On the journey to become an educator, I learned many aspects of multicultural education through various means. One of the top priorities of an educator falls in the realm of understanding the students I encounter and teach on a daily basis. Throughout the semester, I learned how to be an agent in delivering a multicultural education to my students. This was accomplished through various activities and presentations. Specifically, my development blossomed from participating in a digital autobiography project, watching a video from Dr. Christopher Emdin, and engaging in a presentation with Dr. James Moore. At the open of the semester, the class completed a digital autobiography project. In essence, it was a file with photographs and descriptions …show more content…
Christopher Emdin’s talk on Reality Pedagogy. According to Emdin, as an educator I should integrate equity and this concept of “reality pedagogy” into my classroom in order to develop an effective learning environment. This included integration of the “5 Cs,” which include the following: cogenerative dialogues, co-teaching, cosmopolitanism, context, and content, with the former involving developing a relationship with your students and the latter giving them the content. This is an important concept to mention, especially in terms of multicultural education. Because some groups get greater societal benefits than others due to race, ethnicity, gender, and so on, those not fitting in the dominant group tend to get left behind to suffer the consequences of their perceived circumstances (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013, p. 2). Dr. Emdin attempts to tackle this issue with his 5 Cs, where a class of students receive equitable options without the educator forcing the “savior mindset” and “white guilt” upon the students (Emdin, …show more content…
In Dr. James Moore’s presentation on Religion, Law, and Public Education, he described the key issues of religion and public education. In this description, he defined the First Amendment and how students have the “constitutional right to make offensive, radical, and controversial statements based on their religious views, political values, or any other basis, including hate speech,” (Moore, 2016). Because of this notion, the mention of homosexuality, slavery, and racism in negative lights are all topics which freedom of religion and speech protect (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013, p.262-265). Additionally, he explained the guidelines educators must follow in order to remain neutral and avoid conflict within the educational system, including the notion of neither promoting nor degrading any religion. Through this lecture, I learned that as a Social Studies educator I am able to teach about religion, but I cannot proselytize. Additionally, I learned that because I am a government employee, I am held to different standards than my student, their parents, and the general public, meaning that my actions can affect my ability to maintain my
Throughout history, there have been various perspectives of multicultural differences. According to Meriam Webster (n.d.), culture is “the beliefs, customs, arts, institutions, and the thoughts or products of a particular society or group.” Unfortunately, African Americans, Native Americans, Italians, Irish, Jews as well as various other cultural groups have been profoundly discriminated against and negatively stereotyped (Good Therapy org.). With the frequent mingling of cultures in educational settings, the workplace, and in the social arena, we are bound to encounter cultural differences.
Robles de Melendez, W. (2010). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
The multicultural movement in education is deeply rooted, and the movement as we know it today dates back to the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Stemming from the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) decision and out of the demand by ethnic groups to be included in public schools, colleges, and universities, the main thrust of the mo...
Separation of church and state is an issue in the forefront of people’s minds as some fight for their religious freedoms while others fight for their right to not be subjected to the religious beliefs of anybody else. Because public schools are government agencies they must operate under the same guidelines as any other government entity when it comes to religious expression and support, meaning they cannot endorse any specific religion nor can they encourage or require any religious practice. This issue becomes complicated when students exercise their right to free speech by expressing their religious beliefs in a school setting. An examination of First Amendment legal issues that arise when a student submits an essay and drawing of a religious
In her article “Beyond the Wall of Separation: Church-State in Public Schools”, Martha McCarthy, a Chancellor Professor and chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, makes it clear that her aim is to inform educators of the legal history and constitutional precedents of the Establishment clause and Free speech Clause of the First Amendment with an attached understanding of how educators should implement these findings. She summarizes and analyzes key Supreme Court rulings over the course of the 20th century as they pertain to religious expression in public schools. She clarifies the usage of both the Establishment Clause and the Free Speech Clause, including recent changes in trends that have been noted in the Supreme Court during the last decade. From the late 1940’s to the 1990’s most Supreme court rulings focused on the Establishment Clause to the increasing exclusion of the Free Speech Clause such that students were increasingly limited in the ways they were allowed to express themselves in school even in a private manner. In recent years, however, it has been noted that forcing students to suppress their religious expression is itself a religious statement and one that denies the role of religion in people’s lives. McCarthy notes that the public schools must take a neutral stand in relation to religion such that they do not defend or deny its role in people’s lives, either directly or indirectly.
