Reference no: EM133536832

Case Study: For this week's discussion, I am going to be speaking about my own work environment which is a private school for children with disabilities. I have been a substitute teacher and assistant here for the past 10 years. The school in which I work is VERY diverse when it comes to staff AND students.

We have students that come from all different parts of the world who have moved here, some to find better educational opportunities for their disabilities that their country does not offer. Students from Israel, Pakistan, India and more. Most of these students come from countries that do not offer medical nurses for them so that they can attend school or may not have the funds to provide assistance with their equipment that they might need, like walkers, or motorized wheelchairs.

Also, I work with a diverse group of staff. A Lot of our therapists are Jewish and come from all different countries. Some of our teachers are from England and Columbia and some other school staff are from Indian descent. There is a wide variety of nationalities in our school staff.

The best part of working in such a diverse atmosphere is that we all get along very well, help each other out with some language barriers that others may have, and are willing and able to learn about everyone's cultures! We even have "HERITAGE DAY" where staff members make a food dish from their country, and everyone tries each other's dishes. This also makes for a lot of communication afterwards which we learn a great deal about each other's cultures.

If I had to give advice on diversity, it is to really try and take part and understand other people's cultures, etc.

Questions:

• Comment on your classmate's organization and diversity practice. Offer some examples of how cultural norms, individual attitudes, and institutional policies play a role in interpersonal and intergroup relations.
• Share a different perspective than your classmate's. Explain why and how you see things differently.