1. Running
Head:
HUMAN
DIVERSITY
PROJECT
1
Human
Diversity
Project
Whitney
R.
York
Murray
State
University
2. HUMAN
DIVERSITY
PROJECT
2
One
of
the
most
educationally
profound
experiences
I’ve
ever
had
the
privilege
of
participating
in
was
the
Belize
student
teaching
experience.
After
years
of
studying
education
and
attending,
observing,
and
teaching
in
schools
in
Illinois
and
Kentucky,
making
the
transition
to
a
school
in
Central
America
was
certainly
an
eye
opening
experience.
We
are
very
much
accustomed
to
our
own
culture
and
education
system
and
often
participate
in
it
without
question
about
whether
the
basis
for
the
entire
system
is
effective
or
has
the
potential
to
change.
This
experience
taught
me
that
not
only
is
our
system
unique,
and
of
course
somewhat
flawed,
but
there
is
a
great
deal
more
that
goes
into
a
school
system
than
the
curriculum
and
the
teachers.
Through
more
careful
examination
of
the
community
and
culture,
school
system
itself,
and
my
classroom
experience
I’ve
had
the
opportunity
to
reflect
on
how
this
experience
continues
to
affect
me
as
a
teacher
almost
two
years
later.
Belize
is
a
small
country
located
in
Central
America
bordered
by
Mexico
and
Guatemala.
Rich
in
Mayan
culture
and
a
former
British
colony
the
culture
of
Belize
is
extremely
varied.
Although
the
official
language
is
English,
many
residents
speak
Spanish,
Kriole,
or
a
mix
of
languages.
The
local
economy
is
dominated
by
agriculture
and
tourism
due
in
large
part
to
the
climate
and
various
historical
and
natural
sites.
It
took
a
little
while
for
me
to
fully
understand
just
how
different
the
school
system
of
Belize
was
due
in
large
part
to
the
industries
located
in
the
country.
We
prepare
students
for
all
types
of
jobs
from
doctors,
to
lawyers,
to
farmers,
to
mechanics.
Belize
however,
tends
to
focus
students
in
tracks
based
on
their
interests
in
future
careers.
Even
the
curriculum
is
extremely
different
from
ours
in
similar
subjects
to
reflect
the
need
for
focus
on
local
industries.
Overall
though,
education
is
considered
extremely
important
to
Belizeans
and
they
have
a
great
deal
to
be
proud
of.
3. HUMAN
DIVERSITY
PROJECT
3
I
had
the
privilege
of
working
with
two
teachers
in
the
business
department
of
Corozal
Community
College,
the
equivalent
of
our
high
school
grades.
Here,
students
are
organized
into
four
forms
or
grade
levels.
Forms
one
and
two
offer
students
a
general
curriculum
in
areas
one
would
expect:
English,
Math,
Social
Studies,
Science,
Spanish,
Technology,
PE,
Life
Skills,
and
Home
Economics
or
Music.
Forms
three
and
four
are
then
specialized
based
on
students
interests
or
future
goals.
There
are
three
options:
general,
academic,
and
business.
From
what
I
gathered
the
general
curriculum
is
the
most
basic,
academic
is
focused
on
students
who
are
looking
to
pursue
further
education,
and
business
is
for
students
interested
in
the
business
world
in
some
capacity.
Students
stay
with
their
class
or
form
for
the
entire
year.
So
for
instance
the
3B2
class
is
one
of
the
business
‘homerooms’
in
the
3rd
form,
and
those
20-‐30
students
will
be
together
the
entire
year
for
every
class
of
their
day.
Besides
the
organization
of
classes,
the
other
glaring
difference
between
their
school
system
and
ours
was
the
organization
of
teachers
and
their
schedules.
I
taught
in
the
business
department
so
I
will
use
that
area
as
an
example.
There
were
five
specific
business
teachers
responsible
for
teaching
overall
sixteen
classes.
A
teacher
usually
focused
on
one
or
two
of
the
classes
but
might
teach
to
both
the
3rd
and
4th
form.
Their
schedules
varied
from
day
to
day,
sometimes
teaching
classes
for
one
period
and
sometimes
for
two,
or
about
80
minutes.
In
between
teaching,
teachers
had
wide
gaps
of
time
for
planning,
grading,
and
work.
By
wide
gaps,
I
mean
that
some
days
teachers
had
only
two
or
three
class
periods
to
teach
and
spend
the
rest
of
the
day
working.
For
me
the
biggest
shocker
was
the
fact
that
teachers
don’t
have
their
own
classroom.
