Multicultural Education
Making progress in
the empowering of students is incredibly important and should be the goal of
all teachers. Empowering students is a
challenging task, especially when there are a lot of cultures involved and
people opposed to the concept. An
educator must take into account the needs of all the students and the histories
and struggles of many different cultures.
Empowering students can empower entire communities and so multicultural
education is a very important practice.
As I will explain, multicultural education is a stable path that we can
take to successfully teach students.
Wayne Au is a multicultural educator that speaks of a negative example
that doesn’t exemplify a good system of multicultural education, but he uses it
as a stepping stone to articulate what multicultural education is. He says, “When classes are not grounded in
the lives of students, do not include the voices and knowledge of communities
being studied, and are not based in dialogue, they create environments where
not only are white students miseducated but students of color feel as if their
very identities are under attack” (Wayne Au). This perspective is much related
to the fundamentals of what multicultural education is. Multicultural education is also about
involving students and allowing them to grow in a just and fair
environment. In order to build certain
multicultural values, a teacher must also be aware of a multitude of cultural
issues. Empowering students is the
educator’s goal and multicultural education lays out a framework to do just
that. A multicultural classroom that is
inclusive of all, aware and knowledgeable of race and cultural issues, and
working toward a more just and equal society can lead to more successful
students.
First of all, a
teacher must be very aware and knowledgeable of different cultures. Possessing awareness brings with it the
ability to respond preparedly to certain situations satisfactorily. When students ask certain questions, or need
a certain degree of help, only an aware teacher can bring essential help to
what’s happening. When teachers bring
awareness to the table, they bring a greater knowledge and a greater ability to
teach the subject matter to a multicultural classroom. Geneva Gay, a renowned professor from Washington,
explains some of the details of developing awareness in multicultural
education. “The process begins with
understanding the role and prominence of examples in the instructional process,
knowing the cultures and experiences of different ethnic groups, harvesting
teaching examples from these critical sources, and learning how to apply
multicultural examples in teaching other knowledge and skills” (Gay, 113). When
a teacher develops his/her knowledge about a certain culture and subject
matter, they are able to gives illustrations and examples that are key to the
instructional process. She goes on to
say, “Research indicates that culturally relevant examples have positive
effects on the academic achievement of ethnically diverse students” (Gay, 113).
I think the only way to give examples is to be knowledgeable and aware. A teacher should have a certain amount of
knowledge about the content they are teaching (Math, Science, Reading, etc.),
but to have knowledge about cultural topics is also very important. Preparation in content is involved in
teaching, and according to Geneva, a preparation in the multicultural realm of
education is just as important. “This
preparation requires a more thorough knowledge of the specific cultures of
different ethnic groups, how they affect learning behaviors, and how classroom
interactions and instruction can be changed to embrace these differences” (Gay,
114). A multicultural teacher should be grounded in knowledge of every culture,
even if that knowledge isn’t precise or fully matured. With a certain degree of awareness a teacher
can provide examples that benefit students and with a sound knowledge a teacher
can tolerantly educate students about their backgrounds and about ethnic
diversity. This will lead to more
successful students because they in turn will become more knowledgeable and
aware, and they will take that to other facets of life.
A multicultural
classroom strives to be inclusive of all.
Allan Johnson, an important intellectual who studies power, privilege
and oppression and how they play in education, speaks of inclusiveness in his
book: “Of all human needs, few are as powerful as the need to be seen,
included, and accepted by other people” (Johnson, 55). One of the biggest problems with oppression
is that people aren’t included, and that certain cultures are valued over
others. Often classes are Western in
nature and are taught to a specific group of people. Rarely do we find classrooms that teach to
every race and to every background. Key
to this pursuit is eliminating discrimination and bias. Multicultural education is like a circle, and
each culture is like a section of that circle.
If a teacher decides to be biased against certain cultures or favor
his/her own, then sections of that circle are left out. Awareness is a starting point to this concept
of inclusiveness. A teacher must first
of all be aware of each culture and aware of this circle. Once an awareness is established, a teacher
can practice inclusiveness and can begin to see a great success in the
students. Every student is hungry for a
multicultural education, and a teacher’s inclusiveness can cater to each
individual student’s needs. In a great
article about multicultural education, Sensoy and DiAngelo offer analogies and
critical examples of how to practice multicultural education. One great example that pertains to
inclusiveness is, “Develop meaningful relationships with people who don’t share
your identity locations” (DiAngelo & Sensoy, 99). To develop these meaningful relationships
will initiate learning about different identities and different backgrounds,
and so will lead to a more inclusive classroom. To be inclusive is to cease all
discrimination, and that is why it is so personal for the teacher. When a teacher overcomes his/her biases and
seeks to develop those meaningful relationships, they can overcome their
prejudice and begin to teach in a multicultural classroom.
