Cultural tenets aligned to the Curriculum in today's schools are important for successful student outcomes.A Teacher's perspective.

1. Core Values and the relation to cultural diversity in Schools: A Teacher’s Perspective:
Dr. Thora Williams.
Schools have an obligation to meet the needs and new demands of ethnically
pluralistic societies of today. Skills and abilities can be promoted and encouraged by
teaching diversity through literature of different genres associatedwith student’s cultures.
In my current work situation, I do not believe that I truly live out my core values of
diversity. Growing up in the Caribbean, race and culture were very evident in schools and
throughout communities. We were nurtured using cultural patterns and encounters
relevant to our society. However, living in the US as an immigrant those dimensions are
very different.
Students in a diverse society need to be taught using a variety of perspectives.
Naturally, instruction must go deeper than ethnicity, racism, and all the other “isms” felt
throughout society. Ultimately, the curricula is the place to begin, with emphasis on equity
and racial pride. These students need to be able to use their voices to talk about diversity
within the social constructs. I have always provided a platform to empower my students
with the view of appreciating and valuing diversity. They are encouraged to understand the
core values while encompassing the change with knowledge construction of cognitive,
affective, behavioral, and decision making skills. Unfortunately, factors exist that
sometimes separate children along traditional, racial, and cultural lines by observing the
adults in their environment. Recognizably, my lived out core values were not always met
with approval from others. My commitment in working to educate students on the
educational elements of diversity proved non-affective and meaningless at times.
Prejudice and racism can be very insular, and impacts children in subtle forms
which leads to discrimination. My biggest challenge extends to administration and other
stakeholders within the educational environment. I understand that ethical considerations
are necessary for justified decision making tenets relevant to pedagogical practices.
However, decisions are necessary based on ethical and logical principles unaffected by
personal intents and groups associatedwith schools. Understandably, schools definitely
have the ethical obligation to meet the demands of a culturally diverse society of children.
Questionably, teachers offer challenges with the refusal of professional development to help

2. them with the transfer of cultural pedagogy to the students. The educational community
must take seriously the idea of multiculturalism as an instructional tool, in order to avoid
the danger of wide spread racism and inequity within schools.