One day I’m going to be a teacher. A white, male, American-born teacher. One who was born and raised in North Dakota. Naturally, my upbringing hasn’t given me much of an opportunity to get to know very many people of differing race and culture. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know more in college but, unfortunately, I have never taken the opportunity. I’ve gotten to know some in classes, but as soon as the class is over, they basically become another person that I give a casual head nod or a quick “Hey,” when passing them in the halls. I can honestly say that I don’t know how my race and culture will fit into that of another person when that other person is one of my students in the classroom. I suppose it depends on the identity of the …show more content…
This is something that I would like to do in my classroom. I would like to bring up a topic in the news each day and discuss what’s happening and why. I can get the students to think about people of other cultures and come up with ideas that they think would resolve the issue at hand. Then I could try to apply it to the lesson for the day. The students would have an interest built up because of the relation to the current event as well as a reference to help them understand the lesson. Another idea I had, and I think is a great idea for a biology class, would be to teach the genetics behind race (there are none, which is the point). Talking about the lack of genetics behind race, I believe, would not only help them understand that there’s no place to think that people of any race are genetically better or worse than anyone, but would also convey to them that other people’s races and cultures need to be …show more content…
Knowing they exist and having students from different cultures is not enough. That will make a school diverse, but not multicultural. The first thing a school needs to be multicultural is a staff that has knowledge of multiculturalism. I think this is where the discussion usually ends because a lot of schools probably don’t have this. My high school was almost completely staffed with white teachers. A school isn’t going to let go of a bunch of teachers just to bring in new teachers who have knowledge of multiculturalism. Nor should they. Instead, they could slowly bring in more multicultural teachers as other teacher leave for other jobs or retirement. Maybe they could discuss multiculturalism and have the teachers take a class on it. Even just a little improvement is still a step in the right
The Multicultural Education reform movement was designed to bring about a transformation of schools in order to provide an equal chance at success for all genders, cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. The movement required a variety of changes of the schools, including school policies, instructional materials, attitudes, assessment methods, and teaching styles. It is important that all major components of schools be changed in order to create a multicultural environment rather than only changing one or two components and expecting such a major change.
Students from a different culture may learn differently than other students, and it is up to us as educators to discover this and learn with them. Some might argue that students should be the ones who adapt to school and should just learn what they are given. I would argue that students who come from a different background or different culture might have different behavioral or learning patters that I would need to acknowledge in order to teach them effectively. As teachers we must be willing to reach out and learn from our students rather than have them learn from us. Communication is key in education and learning about your student’s background and culture will provide a huge benefit into figuring out how to help culturally diverse students learn effectively. I believe that the more open we are as educators to diverse students, the more they will open up to u...
I do believe that to stop the cultural divide it will begin with me being the teacher. If my students see that I am treating other students different based on who they are or I am allowing students to feel uncomfortable, then they wouldn’t want to work together to look past those differences as well. I have to be the model for my students for them to understand that it is important for us not be separated and to accept people for who they are. If students see that I am interacting with someone in another culture, then they will start to do so as well and they wouldn’t see anything wrong with it interacting with others. For example, if my students are seeing me interacting with a student who is white with me being black, then other students in the classroom that are colored will see that their is nothing wrong with interacting with people who are a different race than
I will always use different learning styles. Also, I will not “favorite” a certain race or ethnicity. I will involve my students in creating a diverse classroom by them always questioning, “Is this fair?” “Should we judge based off of race or language?” In my classroom, my students will be challenged to do one of two tasks. The first task will be to research the different races, ethnicities, religions, language, or social class and why it is important to represent diversity or acceptance. The second task will be to research the different issues in schools when diversity was not represented in a classroom. The students will be given the resources to complete one of the following tasks each week. The resources will include books and several websites. It is important for students to understand the different cultures within the United States. By the students understanding the many different cultures could help them be more accepting and not judge a person based on their race, language, religion, or any other culture identification. Diversity in a classroom is important. Both teachers and students should value and respect the different cultures. A teacher should represent positivity towards the diversity in the classroom. Teachers are role models for their students and they should not in any shape or form not accept a student because of their race, gender, nationality, or language. In my
