How can understanding demographics help us better understand teaching and learning?

Before taking this class I never really thought demographics were important for teachers. You go to school, you teach what you have to teach, and the kids learn it. After reading the Hodgkinson article and listening to our in class discussion I realized I was completely and totally wrong. Demographics helps a person know who the kids are you will be teaching. They let a person know where these kids are coming from, what language is their main language, what is their family's income, and maybe what their family background is like. Demographics help a teacher prepare for the classes they will be teaching. A teacher has to be prepared based on the area they will be teaching in. Demographics can help a teacher develop lesson plans and activities that can benefit the types of kids they will be teaching. Certain kids from a certain area might not learn or relate to things the way kids from a different area relate to them.

Even though Demographics can help tremendously, they cannot prepare a teacher completely. When it comes down to it, demographics can help a person understand the area they will be teaching in, but they cannot let a teacher experience the exact kids they will be teaching before they actually start teaching them. A teacher can have an idea of what might be a good way to teach something, but I feel that they never really know for sure until they get into the classroom with the actual class. It is not exactly easy to teach in today's world, especially where we live. There are many places where the classroom will be filled with 20-30 kids, all from a different background and with different needs. To me there is no real easy way of teaching. Things like demographics though can help a teacher prepare as well as they possibly can for the school they will be teaching in, but until they actually step foot into the classroom they will not have a completely clear picture of what it will be like.