| Course Description |
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EDUC 544
Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity in a Pluralistic Society
Units: 3
The focus of this course is a reflective examination of several variables
affecting educational success and failure for students who are linguistically,
culturally, and economically different, as well as the special needs students.
These variables include ethnicity, race, religion, exceptionality, language,
socio-economic status, geographical region, and sexual orientation issues.
It addresses the school’s cultural format of an educational setting, and the
social forces in the wider community, all of which impact students’ ability
to learn. Teacher candidates develop ways to uncover more aspects of
cultural diversity among their students and evaluate culturally appropriate
response strategies that enhance learning opportunities. The underlying
assumption of the course is that the achievement of equity and maintenance
of cultural diversity in pluralistic democracies are not only desirable goals,
but also necessary for political unity, social stability, and sustained
economic development.