Cultural Awareness For Multicultural Education

Just exactly what is multicultural education and how do we as educators incorporate it into not only our classes, but into our curriculum and even more, our everyday lessons? The education system is made up of a wildly diverse group of people. Students are sitting in classrooms from all types of backgrounds, plus coming to school with a wide variety of needs. Where at one point in time it was taboo to discuss one’s differences, we were to focus on how we are all alike. We as a group have come to acknowledge that it is okay to be different. We don’t have to be like everybody else.

According to Sonia Nieto, the definition of multicultural education is defined in sociopolitical context and relates to comprehension of school reform. Namely, the multicultural education works in reforming schools and providing an equal and excellent education for everyone. Likewise, the author gave a definition of multicultural education based on her experience surrounding education environment. She divides multicultural education into seven basic characteristics: antiracist education, basic education, important for all students, pervasive, education for social justice, a process, and critical pedagogy (Nieto & Bode, 2012).

     Multicultural education can be something that is as simple as a change in the curriculum adding new and diverse materials (2nd paragraph). As the world changes our ability to learn should grow. New things happen every day and the only way we can grow from these

Public schools are beginning to see a shift in demographics in the United States. There is now a culturally diverse student population and educators need to respond to this shift in order to ensure an equal education for all students. Culture aids in determining how students learn, and culturally responsive teaching is a way teachers can educate culturally diverse students and provide an equal education for all. Culturally responsive teaching is defined by Geneva Gay as using the various characteristics, perspectives, and experiences of many cultures to effectively teach culturally diverse students (2000). Culturally responsive teaching prepares teachers to work with and teach a culturally diverse classroom of students and allows teachers to create a classroom environment that is similar to their students’ home environments so students do not have to assimilate to the dominant culture or change from their home culture to their school culture depending on their setting (Brown). Multicultural education is not only important for ensuring equal education for all students, but also creates youth who will be able to function and be effective citizens in a pluralistic society (Gay 2003). In order to implement culturally responsive teaching, teachers must acknowledge potential biases and reconstruct their attitudes, create a diverse knowledge base, be caring and empowering, and create a classroom environment that is conducive to a culturally diverse

Moreover, teaching multicultural diversity in preschool ages increase children’s awareness, appreciation and inclusion of diverse beliefs and cultures. It means that children with different needs are giving opportunities to participate in the general education curriculum based on their ages and grades. Those children are not separated by classrooms, but rather the curriculum and the rooms are conformed to meet their needs. Research shows that children are capable of understanding differences and abilities of surrounding people at the very early ages (Perlman, Kankesan, & Zhang, 2010). Therefore, a program, which fully regards to multiculturalism, allows children to explore varying cultures and create opportunities for them to recognise that even when people have various customs and traditions, they often share some similar characteristics as well. The ability to function compatibly and efficiently in a multicultural society is also promoted throughout a multicultural program. It is obvious that children are able

Race, Gender, Class, and ethnicity are the fabrics that form a Multicultural Society. As a teacher, it is important to think about my students’ various cultures and influences their cultures possess over their learning. After all, students are taught within the context of culture. Culture is what we teach whether it is explicit or institutional. Culture is integral to learning, considering culture is dependent on education for its survival. Culture is transferred from one generation to the next using informal or formal education (Convertino, Levinson, Gonzalez 27). As teachers, we should ensure our instruction is relevant to our students, otherwise they will lose interest, and then, they will never learn (Banks 2013). So, teachers should approach their students within a culturally relevant pedagogy.

A multicultural classroom embraces various cultures and uses them to build students up, rather than causing them to feel excluded.

Multicultural classroom to my understanding is one that is friendly to all cultures as in races, religions, language, food, mode of dress and way of behavior etc. while Mindes (2014) defined culture as "the customary beliefs, social

The multicultural curriculum has its roots in the history of multicultural education which follows the history of the US civil rights movement (Fillion, n.d). The desegregation practices during the 1950s were established in order to provide equal education for all individuals, regardless of race or any other demographic considerations. The 1960s and 1970s, desegregation practices expanded to include application in seeking equity of all students in terms of their human rights (Banks, 2000). With the focus on human rights, multicultural concerns in education were considered, recognizing the importance of establishing awareness in a culturally diverse community. The changes in the teaching curriculum came under the collective heading of multiculturalism. These changes were also apparent in Britain and in Australia just as they were unfolding in the US (Lynch, 1983). The educational authorities recognized the fact that the curriculum must come from the social and the ethical concepts being seen in the multicultural setting. Various references to the inherent value of all human beings were also highlighted, and this attached value was also seen in the human rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s (Lynch, 1983). In these states, the focus was on acknowledging the need for the multicultural curriculum and for teachers to support and promote such a program. Research was then carried out and workshops with teachers implemented. Such actions were able to establish that even as

The integration of multicultural issues with the current educational structure needs to be met with caution and the upmost care is one of the messages I got from our class and it’s true. These decisions can cause irreparable damages to the students’ lives and could further distance the divide between achieving cultural understanding and continual ignorance. However, if certain components are taken into consideration, there is hope for a bright and culturally-rich future. First, there are various multicultural issues including stereotype threat and the lack of conversation about race and culture at a young age that should be addressed. Secondly, understanding the power of open-discussions with multicultural issues for I experienced it first-hand

There is a difference between teaching a course in which multiculturalism is the focus and incorporating an underlying multicultural, inclusive perspective into the classroom environment. Given that “there is no universal construction of a multiculturalism course that is perfect for achieving all goals for all students” (Henry, 2003, p. 26), finding a way to build a multicultural foundation for courses across the disciplines may be a better aim for faculty in higher education institutions. Multiculturalism is a concept that cannot be ignored in today’s society. It is real, it is related to the globalization of

Multicultural education is a philosophical concept built on the ideals of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and human dignity as acknowledged in various documents, such as the U.S. Declaration of Independence, constitutions of South Africa and the United States, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations. It affirms our need to prepare student for their responsibilities in an interdependent world. It recognizes the role schools can play in developing the attitudes and values

Multiculturalism can be defined as the view that various cultures in a society merit equal respect and scholarly interest. America is a proud example of being a multiculturalistic society, for there is a variety of cultures and each has their own traditions and values. Because I have lived in a multiculturalistic society for nineteen years, I can say that multiculturalism has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of multiculturalism are that it is educational and  promotes tolerance, but the disadvantages are that it can act as a barrier as a result of stereotypic presumptions and can lead one to lose their individuality due to assimilation.

and curriculum. The discussion of the historical and philosophical background of multicultural education teaches educators how race and culture influence educational policy and programs. Multicultural teaching and curriculum is also crucial for the development of equitable education for diverse students. The author asserts that multicultural education can lessen biases while also furthering democratic beliefs and practices among students. The text’s discussion of multicultural education is significant to the field of multicultural education as it demonstrates how multicultural educational practices help students become culturally literate and prepared for today’s diverse and globalized world.

The development of a school and classroom curriculum is critical to achieving a multicultural school setting for students. The implications of my findings for teaching and learning are that educators need to better evaluate their texts and curriculum that they use with their students. In Becoming a Multicultural Educator, author James Banks explains that every student should receive an education of high quality and with that they should attain skills that will help them to flourish in a multicultural world (196). Also on page 196, author B. M. Scott discusses that there are three factors that need to be addressed in order to achieve a multicultural curriculum. The three factors are; “First, educators need to increase their own personal