Instead
the
3B2
class
had
it’s
own
classroom,
and
teachers
traveled
to
the
different
classes
as
4. HUMAN
DIVERSITY
PROJECT
4
their
schedule
required.
In
their
‘off’
time,
all
the
teachers
occupied
one
large
room
overflowing
with
desks.
Homerooms
or
classes
of
students
were
solely
responsible
for
maintaining
their
classroom
throughout
the
day,
which
involved
cleaning
the
boards
off,
sweeping,
straightening
desks,
and
locking
the
room
when
they
left
the
classroom.
Overall
it
was
quite
a
different
organizational
system
than
anything
I
had
the
chance
to
work
with
in
Kentucky.
The
stark
differences
in
our
educational
system
continued
inside
the
classroom,
after
I
hiked
over
to
the
building
I
was
teaching
in.
The
only
materials
I
had
to
teach
with
were
a
textbook
and
a
chalkboard.
Day
one
I
observed
both
of
my
‘supervising’
teachers
in
their
classroom,
and
by
day
two
I
was
teaching
alone.
Students
were
more
than
respectful
and
compliant
with
my
instructions
and
extremely
attentive
to
the
material
they
were
learning.
Perhaps
the
hardest
roadblock
in
the
classroom
was
the
fact
that
although
student
spoke
English
they
could
also
speak
a
mix
and
variety
of
other
languages,
which
they
used
frequently
in
their
informal
conversations.
I
of
course,
had
no
clue
as
to
what
they
were
saying
and
immediately
my
classroom
management
education
had
to
kick
in
to
manage
these
new
situations.
Overall,
most
students
seemed
motivated
to
do
well
in
their
classes
and
had
some
sort
of
career
goal
in
mind
for
when
they
finished
school.
So
how
did
this
experience
affect
my
current
teaching
practices
and
views
on
education?
There
are
still
times
when
I’m
teaching
when
I
flash
back
to
that
month
long
experience
and
remember
the
lessons
I
learned.
First
and
foremost,
quite
possibly
the
biggest
shock
to
me
was
the
lack
of
materials
and
the
methods
that
teachers
had
to
present
materials.
In
Kentucky
an
overhead
projector
would
be
outdated,
but
in
Belize
I
just
kept
breaking
piece
after
piece
of
chalk.
During
my
student
teaching
placement
at
Murray
High
5. HUMAN
DIVERSITY
PROJECT
5
School
I
solely
taught
computer
classes.
My
classroom
had
30
computers;
I
had
a
projector,
SMART
Slate,
and
the
latest
software
to
monitor
student
computers.
Needless
to
say
it
was
quite
an
adjustment
for
me
to
have
to
focus
more
on
what
I
was
saying,
learn
to
write
quickly,
and
use
the
limited
poster
paper
to
make
models
and
examples.
I
also
still
reflect
a
great
deal
on
the
culture
that
their
educational
system
was
born
out
of.
In
America
I
don’t
feel
that
we
really
look
enough
at
the
needs
for
our
society
and
communities.
Even
now
we
continue
to
standardize
education
across
large
areas
when
the
needs
for
certain
occupations
vary
greatly
from
region
to
region.
In
Belize
that
focus
was
clear
and
straightforward,
and
students
simply
didn’t
take
classes
that
weren’t
going
to
be
useful
to
their
futures.
In
addition
it
was
evident
that
their
culture
valued
education
greatly
and
both
students
and
teachers
took
pride
in
the
work
they
were
doing.
I’m
not
sure
I
can
even
narrow
down
specific
things
that
this
experience
taught
me
as
it
was
such
an
intense
overall
experience.
However,
broadly
what
being
thrown
into
a
classroom
in
a
foreign
country
taught
me
was
that
the
premise
of
education
is
the
same
no
matter
where
you
go.
A
community’s
children
need
skills
and
knowledge
in
order
to
‘succeed’,
and
more
importantly
become
productive
members
of
the
society.
If
the
adult
members
of
the
community
don’t
take
the
responsibility
for
creating
an
environment
in
which
these
children
can
achieve
these
goals
then
the
entire
community
has
failed.
Do
we
take
enough
responsibility
for
the
education
of
all
students
in
our
community?
Do
we
meet
the
needs
of
all
students?
We
don’t
need
to
be
ranked
number
one
to
achieve
these
goals,
as
Belize
proves,
but
we
do
need
collective
understanding
and
drive
to
make
the
system
as
effective
as
it
can
be.
