, teacher may use diagram and charts which is suitable for visual learner, using records and video tapes? which? is? suitable? for? auditory? learners? and? utilize? hands-on experience such as experimenting for haptic learners. Reduce or oust gender-typed activities. (Example Girls have to cook, boys wash the car). Figure 7. 6 Some recommendations warrant that need to be consider to eliminate gender differences in the class. (b) Cultural diversity In eliminating cultural diversity, teacher may utilize assimilation, amalgamation or cultural pluralism approach.In Malaysia we are encouraged to utilize cultural pluralism approach. (c) Race and ethnicity (d) Learning styles diversity 193i. CHAPTER 7 l INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 193 Teacher have to help students from poor family to excel by motivat ing them to learn, give extra-class to help them catch up? with? the? other? students,? possibly? organizing? charity? work? to? earn? money? that? can? be? donated? to? the? poor? students.? Later,? teacher? can? also?