Promoting
A Multicultural Perspective in Elementary Education
The following essay encourages the implementing of multicultural
education in our elementary schools and promoting a multicultural
perspective.
Essay on Multicultural Education
Our
education system must keep up with our ever changing, culturally diverse
nation. As we move into the
21st century, I envision our country approaching a crossroad.
One way leads to maintaining the present social consciousness,
and the other breaks out and away to a new, more accurate reflection of
our world. It is a road that moves toward an intellectual and social
evolution of our species; one that makes the long awaited changes in the
way we represent our peoples; one that includes all cultures and
diversities establishing a balance of power and progress —
not according to skin color
— but by the
talent, determination and intellect of the individual. However, choosing
this direction requires a conscious effort of reform on everyone’s
part; parents, teachers, administrators, anyone who contributes to the
education effort. If we wish to see changes occur in the future we must
educate and socialize those who will be our future. That is why I firmly
believe multicultural education is necessary, so our future generations
can understand, honor, respect, and celebrate the differences in each
other -- rather than hate, fear, and dishonor those differences.
Researchers
in education agree “children learn more from situations with which
they are familiar”(Hillard 728).
So it stands to reason that teaching from a multicultural
perspective, versus the euro-centric perspective, will include all
children from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds offering an approach
they can relate to and learn best from.
According to Dewey, “connections
are made between what the child brings to the learning situation and
what is to be taught; [called] ... continuity of experience”( qtd. in
De Gaetano 29). Additionally, when non-European children never hear about
their history, or about the accomplishments and plights of their peoples
in a school setting, they tend to “internalize the negative and
distorted conceptions of their own and other ethnic groups”(Gay 12).
They believe their heritage is of little value and significance,
and conversely, the dominant group believe their heritage is more
important than any others. This
distorted view can be corrected by developing a complete understanding
of other groups’ experiences and beliefs.
When teachers honor diverse cultures and ethnicities in their
curriculum, they empower and build self-respect in individuals, they
show children their background and heritage is equally important and one
they can be proud of. Gomez
quotes Dimidjian who states, “the purpose of multicultural curriculum
is to attach positive feelings to multicultural experiences so that each
child will feel included and valued, and will feel friendly and
respectful toward people from other ethnic and cultural groups”(3).
The early
childhood teacher’s influence is key to developing the sense of being
a good world citizen in their students.
According to Rey Gomez, the development of stereotypes are
beginning to form in the preschool years, so it follows that children
are easily influenced by the attitudes and opinions of their caregivers. Teachers can eliminate negative stereotypes by presenting
activities that teach similarities, yet at the same time honoring the
uniqueness of the different cultures.
It is imperative to be mindful of how culture influences and
shapes our view of the world. The
authors of “Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Approach for the Primary
School Classroom”, reminds us that “culture is an intimate part of
who each of us is”(20). Our
culture influences the way we think, act and perceive the world.
Teachers must also be reminded of the power culture holds over
our personal perceptions as well as the perceptions of our students.
Understanding how individuals have been socialized according to
their culture can help us teach them, and communicate with them better,
making their learning experiences more rich and meaningful.
Extensive
theoretical and empirical research has been done to determine ways in
which teachers can adapt their current euro-centric curriculum into a
multicultural curriculum. James
Banks, one of the founding advocates on multiculturalism has developed a
four approach model for implementing multicultural education.
His model, like other models developed, begin with the simplest
techniques and progress to more complex ones.
Banks identifies his four approaches: (1) the contributions
approach; teaching about contributions of culturally different
groups and individuals; (2) the additive approach; in
which multicultural lessons are supplements to the current curricula;
(3) the transformation approach; the entire curriculum and
teaching approach changes to reflect the diversity in culture, race, and
social groups; (4) the social action approach;
teaches students how to clarify their cultural values, and to
engage in action for social and political justices, and freedom for
everyone (Gay 15). The
authors Robles de Melendez and Ostertag make several important comments
about Banks’ contribution approach in their book “Teaching Young
Children In Multicultural Classrooms”
stating level 1 can be difficult to present without engaging in
stereotypes, because it depicts cultures in a snapshot image.
