Diversity through 21 st Century Teaching and Learning

Select three of the five prompts below, and then discuss how the Framework for 21st Century
Learning (Links to an external site.) can be applied to each prompt using specific examples of
the actions you would take to apply the framework.
Reflect on ways in which you will choose culturally relevant curriculum and instructional
materials that recognize, incorporate, and reflect students’ heritage and the contributions
of various ethnic groups.
I will adopt culturally relevant teaching. I will be able to do this by possessing a thorough
knowledge of the content and employ one of the principles of Universal Learning designs
(UDL), multiple representations of knowledge. I will use different students’ lived experiences
and connect new knowledge to the community, home, and international settings. When
delivering instructional content, I will draw my examples from what students already know.
Thus, introducing new concepts will be built on concepts that students are familiar with to ensure
that they bridge the gap between their personal cultural knowledge and concepts and materials to
be mastered. Burnaford & Brown (2014) assert that if new information received by students is
not relevant to their frameworks of cognition and culture, then they will not remember it. Thus,
information must be culturally relevant to students for them to master it. I will implement a
culturally relevant pedagogy that will be aligned with high standards. For example, when
teaching symbolism in literature, I will first help students understand the connection between
their culture and symbols. I will give examples of symbols used in different cultures and ask

them to give different symbols from their own cultures. I will deliver instruction through a
cultural lens.
Discuss how you would differentiate instruction for the inclusion of various learning styles.
Differentiated instruction entails the “provision of various forms of curriculum and
instruction to meet the learning needs of individual students at different levels of ability and with
different learning styles” (Burnaford & Brown (2014). I will deliver differentiated instruction by
making rigorous attempts to meet students at their different levels depending on where they are
in the learning process. I will then move them along as far and as quickly as possible in the
context of an inclusive or mixed-ability classroom. I will promote a powerful and high-level
curriculum for all learners within my classroom. However, I will vary the scaffolding or support
provided to different students, and this will be mainly based on necessity. Some students will
move along on their own with little support; others, however, will require tailored instruction and
more support to progress. Also, I will vary the complexity of the tasks given to each student. The
pacing and avenues through which students will interact with content will be based n their
learning profiles, readiness as well as interests. Further, I will apply multiple means of
representation as well as engagement. I will provide learning content o=in different formats such
as in print, video, and audio formats. This will ensure that students interact with instructional
materials in the form that they prefer the most. Also, in terms of engagement, I will provide for
sustained engagement by introducing different learning activities that will help students
comprehend the instructional content. Overall, I will reflect on the different needs of the students
as well as the nature of the learning environment. I will then tailor my instruction in a manner
that is responsive to the variance that I will have identified while ensuring that I remain open to
changes and new ways of achieving set goals.

Reflect on ways in which you would modify instruction for special education students.
First, I will establish ways to connect brain research on special education students to the
school curriculum. Each student, even those with special needs, is unique. Their brains develop
and mature at different rates. As such, I will identify a range of developmental maturity and
develop different and specific schedules for curricular mastery. According to Burnaford &
Brown (2014), everybody on the same page on the same day makes little sense when dealing
with students. My main focus will be to accommodate the different learners with special needs
by allowing each to progress at their own pace. I will do this by supporting mastery learning. A
student who demonstrates mastery of a certain topic or concept moves forward to a new concept.
However, one who is yet to grasp or master content is given more time to process and
comprehend the information. Thus, I will accommodate different students by focusing on the
interests, strengths, and abilities of each student and harness them while providing tailored
support to each one of them. one of the 21 st -century skills is creativity (Framework for 21st-
century learning). I will support special education students by helping them tap into their
creativity skills and allow them to take charge of their own learning processes.

References

Burnaford, G., & Brown, T. (2014). Teaching and learning in 21st-century learning
environments: A reader. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
Framework for 21st-century learning.  (Links to an external site.)(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework