After being in my grade 1/2 classroom full time after my short practicum, I can clearly see every student has their own struggle. Students struggle with medical, family, language and culture.

The first perspective that I bring to the classroom is my own immigrant experience and the challenges I faced as a primary student going to school in Canada. I was facing cultural, language, integration issues. I was probably a diverse learner and did not get support from my teacher, principal or the educational system. I did not know better at the time and my teacher should have reached out to help me but she didn’t. However, I was also shy, and so I struggled internally. Now in my practicum, I see myself in these young students from another cultural background (immigrants); thus I can relate in that sense. I want to create and help my students to foster a positive environment so they can thrive.

The other perspective I bring to my inquiry is family and learning difficulties.  Being born in a biracial household it is a blessing and a struggle at the same time with cultural differences.  During my primary years, I struggle to understand why some of my classmates didn’t understand Sesame Street and why I didn’t understand the Doraemon (cartoon) they were obsessed about and our teacher did not explain, but rather let it fall into the black hole of the unknown.  I realized much later in life that we didn’t all grow up the same way nor were we exposed to the same things.  Taking this education program at UBC further affirmed this reasoning. What I’ve learned is that people come with different funds of knowledge and are exposed to different iconic things in their culture.  My relative was also struggling with learning difficulties and his teacher made it his parents’ problem and not theirs.

Coming into this field as a Teacher Candidate, I have been exposed to a variety of workshops, theories, methodologies, concepts and ideas to tackle complex issues for diverse learners or learners with different abilities.  We’ve discussed differentiation and adaptations for lesson plans for diverse or ELL learners.  But do I only provide support in academics?  Should I as an educator also value the environment of my learners?  Should I consider what’s beneficial or may help them with their learning outcomes?

If I want my teaching to be holistic, I think it’s relevant to consider all aspects of the positive and the benefit that can go beyond academic outcomes. I want to further research and find ways and learn how to set up my classroom and my teaching style to help diverse learners because I know I will always be faced with different kinds of diversity each year.