Inquiry for All Children

When I think about the article “Inquiry for All Children,” I can see how it relates to my field placement which is in a very ethnically diverse classroom. A quote from the article that I think is very important to consider is when the authors discuss “science for all.” “Being different carries liabilities. The price of being different may be exclusion from social groups at school and prejudiced treatment from those who appear not to be different. Cultural differences can contribute to the difficulties and problems of schoolchildren. The principles of cultural diversity and equity can help us meet the needs of all children” (Kruger & Sutton, 2001). I think that these issues are very important to consider when teaching not only science, but all subject areas. My placement class is made up of African American, Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian students, so this classroom is a place where “differences” must be considered. Reflecting upon my experience in this classroom this entire year, I have not seen prejudice, which is a very positive thing! My concern however is that this might be because the students are so young, and do not yet thing about these prejudices. The good this however is that because the students are so young and probably do not yet consider prejudice, we as future teachers can use this opportunity to teach students to be accepting of others.
One sort of difference that I have seen in terms of science is students prior knowledge. It seems like the same students have had more experiences than others. For example, the same few students have had experience recycling as have had first hand experiences planting seeds at home. This could be for a number of reasons including economic reasons, parental knowledge of these science topics, or maybe even cultural differences and beliefs. What I think is important though, is to make sure as a future teacher that I give all of my students these experiences at school. I am happy that as of right now at the kindergarten level, I have not seen girls lacking in interest compared to the males in the class. I hope this is something that continues as these students continue their education. Certain female students who might come from strong, culturally traditional homes, might be discouraged to take an interest in science at home. I think that it is important to be respectful of these differences, but to provide plenty of science learning opportunities in the classroom for students who may not get them outside of school. Also, from the videos last week and from the “Inquiry for All Children” article, I agree that it is important to give ESL students many different kinds of experiences, especially hands on, so that if they do not understand something one way, hopefully they will understand it in another way. Probably the most important thing that I remember from this article about ESL students is “I do and I understand.” “All three learning approaches- hearing, seeing, and doing-are important, especially when all five senses are stimulated. Combined approaches provide better opportunities for understanding than a single approach” (Martin, 240.)