Terrilyn H.

Ladd
AT Department Lead Teacher/2 years
Activity: Mentor AT Teacher to Work with Families of Diverse Backgrounds ( G. g. )


In partial fulfillment of our Climate and Diversity class, we had to do a project on a diversity issue that
could occur in a school. Because I work in the Assistive Technology Department, I decided to mentor an AT teacher
that was having some difficulty interacting with students and parents from culturally different backgrounds.
1. We conferenced about some of the cultural differences that might be noticed.
2. We talked about how we needed to be sensitive to their needs.
3. We talked about how we could be respectful of their cultural differences.
4. We talked about inappropriate labels and comments that we have observed.

Some examples of cultural differences noted:
1. Religions and Denominations
2. Religious Holiday observations
3. Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds relate differently to certain curriculum
aspects than students from middle and high socio-economic backgrounds
4. Body language perceived differently by different cultures
5. Vocal tone when speaking perceived differently by different cultures
6. Languages and Dialects
7. Consider the disability of the students and manifestations of their disability.

PD Plan to help AT teacher interact with students and parents more sensitively:
1. Multicultural education: Teachers should receive sensitivity training on interacting &
educating children of multicultural populations.
2. Communicate with the parents of students that prohibit celebrations of holidays. There
can be creative alternatives that your student can engage in while the rest of the class is
participating in an activity that is not approved by this students religion. This is
particularly important in a classroom setting.
3. Include students with disabilities into the regular classroom setting to the greatest extent possible.
Provide opportunities for typical peers to model appropriate skills to students with disabilities
(SWD). Students with disabilities can showcase theirs strengths.
4. Consider what technology we could provide to the SWD that would make inclusion for a
longer length of time possible.

What went well?
The teacher was quite receptive to the goals and recommendations. She did not previously know that she
was speaking inappropriately until it was brought to her attention. She stated that she was brought up in a
family with money and did not realize that students could not relate to what she was saying. She agreed
to go to sensitivity training/class and she did complete some webinars online that appeared to help her. The
AT teacher now thinks twice about what she should say or how she should act when interacting with
students and parents that are different than she is.
What did not go well?
Initially, when approached, the AT teacher was embarrassed about a comment that she was heard saying.
Her reaction was to cry and ask if she could bury her head in the sand. We are unable to problem-solve if
we ignore the problem. She was able to better understand how a parent felt when she made an inappropriate
comment.
If given the chance to do it all over again, I would have some type of sensitivity training activities. I did not
realize that I would have to deal with someone from my team being culturally insensitive. I do not think it
was intentional but it was something that needed to be addressed. I was disappointed in the teachers
actions but I feel that when she was trained to do better, she reacted better.