Gaining knowledge is the key to everything. You'll learn all the cultures and ethnicity of different people you meet. So far I’ve met a Christian Asian mixed with African American and an African American that has a White Grandfather. It’s interesting that you can learn things from different
During my observations at “Don’t Worry Childcare”, I realized a great amount of multicultural practices. For starters, I observed the preschoolers say hello and good morning every day in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. During circle time, the teacher says, “Okay can someone raise their hand and tell me how to say good morning in German?” I have seen each and every child say good morning in those languages. Not only have I seen the children say good morning and hello in other languages, the teacher taught them how to sing the days of the week in Spanish. I observed the children count to ten in German. The use of other languages is not the only reason why the preschool class is multicultural. The baby dolls are all different races. There are a few African American dolls, Caucasian dolls, and even a Chinese doll. Hung up on the walls are pictures of Indians, African Americans, and Caucasians. I noticed a child reading a book that taught sign language. The use of multicultural practices is beneficial for a child’s emotional well-being. I believe the
As an educator, it is important for me to address diversity with a positive attitude, and not allow any bias I may have to hinder my ability to teach children to accept one another. According to Wardle (n.d.), children need concrete experiences in order to learn about themselves and others,
The areas of diversity that I am most comfortable with are (e.g. race, gender, etc.)
Multicultural education refers to a form of education that incorporates and teaches the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds. At the classroom level, for example, teachers may modify or incorporate lessons to reflect the cultural diversity of the students in a particular class. I define multicultural education as the process that permits students to express their individuality and embrace their culture in a classroom setting. This past semester, I had the privilege of working in a multicultural classroom at Multicultural Magnet School in Bridgeport, CT. Through this, I witnessed Mrs. S apply all aspects of school practices, policies, and organization as a means to ensure the highest
Diversity in classrooms is both positive and negative. However, if teachers are provided with the right resources and keep a open mind, their students can become successful civil human beings.
The thing about multicultural education that surprised me the most was how much opposition there is to multicultural education. I would think, by now, people would be able to see how unbalanced the current educational curriculum is and welcome the inclusion of aspects from other cultures. I have read arguments ranging from, multicultural education is inherently racist to multicultural education promotes Islam and is indoctrinating our youth with terrorist ideas. Like most hot button issues in this country, people in positions of power will use everything possible, including fear-mongering, to further their agenda.
Though it can be prevented, students at a primary school level are known to less likely to see race and gender as something inferior. Students also accept what is being taught without formulating personal opinions or political views. According to the Census Bureau, “by the year 2100, the U.S. minority population will become the majority with non-Hispanic whites making up only 40% of the U.S. population” (“How important is cultural diversity at your school?”). It is crucial for students to develop cultural awareness and are engaging in the acts of citizenship, not only within schools and surrounding areas but as active members of the global community. Students being culturally aware comes central when interacting with individuals out of the norm. Also, influencing global awareness leading to a better perspective and relations towards one another generating tranquility
Whether a student is black, white, emotionally disturbed or gifted and talented they all have individual wants and needs. It is the teacher’s responsibility to develop connections and build relationships with each of their students, regardless of any “labels”. In other words, truly knowing your student is the most relevant pedagogy for promoting a culturally competent classroom.
I usually begin the first class with an introduction about myself and my cultural background and I ask the student to do the same and that’s enabled me and my student to gain information about the cultural background of others, and the diversity of experience in the classroom.
The world was once made up of black and white nations. The color of one’s skin was an indication of where someone came from. This was most likely the scenario of the world, at the very least, a hundred years ago. Racism was rampant and very public throughout the world, but now racism is not as transparent especially in the United States. For this reason people must become more open and attuned to different attitudes held by individuals. One area where racism should be looked at is in classrooms. It is well documented that people have preferences or cognitive preferences without even realizing it. A teacher therefore, has extremely powerful ability to not only give certain children preferences but also treat students different with or without realizing it themselves. At an early age of six children of exposed to this and will likely in turn mimic these behaviors. Schools have rampant discrimination tendencies throughout The United States however this does not have to be the case there must be solutions for Teachers and students a like to become more aware of discriminatory actions and to at least limit these action by becoming aware of them.