Diversity and Culture in Classrooms

Dr. Lori Flint ECU Clinical Teacher Conference Spring 2014

Multicultural Education Goals

n  Multicultural knowledge

n  Educational equity (equal opportunity to learn, positive educational outcomes for individuals and groups, and equal physical and affective conditions)

n  Teaching with a multicultural perspective means that teachers see that culture, race, gender, religion, SES, and ability are powerful variables in the learning process and that important ideas about teaching can be gained from studying cultural systems. When teaching from a multicultural perspective, educators challenge assumptions and stereotypes; they examine curricula from a broader point of view and in an assertive, proactive manner. Essentially, educators endeavor to promote cultural continuity between the home and school of minority students and attempt to eliminate culturally assaultive classrooms. (Ford, Howard, & Harris)

Culturally Responsive Teaching

n A means to improve the school success of (ethnically and otherwise) diverse students and for preparing teachers in preservice education programs with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to do this.

Defined as….

n  ….using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively

n  Based on the assumption academic knowledge and skills situated within lived experiences and frames of reference of students, they are more personally meaningful, have higher interest appeal, and are learned more easily and thoroughly (Gay, 2000), resulting in higher academic achievement

Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know…

n  We must develop explicit knowledge about cultural diversity if we are to meet the to educational needs of ethnically diverse students

n  We must do the same for students other than ethnically and/or racially diverse backgrounds

n  Need to understand cultural values, traditions, communication, learning styles, contributions, and relational patterns, and the contributions of various groups to society

Get the Facts: Develop a Database

n  About specific ethnic groups (e.g., African, Asian, Latino, and Native American) to help make make school more interesting and stimulating for, representative of, and responsive to diverse students.

n  Cultural diversity has its place in every subject taught in school.

n  Teachers must locate, learn, and and weave accurate information into their lesson planning and instruction.

Design Relevant Curriculum

1. Formal plans for instruction (mainstream)

Avoids controversy

May be sanitized

Focuses primarily on dominant cultural values

Culturally responsive teaching reverses these trends by dealing directly with controversy; studying a wide range of ethnic individuals and groups; contextualizing issues within race, class, ethnicity, and gender; and including multiple kinds of knowledge and perspectives.

Design Relevant Curriculum

2. Symbolic Curriculum

images, symbols, icons, mottoes, awards, celebrations, & artifacts that teach students knowledge, skills, morals, and values.

are bulletin board decorations; heroes and heroines; trade books; & publicly displayed statements of social etiquette, rules and regulations, ethical principles, and tokens of achievement.

culturally responsive teachers are critically conscious of the power of symbolic curriculum & use it to convey important information, values, and actions about ethnic and cultural diversity, including diversity of race, class, culture, gender, etc.

Design Relevant Curriculum

3. Cortés “societal curriculum”

knowledge, ideas, and impressions about ethnic groups in the mass media. Television programs, newspapers, magazines, and movies are more than factual information or entertainment, and their content reflects and conveys particular cultural, social, ethnic, and political values, knowledge, and advocacies. For many students, mass media is the only source of knowledge about ethnic diversity; for others, what is seen on television is more influential and memorable than what is learned from books in classrooms. It is also often inaccurate.

Cultural Caring & the Learning Community

n  Create a classroom climate conducive to EVERYONE’S learning.

n  Use CULTURAL SCAFFOLDING

n  BUILD COMMUNITY, not competition

n  Be holistic in teaching and learning-teach to the whole child

Develop Cross-Cultural Communication

n  Porter and Samovar (1991) explained that culture influences “what we talk about; how we talk about it; what we see, attend to, or ignore; how we think; and what we think about”

n  To Montagu and Watson (1979) communication is the “ground of meeting and the foundation of community” among human beings.

n  Culturally responsive teachers understand how communication styles of different ethnic groups reflect cultural values and shape learning behaviors and how to modify classroom interactions to better accommodate them.

Making Classroom Instruction Make Sense

n  matching instructional techniques to the learning styles of diverse students.

n  Spindler (1987) suggests establishing continuity between the modus operandi of ethnic groups and school cultures in teaching and learning.

n  The possibilities for developing this congruity are endless…

Examples…. n  For example, a topic-chaining communication style is

very conducive to a storytelling teaching style.

n  Cooperative group learning arrangements and peer coaching fit well with the communal cultural systems of African, Asian, Native, and Latino American groups (Gay, 2000; Spring, 1995).

n  Autobiographical case studies and fiction can crystallize ethnic identity and affiliation issues across contextual boundaries (i.e., geographic, generational, temporal).

n  Motion and movement, music, frequent variability in tasks and formats, novelty, and dramatic elements in teaching improve the academic performance of African Americans

Use Learning Styles

n  Like all cultural phenomena, they are complex, multidimensional, and dynamic.

n  There is room for individuals to move around within the characteristics of particular learning styles, and they can be taught to cross style parameters.

n  Specific patterns can be seen various ethnic groups (Shade, 1989)

n  Internal structure of ethnic learning styles has 8 major components.

Eight Key Components n  Preferred content

n  How we work through learning tasks

n  Techniques for organizing and conveying ideas and thoughts

n  Structural arrangements of work, study, and performance space

n  Perceptual stimulation for receiving, processing, & demonstrating comprehension and competence

n  Motivations, incentives, and rewards for learning

n  Interpersonal interactional styles

n  Physical and social settings for task performance

Integrate CRT into High Stakes Areas

n  Give culturally relevant examples, stories, scenarios, etc. during instructional time

n  If you don’t have any of your own, find some!

n  Go way beyond the most popular figures

n  Use sample literature

n  Use popular cultural references

n  Build bridges to help cement students’ learning

n  Make sure students see themselves reflected in the curriculum!

n  Empower students by removing the burden of trying to learn under unnatural conditions

Extracted from Geneva Gay: Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching, 2002.

Practical Resources n  Tolerance.org: free teaching kits and materials, lesson plans MULTICULTURALISM in EDUCATION (lesson plans, materials)http://www.start-at-zero.com/papers/multiculturalism/lessons.htm n  MULTICULTURAL LESSON PLANS & RESOURCES

http://www.eds-resources.com/edmulticult.htm n  Multicultural Education http://www.education.com/reference/article/multicultural-education/ n  Preparing for Culturally Responsive teaching http://mrc.spps.org/uploads/preparing_for_crt-_geneva_gay-2.pdf n  Recruiting Minority Teachers http://www.tolerance.org/tdsi/sites/tolerance.org.tdsi/files/assets/general/Recruiting_Minority_Teachers.pdf n  Using Multicultural Literature http://paws.wcu.edu/churley/10_1_colby.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/JuicyUniverse.com/culturally-responsive- n  Multicultural Literature in Elementary & Secondary Classrooms http://www.easternct.edu/smithlibrary/depts/curriculum/documents/mcliterature.pdf n  UN Peace Initiative: https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/peace/frame.htm n  Canadian Peace Curricula & Classroom Resources http://www.peace.ca/curricula.htm