Working towards a
just and equal society is a Democratic ideal and should be practiced by all of
the educators around the world. We are
constantly surrounded by social injustice, both in the realm of public and
private life. This goes along with the
idea of oppression and non-inclusiveness in the classroom. No matter the ethnicity, no matter the sex,
no matter the class, there are injustices happening constantly. A teacher can take steps to make the
classroom more just and equal, and part of that is having awareness and
including every student. But working
towards a more just and equal society is more of an over-arching value that can
hover over the curriculum. Whether it be
Math or any of the various subjects, a teacher must be constantly thinking of
justice and equality, especially in regards to his/her students. The classroom is meant to be a learning
environment, and only in an equal environment can students learn. When a teacher makes sure to express that
each of the students are equal regardless of their background, then learning
can happen automatically and naturally.
In an article speaking mostly about poverty, Victoria Purcell-Gates
talks about a young boy stricken with poverty and unable to read. Talking about the over-arching goal of learning,
she says, “First, and most obvious, teachers and schools must accept, believe,
and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been
learning since birth, are ready to learn at any time, and will learn” (Gates,
135). These words of Gates’ exemplifies the equality of all students. They are all born learners, and since
learning is one of the fundamental goals of the curriculum, it can happen
regardless of race, class, and sex. The
goal of the teacher should be to establish this ambience, a feeling in the
classroom that everyone is equal, and that there is social justice going on
even in the classroom. When this
over-arching feeling of justice and equality is brought to a multicultural
classroom, students will apply this essential wisdom to their own culture and
to social justice issues happening around the world. When acts of social justice happen in the
classroom, they will happen outside and in arguably more important realms of
life. When social justice themes are
taught in the classroom, important values will be learned and students will be
prepared to bring their ideals of justice and equality to society outside the
classroom.
A multicultural
classroom is so important and offers teachers the opportunity to empower their
students and make their students more successful. Unfortunately, multicultural education is a
bit hard to understand and no one person can tell you how to ‘do’ multicultural
education.
It would be so much easier if we had a
toolbox with its easy to understand lists of dos and don’ts. Yet such an approach would avoid the
life-altering changes critical multicultural education asks of us. We wouldn’t have to face the history of
oppression in our nation states and how that history continues to impact us
today, or think deeply, engage in uncomfortable self-reflection, strive for
humility in the face of the unknown, admit to our prejudices and assumptions,
and build relationships with people who are different from ourselves (DiAngelo
and Sensoy, 102).
There is a certain complexity to multicultural
education but with an inquisitive mind that looks to different societal
perspectives, an educator can come to understand and implement positive
multicultural values in the classroom. Fortunately,
getting even a small grasp of critical multicultural education can build
awareness, knowledge, and inclusiveness, all values that benefit teachers in
their pursuit to making their students succeed.
A lot of multicultural education, for teachers and students, is coming
out of our comfort zone and embracing the uncomfortable aspects of life. It is true that racism, sexism, classism, and
homophobia still are prevalent, and it is true that multicultural classrooms
are being labelled as revolutionary and dangerous. But we as multicultural educators know that
success is a product of awareness. We
know that inclusiveness will nurture a sense of belongingness within
students. We know that knowledge can
transcend differences and can help to educate a diverse group of students. We know, and we believe, that critical
multicultural education will prevail as a method in teaching to student’s
strengths and making students successful.
1. Gay,
Geneva. (2002). “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching”. Journal
of Teacher Education, 53(106).
2. Robin
DiAngelo & Ozlem Sensoy, “OK, I Get It! Now Tell Me How to Do IT!”” Why We Can’t Just Tell You How to Do Critical
Multicultural Education. Multicultural Perspectives, Volume 12,
Number 2, 97-102.
3. Au,
Wayne, “Decolonizing the Classroom: Lessons in multicultural education”
Teaching Tolerance, Winter 2008/2009.
4. Purcell-Gates,
V. (2002). “…As soon as she opened her mouth!” In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy
(Eds.), The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language, culture and
power.
5. Johnson,
A. (2006). Privelege, Power, and
Difference. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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