By Ian G. Morrris

Understanding Change According to statistics, by 2020 students of color will

make up nearly half (46%) of the nation’s school-age youth.

According to Newburgh school district our demographics are truly diversified—31% African American, 35% Latino American 2% Asian Amer, 32% white.

It is important that all members of our society develop multicultural literacy.

I propose to create a class related specifically to multicultural topics and themes.

Why? Having a class geared specifically toward cultural

issues will motivate other teachers and students to implement more diversity into the school-wide curriculum.

Creating a required course that highlights diversity will help our school shape a consensus that celebrates a multicultural atmosphere.

The curriculum should reflect the people we serve. While we have classes devoted to the study of specific

ethnicities, having a required “Culture and Diversity” class will make sure our students are prepared to function in a diversified workplace

Having students engaged in reflective thinking about cultural issues will better prepare them to engage others in a meaningful way.

Making sure that our curriculum is diversified is that best way to ensure our students build the analytical skills they need.

State Policy-- Needs Change. Regents exam reveals consistently that most questions

on the test fail to address multicultural themes.

For example not one (1) question about Latino Americans has been added to the Regents in the past 6 years.

Due to the consistency of the questions asked on the Regents, teachers may exclude multicultural themes from the curriculum to cover topics on the Regents.

Making sure students learn about multiculturalism is a motive of this course.

Agents of Change. Taking a course about multicultural issues help

students to approach issues of controversy that enhance democratic practice, and the pursuance of academic freedom.

Reflective thinking about issues in multiculturalism enhance higher order thinking, and has the capacity to dispel faulty misconceptions before they turn to prejudice.

Participants who engage in controversial issues are well positioned to become agents of change.

Guidelines for CourseObjectives: Methods

Examine how social identity affects beliefs and behaviors.

Examine organized religion and its effects on cultural beliefs and behaviors.

Acknowledge that minority cultures represented within a dominant culture can experience identity conflict.

Acquire knowledge of diverse identity groups.

Guest Speaker

Debate

Student led discussions

Feature length film

Ritual reenactment

Student presentation

Cooperative group research

Inquiry based activities

Field Trip cultural studies.

Content Into to cultural study

Native Americans

African Americans

Latinos

Jewish Americans

Arab Americans

Asian Americans

People w/ disabillties

Lesbian and Gay people

Emphasizing student-centered learning will be a priority in this course.

For example, if a student’s origins are from Puerto Rico, incorporating a related theme about this territory will be encouraged.

Self-Directed Learning.

Costs Most of the money will go to teachers.

In order for our whole student body to take this course, about 26 half year course will have to be instituted for the graduating class of 800 students.

Which means if a teacher were to teach 5 classes a day, we would need about 5 teachers.

Paying 5 teachers a yearly salary would be estimated at about 200,000 dollars in base pay, plus other expenses including benefits.

Other Supplies Buying some books to facilitate the course will be

anticipated.

For example the book “A House of Mange Street” by Sandra Ciserneros cost about $12, and buying books for a class of about 800 will cost about $9600. However making this class a ½ year course will cut this cost in half.

Using poetry, writing, and articles from the internet will have to suffice if proper funds can’t be raised.

Other Options Another option would be to implement this course as

an elective, to test how our school and students react to it.

This would cut the costs, and give administration and other teachers a chance to assess the effectiveness of such a course.

Making copies of various books on copiers can cut the cost of supplies.

References Gaudelli, W. (2001) Reflections on multicultural education:

a teacher’s experience. Multicultural Education. 8. 35-37.

Leiding D. (2007). Planning multicultural lessons. Principal Leadership. 8 48-51.

Maesrti, M. (2006). The myth of a multicultural curriculum: an analysis of new york state u.s. history regents. The History Teacher 39. 381-402.

National Council for Social Studies. (1991). Curriculum guideline for multicultural education. Available from http://www.social studies.org/positions/multicultural.