These individuals and/or groups portrayed cannot accurately
represent an entire culture and peoples belief system, therefore, this
approach can be misleading to children.
Although
leaders in the multicultural education field vary on the specific
suggested approaches, they agree three general approaches can be pulled
from the methods Banks and other researchers have developed.
The first generality extrapolated is “teaching content about
cultural pluralism”; the second is “teaching culturally different
students”; and the third is “using cultural pluralism to teach other
academic subjects and intellectual skills”( Gay 15).
The third generality is the most common and traditional approach
and is sometimes referred to as infusion, as it combines content and
process. An example of this
approach in practice would be using ethnic poetry, prose, stories and
folklore to teach reading skills, or giving a lesson on ethnic migration
to teach geography and social studies.
Critical thinking and problem solving skills could be encouraged
from examining events and experiences by culturally diverse groups in
the United States (Gay 16).
Support and resources are essential for teachers as they begin
teaching with a multicultural perspective. There are activity and lesson
books, like “The Global Classroom: A Thematic Multicultural Model For
The K-6 And ESL Classroom” that has a wide range of world-view
activities and themes; texts
on theoretical and practical approaches, for example “Teaching Young
Children In Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and
Strategies” that can be used as a full resource to reform and enhance
the multicultural perspective in the classroom and community; websites
dedicated to this subject, like the Multicultural Pavilion site
can be a resource for practical and theoretical information, and a place
where lessons and activities can be shared among teachers all across the
world, there are other websites that offer teachers, and parents, an
extensive listing of multicultural literature for children of all ages.
Essentially, we are limited only by our imagination and energy.
But another important step needed to take in the transformation
and preparatory process, according to Sonia Nieto, an advocate for
multicultural education, is teachers need to be re-educated themselves
in three ways; (1) knowledge: learn about pluralism and how it is
reflected in people and in our interactions; (2) honest assessment
of our biases; accepting that we all have biases; (3) ability
to view reality through a myriad of perspectives; learning to
approach reality from more than one way. (qtd. in De Melendez).
Authors
De Melendez and Ostertag cover an important aspect of teaching from a
multicultural perspective in their book, and that is how to establish a
multicultural classroom environment that fairly represents our diverse
community and world. The underlying objectives for choosing material and
establishing a multicultural classroom environment, is to present and
reflect a cross-cultural perspective; show a variety of ages, abilities,
occupations, religions, and gender roles; give socially balanced views,
for example, include the privileged and the working class as part of the
outstanding people represented; reflect the cultures and ethnicities of
the classroom children through the material chosen.
It is also important to have material available in other
languages for those that English is not their mother tongue.
The classroom library is one of the best places to enrich and
encourage children’s world perspectives.
According to Lara Hillard, “to develop a truly multicultural
curriculum, it is necessary to choose a wide variety of literary
selections to represent many different groups”(728).
The selections must meet the criteria for good quality
children’s literature, and must authentically represent the culture in
both text and illustrations.
In
conclusion, I’d like to remind the reader that “the ultimate goal of
multicultural education is to begin a process of change in schools that
will ultimately extend to society”(Gay 14).
This goal can be accomplished when educators, parents,
administrators, and the community realize through personal empowerment
comes social reform. What
better way for an education system to teach children than through a
multicultural perspective, because nothing has ever occurred —
or will occur — in
isolation from the myriad of cultures and ethnicities that make up our
world. In order for
“education to fulfill its basic functions by being personally
meaningful, socially relevant, culturally accurate, and pedagogically
sound”(Gay 6) multiculturalism must be the road our nation chooses.
© Tammia Madden, 2002
URL of this webpage: http://www.cocc.edu/tammiam/TermProject/annobiblio1.htm
Last Updated: 11 June 2002