Achieving Multiculturalism Within the Classroom Essay examples

“Multicultural education is an essential component of school reform. Nevertheless, when it is mentioned, many people first think of lessons in human relations and sensitivity training, units about ethnic holidays, education in inner-city schools, or food festivals. If multicultural education is limited to these issues, the potential for substantive change in schools is severely diminished” (Nieto, 2012, pp. 40).

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is an adaptation of the development theory of Jean Piaget. Piaget studied many aspects of moral judgment, most of his findings fit into a two stage process of moral development. Put into the simplest of terms, Stage 1: children younger than 10 or 11 years think about moral dilemmas one way and Stage 2: older children consider them differently.

Where there is any form of change in education that is discussed, there are always those who disagree with that change. These critics deem that they are problems that exist with the concept of multicultural education. One argument against multicultural education is the fear that the lack of a clear definition will essentially confuse teachers which will affect the classroom. Professor Ryan, a professor of education at Lasalle University states that “the term multicultural education is a slogan. It means different things to different people, and it assumes different purposes in different contexts” (Webster 14). His argument is that to minority students multicultural education offers a sense of empowerment, but for the majority student it is

There is a lot of evidence that focuses on moral development as a life-long process that develops throughout a person’s life and changes based on a variety of factors. The first is Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. Inspired by early work of Piaget on moral judgment, Kohlberg set out to develop a more comprehensive cognitive understanding of moral development. Kohlberg used with clinical interviewing procedure in which he presented a sample 10-to-16- year old boys with hypothetical moral dilemmas presenting in the conflict between two moral values- and asked them what the main actor should do and why. ? Real life moral dilemmas often help to highlight the role of emotion in moral judgment. Then he followed the participants longitudinally, reinter viewing

Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his theory of moral development developed in 1958. His theory was dependent on the thinking of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and American philosopher John Dewey. It consists of three levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. These levels are based on the degree to which an individual accommodates to the conventional standards of society. Each level aquires two stages that serve as different standards of sophistication in moral reasoning. Overall, Kohlberg affirms that moral development is a process of maturing that emerges from thinking about about moral issues (“Kohlberg’s Moral Development”).

Culture shapes values, behaviors, and institutions . Culture determines what is perceived as a problem and acceptable approaches to solving the problem. If you do not notice your culture or the culture of your organization, it is probably because you are a member of the dominant culture . Culture determines interactions with students and reactions to things that happen in the classroom. Cultural biases are judgments of behaviors that differ from the norm. Organizational norms, school climate, and unwritten rules are all a reflection of an institution’s culture.

Culture in short terms makes you, you; everyone has it. Culture is a shared representation of who you are and value, it deals with your identity, traditions, and it develops over time. Culture is ever changing. However, culture is sometimes hard to understand. A great teacher needs to be culturally diverse, they need to respect each others differences. A culturally competent teacher understands one’s own bias and cultural identity. As a teacher, it’s important to be get to know your student and become educated about their background. Our country is changing and becoming extremely diverse, this is why we need to continue to educate ourselves. When a teacher becomes culturally competent, they increase their ability to support their students and

There is a problem when comparing the academic achievement of African American students and Caucasian students in the classroom. Although there has been some progress made, statistics still show that on standardized tests there is a significant academic gap, (Williams, 2011).This problem has negatively impacted the progress of African American students when competing for scholarships, receiving Act scores and being successful in life. This problem could possibly be caused by a diversity of culture in the classroom that affects the learning process. Perhaps a study which investigates the cultural response of educators using their pedagogical technique inthe classroom may be

Still, while it is important to understand how cultural patterns can affect one’s learning, it is also crucial to realize that no pattern applies to all individuals within a culture. In order to be culturally sensitive, one must also be sensitive to individual students as well. Seeing each student as their own person requires an avoidance of expectations and stereotyping of a student based solely off of their cultural background. After all, a student’s learning is shaped not only by their culture, but also by his or her home life, personal talents, developments, and a variety of other factors as well. Tamara Lucas, author of the article “Preparing teachers for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators” uses the example

What is multicultural education, and how is it relevant to science instruction? Over the past decade, educators have ignored this question and instead, they have focused on ways and methods of incorporating multiculturalism in the humanities. In the most recent assessment of Virginias Science Standards of Learning, Virginia received a grade of D, almost failing, in part because of the absence of a multicultural approach towards instruction. In research and discussions with professionals in the fields of both elementary science and multicultural education, we learned and discussed numerous ways for teachers to consider this crucial element in their classrooms. In particular, Virginia educators must stress the

The earlier of these levels are consistent to Piaget's stages of cognitive development. The three

During the late 1960’s, America had entered into a period of cultural definition especially with the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement. Although the term “multicultural education” had not come into play yet, the idea that the U.S needed to reexamine their efforts of educating diverse groups was emerging. During this time inequality especially among minority groups in comparison to the white dominant culture became a social issue (Banks 1999). Before the arrival of this reform multicultural education was displayed in the classroom as having minorities adapt to the predominant culture. Teachers during this time felt it would be more beneficial for minorities to adapt. However, many parents of these minorities begin to argue that the

“Culture is a set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures, and behavioral conventions that are shared by a group of people and that impacts each member’s behavior.” Culture is extremely powerful. It is so deeply rooted in people’s subconscious that it has permeated every aspect of individuals’ and groups’ way of life. Culture is evident in one’s biological processes, emotional responses, intellectual pursuits, social interactions, and worldview construction. Culture influences what we can eat, what we cannot wear, how we interact with different people, and yes, even how we use the library.

The theory of moral development, advanced by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg is one of the most well-known persuasive theories in the field of cognitive science and stems from the work of Jean Piaget, which hypothesizes on the direct correlation that exists between moral and cognitive development. Kohlberg speaks of the appearance and understanding of what is right and wrong from childhood to adulthood and explains by this transition through the identification of various levels of morality known as pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional. People will make decisions based on the understanding of the possible outcome and through reasoning of morals. (Target Concept)

Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory of moral development. The theory of moral development “stemmed from Jean Piaget’s theory of moral reasoning.” This theory was a study which led to a better understanding of morality. This theory proved that morality started in early childhood years and had many factors which affected the outcome of the child’s perception of morality. Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory consisted of 3 levels and which each had 2 stages in them. The first level consists of preconventional morality, which can be divided into the 2 stages of obedience and relativism. The first stage, obedience, consisted of the children’s reasoning behind why they obey and do not disobey. One way of looking at it is adults obey laws set before us