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Education and diversity
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With the concept of multicultural education programs becoming more popular, educators are seeking new ways to present diversity into their school community, classrooms, and lesson plans. According to Birkel (2000), multicultural education is, first of all, education concerned with the teaching/learning processes and the acceptance and appreciation of diversity. Culturally relevant teaching practices give students the opportunity to learn in ways that are affirming, validating, and connected to their interests and backgrounds (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Effective lesson plans need to be designed objectively with consideration to all learners and their various differences.
Educators that have developed an appreciation for diversity will approach teaching with lessons that consider such differences as race, gender, social and economic status, languages, and disabilities. Furthermore, school leaders that understand the importance of multicultural education realize its effects on the learning outcome for all students. It is the school’s responsibility to develop an understanding of each learner and to base teaching and learning experiences on reliable and objective information (Manning & Baruth, 2009).
Classroom material and school wide activities that are nondiscriminatory will help students have a better understanding of the individual differences in each other. Furthermore, multicultural education can provide students with a stronger sense of acceptance within the school community; promoting better self- esteem and higher achievement throughout their school years. Richards, Brown, & Forde (2007) point out that culturally responsive pedagogy recognizes and utilizes the students' culture and language in instruction, an...
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... again checking their participation during the collaborated collage activity. 25% of the total grade will be given based on their group activity and oral presentation. And finally, 50% of their grade will be based on the quality and understanding of concepts that were shared in their written homework assignment.
Works Cited
Birkel, L. F. (2000). Multicultural education: It is education first of all. Teacher Educator, 36(1), 23-28.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., & Forde, T. B. (2007). Addressing diversity in schools: Culturally responsive pedagogy. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 39(3), 64-68.
Robles de Melendez, W. (2010). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Culturally responsive teaching is very important in today’s day and age. Classrooms are filled with students from different backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. Teachers need to put into consideration those differences when building curriculum and creating a classroom atmosphere. Subcultures might also need to be considered when teaching, such as the culture of the disabled. The culture of students with disabilities is one that may appear within many classrooms due to the increase of students with disabilities. Teachers who are able to maintain a culturally responsive classroom and curriculum will provide ideal learning opportunities for all students and encourage them to succeed. (Darrow, 2013)
Baruth, Leroy G., and M. Lee Manning, eds. Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 1992.
Richards, H., V., Brown, A., F., Forde, T., B. (2006). Addressing diversity in schools: culturally responsive pedagogy. Retreived March 30th 2014from http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
It is rare that any two-classroom teachers will have the same definition for multicultural education. “The basic goal of multicultural education is to help all children understand and appreciate events and people from various points of view” (Welton, 113). Teaching with a multicultural perspective encourages appreciation and understanding of other cultures as well as one’s own. Rey Gomez states that teaching with this perspective promotes the child’s sense of the uniqueness of his own culture as a positive characteristic and enables the child to accept the uniqueness of the cultures of others.
Teachers with an awareness of cultural diversity are better equipped to adopt culturally responsive teaching practices to meet the needs of diverse students. Furthermore, culturally responsive teachers support learning for all students regardless of race, socioeconomic status, disability, or gender. More students in all walks of life and all ages are into online learning. Cultural competence is critical in both online and classroom environments. Without cultural competence, teachers cannot teach the diverse students effectively.
America is a multicultural society that is compiled of many ethnicities and cultural orientations. With the different backgrounds, it can sometimes be a task to incorporate each culture in the classroom. It is the teachers’ responsibility to make his or her classroom a multicultural environment for their students to broaden their horizons. Many may think
Manning, L.M. & Barruth, L.G. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
The world is currently undergoing a cultural change, and we live in an increasingly diverse society. This change is not only affect the people in the community but also affect the way education is viewed. Teaching diversity in the classroom and focusing multicultural activities in the programs can help improve positive social behavior in children. There is no question that the education must be prepared to embrace the diversity and to teach an increasingly diverse population of young children.
Banks, J., and McGee, C. A. (Eds.). (1989). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
The concepts included in providing a more diverse, multicultural education are requiring teachers to review their own issues and prejudices while expanding their knowledge of the many cultures that make up the classroom. These efforts help the educator recognize the various individual and cultural differences of each student, as well as gain an understanding on how these differences impact the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon individual and cultural difference research and why diverse students struggle to succeed in school. Furthermore, I will share some instructional approaches I could implement in the classroom to accommodate diverse students. Finally, I will discuss the responsibility of educators in addressing the issue of how our o...
In conducting her research, the author understood that she needed to describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In reading Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Issues in Education (2010), s...