Multicultural Education in the United States made its debut beginning with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s. Its intent was to become part of the cultural mainstream. The Civil Rights Movement brought to light the apparent concerns of discrimination, intimidation and inequality. During this period, pressure was placed on the Federal Government to examine their roles in the perseverance of inequalities when it came to Multicultural Education (Russell, Robert, The History of Multicultural Education, 2011). It can be compared to “Affirmative Action” where whites were asked to leave behind their own point of view and gain knowledge of the traditions of Multicultural groups (Taylor, Samuel. The Challenge of 'Multiculturalism' In How Americans View the Past and the Future, 2011).
The world is made up of many different types of people, each one having his or her cultural background. Over the years, the United States has become increasingly populated with cultural diversity. This influx has prompted school administrators to recognize the need to incorporate multicultural programs into their school environment including classroom settings, school wide activities, and curriculum as it becomes more evident that the benefits of teaching cultural diversity within the school setting will positively influence our communities, and ultimately the entire nation’s future. The purpose of this paper is to share the pros and cons of multicultural education in the classroom. Additionally, I will express my views compared to those in the reading requirements for this assignment, as well as, new knowledge obtained through the research. Finally, I will share situations where I was challenged introducing a multicultural issue during a class.
What is more important to education? The content or the how the content is taught? Many policy makers today believe that the former is far more crucial to the development of our youth. With high-stakes testing and an entire industry of textbooks and test making, the current system places empirical results over all else. Unfortunately, this approach only helps with the lower levels on the depths of knowledge (DOK) and Bloom’s Taxonomy charts. It only helps with basic recall of facts and knowledge. A second area of concern with this type of teaching is that only instills one point of view in the pupils. This is also problematic for diverse classrooms with students from various backgrounds. Would an approach that reinforces critical thinking and higher levels of DOK be more appropriate? A technique that incorporates the diversity of the classroom and life experiences of those students can be explained by Christopher Emdin and Django Paris who are two advocates of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy or Reality Pedagogy.
John Searle addresses the “major debate… going on at present concerning… a crisis in the teaching of the humanities.” [Searle, 106] He goes on to defend the canon of works by dead white males that has traditionally made up the curriculum of liberal arts education. I disagree with many of his arguments, and believe that multiculturalism should be taught in the university, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Openmindedness will take much more than just minimal changes in curriculum. In order for works by different races and women to be judged and studied alongside works by white men, they have to be seen as equal to works by white men. They have to be studied for their literary content, not for the statement they make about feminism or race. We don’t just need to evaluate them by the same standards, we need to change the standards. The standards set by the traditional liberal arts education have been set by white males and are inherently biased. New standards need to be set that are as openminded as we want students to be. This is a trend that needs to be started way before college. A diverse curriculum should be taught throughout a person’s education, because that is what will produce well rounded, openminded individuals that will change the tradition of oppression in society.
They suggested that teachers needed to go beyond practicing multiculturalism in the classroom, they need to embrace it as a modicum of everyday life and find ways to get involved in organizations and events that encourage social justice. The techniques suggested by the authors were realistic and easy to implement in the classroom. The authors acknowledge that though white educators will experience some difficulties in teaching cross-cultural courses, these difficulties should not discourage them from teaching multicultural content. This article should be a required reading for all multicultural courses because it can provide a sense of enlightenment for all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds. It exposed some of the trials and tribulations that white professors’ experience, and even acknowledges some of the thoughts that I would have as a black student being taught by a white professor. I think having this article as a required reading will impact white students by making them consciously aware of their white privilege and will influence them to explore it and their racial identity. For students of other ethnic backgrounds, it will help us to better understand the perspective of white people, and teach us how to better communicate with them so that they too may understand our
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.
I can identify with the multicultural concept of the classroom because I am African American, a woman, and a soon to be a teacher. This subject is one that is of extreme importance. The multicultural classroom is a learning environment that should be most effective because of the simple fact that it should encompass everyone. As a future teacher one of my goals for my classroom is to make it as diverse as possible. Not only because it should be a standard operating procedure, but because I feel students will be able to learn more effectively in an environment where they feel that their heritage is included.
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then expect students of other social classes and cultures to change perspectives on motivation and competition, learning styles, and attitudes and values that their homes and families have instilled in them (Manning & Baruth, 2009).