Multicultural Education : Issues And Perspectives

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).

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

Chapter fifteen of Multicultural Education is divided into three major sections. These three sections include recruitment and barriers, recruitment recommendations, and retention issues/difficulties. A large part of this chapter focuses on the underrepresentation of culturally diverse students in gifted and advance placement programs. When taking a look at gifted education programs, there is an extreme underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in these programs. Gifted education programs are a need not just a privilege and should not be used as a simple form of segregation between races or cultures.

their background or age. The role of the teacher is very critical to the students getting an

However, there are questions as to whether or not teachers possess biases that would influence their teaching methods and curriculum. Taking a class in educational diversity is only a start in addressing those biases that may have been unconsciously created. It is the writer’s sincere hope that researching and writing a paper on multicultural education will be a stepping stone toward the critical examination of biases and practices in regards to diversity in the classroom that will continue to influence the readers throughout their educational

The effects of ethnicity within learning is due to the diverse nation of multiculturalism which had been adopted during the 1970s and 1980s brought along different linguistics, religions, values etc. Due to these differences many students are performing below the average rate which this maintains them not getting into universities. These problems it has on learning in schools needs to allow teachers to promote culturally inclusive curriculum and pedagogy (textbook). The main problem is English being introduced to children as their second language, and many students have not got the change to develop literacy. According to the Higher Education Funding council for England approves that ethnicity is the most common reason why children performance

Taking in consideration the peers’ critique and instructors’ feedback, I was able to recognize that in the second example of an anecdote of my paper, I took the quote “Today, Astilla asks his kids to compare Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. All used violence to stay in power, several suggest. ‘They used propaganda,’ one student points out. ‘Good one!’ Astilla says approvingly” out of the context and my explanation of this quote ended up not having any relation to the quote. Thus, I chose to remove this explanation “McGray’s argument that young Americans are uninformed and misinformed about the world beyond the United States borders” that according to the instructor’s commentary and my own understanding, it seems vague and lacks connection to the quote. Instead, I decided to

The United States serves as a culturally rich country who opens its arms to individuals from many different ethnicities, backgrounds, and life experiences. It seeks to be the melting pot of a blended group of people, providing opportunity and equity for all. Consequently, our educational system is the cornerstone for providing equal opportunity for all persons. Therefore, as the United States continues to be immersed with individuals from various cultures, the educational system must consistently seek to assure that educational opportunities are equally distributed to our students. In order for this task to be accomplished, developing a well-defined illustration of what multicultural education is necessary.

Two ways that a school can clearly show that it supports multicultural education is by having multicultural collaboration with the community and a school that supports a system that allows equal opportunities among different students with diverse cultural background. According to Kaye & Wolff (1995), "multicultural collaboration involves two or more groups of organization that focuses on multicultural importance." This collaboration will definitely encourage community participation and schools will have multicultural day. This exploits the different cultures we have around the world. "In 1970, she had memories of a broken system in a private school, which did not support the diversities among different students", (Opoulos, 2014). This was Chris' friend's parents discussed that the private school did not support the needs of their child. The term "multiculturalism" does not seem to be supported at that time by the school. It's important that a school have opportunities that support different cultural backgrounds and engage in diversities of learning.

I have enjoyed the individual presentations. The material presented goes along with our weekly reading assignments in the Koppelman text. I have been learning ways of incorporating these topics into teaching and in my curriculum. I will be highlighting the presentations of Sarah, Virginia, Jessica and Ericka.

Historically, The United States has been a racially and ethnically a diverse nation. Since Americans represent a variety of cultures and have a variety of viewpoints, we share many cultural traditions, values, and political ideals that cement us together as a nation. Children can develop their ideas and their identity at early stages in schools. Education should stress the value of diversity and avoid portraying one culture or group as superior to others. A multicultural educational system would not only educate the students in a classroom, but also enrich the teacher and society. The definition of multiculturalism is education that focuses on providing equal opportunity for students who’s cultural or

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.

As many people know, the United States is a melting pot full of various ethnicities. Ethnicity, refers to an ethnic group that shares a cultural heritage. They are identified based on common language, ancestral, social, cultural, or national experience. Ethnic groups include, Mexicans, Italians, Chinese, Filipinos, Canadians, and many more. However, out of the many ethnic groups this research will focus on African Americans, which includes a range of similar ethnic groups. Although other ethnicities go through similar issues, the impact of ethnicity on a person’s ability to perform well in school is greater and more known among African Americans. Through this research it will focus on how ethnicity impacts African Americans ability to perform in school.

Through a number of interviews with multicultural parents, Lisa Delpit (2006), in Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, lists some requirements for a person to be a good teacher. According to Delpit, a good teacher must care whether students are actually learning, challenge all students, not move onto a new subject until all students get the concept, connect learning to real life experiences, push students to think and make their own decisions, and get to know students as individuals (Delpit, 2006, pg. 118). Other People’s Children goes beyond this list in what it expects great multicultural teachers to look like. I will go through some expectations of what a great multicultural student should do and evaluate my own teacher to conclude if I am a great multicultural teacher or not. One thing that will be emphasized is that great multicultural teachers must not silenced their students; this means that all students must be given a chance to express their individuality, and that the teacher does everything in their power to make sure that the students are learning to the best of their abilities. The full rubric I will be using to evaluate my teaching is located in the Appendix. The rubric was created based off the suggestions of Lisa Delpit in Other People’s Children, my own knowledge of multicultural education, and Geneva Gay’s (2010) Culturally Responsive Teaching. A score is located at the bottom of the rubric to determine if the person being evaluated,

Success, achievement and participation at school are not simply a matter of intelligence or ability. Discuss this statement with reference to the concepts of cultural capital, hidden curriculum, class and socioeconomic status.