Diversity
STEM 202 Classroom Interactions

My LeADERS Diversity Course was STEM 202 Classroom Interactions in STEM. This course is specifically designed for secondary science and math preservice teachers. Some of the objectives of this class include:

• Discussing and critiquing multiple teaching models and the impact they have on the teacher, the students, and learning outcomes

• Observing and analyzing classroom instruction regarding equitable and diverse instructional approaches 

• Describing classroom management strategies for individual and group behaviors that develop a classroom environment that encourages and supports all learners. 

This course was a requirement for my major, but there are many reasons why I believe it is integral to the secondary STEM educator curriculum. First, this course addresses a wide spectrum of student diversity that teachers should be aware of in their classroom, such as ethnic diversity, socioeconomic status, LGBTQ+ awareness, and students with disabilities. Secondly, this course exposed me to research about some of the most popular teaching strategies so that I could be more aware of how different approaches to teaching may be beneficial or detrimental to student learning. Finally, this course provided experience in a high school classroom in my content area, biology, which allowed me to practice what I have learned in my undergraduate education program in my future career setting.

The field experience in this course involved me and my group, consisting of two other secondary biology education majors, observing a mentor teacher and teaching in the mentor teacher’s classroom. The schedule for these field experiences was an observation, a day to teach, two more observations, and then two consecutive days to teach. All experiences were spread out over the length of the semester. This schedule made the course unique in its ability to provide opportunities for reflection. The reflection was encouraged through the observation of a teacher in my field and by reflecting on the lessons I taught throughout the course. 

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By observing the mentor teacher of the classroom, I could analyze classroom instruction while considering what I had learned about equitable teaching practices and various approaches to teaching. I learned what I liked and disliked about certain approaches to teaching by watching someone else use them. By teaching the class myself, I had to consider how I wanted to incorporate equitable teaching practices into my lessons and decide which teaching approaches I wanted to use. I also had the opportunity to reflect on my teaching practices and adapt based on my reflections. I think this can best be seen in a reflection paper I wrote after my second and third observations of the mentor teacher, which I have chosen as my work sample for this course.