...Multicultural Education Multicultural education has been a buzz word in the academia field since the 1960s. Throughout the years, this facet has been at the forefront of educational reform. In the beginning stages, the change needed for multicultural education consisted of minorities assimilating to American “culture”. Banks made it clear to point out that “46% of the school population by 2020 would be non-white" (Banks,2001;Neito,2000) This cultural boom is nothing that cannot be ignored and must be embraced by all especially within the teaching profession. As America makes strides toward a cultural melting pot, education is one factor that needs to develop along with it. Progress in education depends on the quality of teachers. With the constant changing demographics in the United States it has become important to realize that it was not the minorities who needed to adapt, but the teachers. Classrooms today are becoming increasingly diverse. This growing diversity has caused a myriad of challenges for the practicing teacher. This increased diversity has presented challenges for the practicing teacher, and while there has been an immense effort to provide these teachers with professional development to meet this challenge, many issues still exists. It became evident that preparing teachers for this change was of extreme importance. In turn, the awareness to prepare pre-service teachers for multicultural education has become a main focal point of this reform. Works Cited...
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...students that are placed in make shift classrooms, a hall storage closets, a portable outside or even the basement? They are the changing face of students according to the National Center for Educational Statistics of the 49,676,964 students nationwide, 55.9 % are White 20.5% are Hispanic , 16.9 % are African American, 4.5 % Asian, 1.2% Native American. (NCES 2004-2005) Ten million students speak a language other than English in the home. (Oakes & Lipton 2007) The previously mentioned statistics, show how student populations have changed to become more ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse. It is important to recognize each and every student as an individual with needs and talents all their own. Creating a need for Multicultural Education, cultural background can have a significant influence on the way in which students receive, respond, and produce information. If we treat everyone the same we end up being exactly the same. This is possible if the student’s culture is not recognized. Unfair to Who The inequities many students, particularly students of color, face are both in and outside the classroom are rooted in their lived conditions of poverty, racism, sexism, just to name a few. These conditions pose a challenge to the nearly 84% of teachers who are white and female. Gordan (2005) explains that this...
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...Multicultural Education Axia Collage University of Phoenix If I were to be a second-grade teacher at Happy Valley Elementary, teaching language arts and social studies and my classroom of 21 students consists of 7 White students, 5 Latino students, 4 African American students, 3 Native American students, and 2 Asian students four of which are identified as special needs, one of whom is in a wheel chair, and few of my students come from the poorest neighborhood in Happy Valley, I would incorporate different types of activities in my class room that would support a multicultural education. These activities include, “Comparing Cultures”, and “Rain”. Every teacher should believe that every child, no matter what their background maybe, can learn. Multicultural education is an “Educational strategy that incorporates the teaching of students from diverse backgrounds, human relations, and the study of ethnic and other cultural groups in a school environment and that supports diversity and equity” (James A. Johnson, Diann Musial, Gene E. Hall, Donna M. Gollnick, Victor L. Dupuis, 2005). One of my stategies that I found intersting is the Comparing Cultures activity. Mycheal Willon (1994) discusses in the Comapring cultures, the teacher should have the class read or watch the movie Cinderella in the class room. Then, brings another version of Cinderella which is the...
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...What does multiculturalism mean; it is acceptance or promotion of multiple ethnic cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place. (en.wikipedia.org). How I would incorporate activities that would support a multicultural class room, well for one I would take a map of the world and pin it up to one wall of my class room. Take pictures of everyone in the class and put the pictures and their names on the side of the map and run a string to the place where they are from. This way everyone can see exactly where they are from and how far they traveled to get here. After looking on where everyone came from I would sit aside one day where students can bring food from their culture and clothes, music or even talk about their traditions and there history about where they came from. This way they can taste the foods that they eat and listen to the different sounds of music and hear about how the students talk about their traditions, by doing this the students can understand a little about their culture and why they are different. Another group activity, I would do is watch movies in different languages, but have the words subtitled in English, this way it would require them to watch closely and then give them a quiz after the movie was over. Then have the students say hello in different languages just to see how many different languages they can say hello in. Another activity would be to have them write something about themselves and the...
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...Sheryl Sayan December 1, 2012 Cultural Diversity in the Classroom Jessica Rodriguez Issues in Multicultural Education Multicultural Education has come a long way but still there is work to be done to ensure an equal and quality education for all students. Schools are doing everything they can to make sure all students feel welcomed and accepted. Even so, some gifted education programs have been criticized for underrepresenting minority students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). (Ford, 2008). Changes will need to be made to these programs to include minority students who meet the criteria for gifted education. We need to ensure that minorities are not being overlooked when tests for enrollment in these programs are being given. The Office of Civil Rights, (OCR), is a law enforcement agency that enforces the Federal civil rights laws regarding the discrimination of any person based on race, color, disability, age, origin, or sex. Any program or activity that receives federal funds must abide by these laws. This includes gifted student programs in schools that receive federal financial assistance. The OCR plays a large role in assisting school districts to be accountable for non-discrimination, although few administrators and teachers understand the goals and objectives of the OCR in the context of gifted education. (Ford, 2000). Students with special gifts and talents come from all different cultural backgrounds. Because most tests for identifying...
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...Issues in Multicultural Education: Funding for Cultural Enrichment Activities In America today we have a public school system that has many cultures involved. This can be a very beneficial thing for students but can also be a hindrance to those that are culturally diverse. One thing that can assist in breaking down these potential barriers would be cultural enrichment activities within the schools. Due to a lack of communal education, funding for cultural enrichment activities is little so that students are often deprived of the opportunity to truly experience multiculturalism. Cultural enrichment activities can consist of things like music, dance, food and language. This can happen through clubs, foreign language classes, music classes or events such as field trips or festivals that are centralized on embracing multiculturalism. In order to increase funding for multicultural activities within the schools, certain steps need to be made. First and foremost some causes to this dilemma need to be addressed. The community, especially one in disagreement between embracing a multicultural education (and not), has a large impact in what funds are provided and what they are put towards. Also, the ignorance of the community attributes to the lack of funding for something that is not entirely understood. If parents, teachers and local businesses understood not only the benefit but the need for cultural enrichment within the schools then more attention would be put towards making that...
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...Multicultural Education Scenario AED 200 Contemporary Issues in American Education March 10, 2010 June Roman Multicultural Education Scenario Multicultural education focus in providing equal education opportunity to all types of students from all cultural backgrounds including English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) and Exceptional Student education (ESE) students. Principals and teachers are striving to reform and guide students into becoming critical thinkers and lifelong learners in multicultural classrooms. Schools are finding new ways to assist students in thinking deeply about a subject, communicating their ideas, writing, and using their knowledge to solve real-world problems regardless of their background. One of the major goals of language development is for students to become literate and develop academic competent. Being able to understand and appreciate literature, learn other subjects through English, communicate orally, and in writing is one of the major goals of any school with ESOL and ESE students. Schools that meet this challenge use a variety of strategies to adjust their program to serve their students in multicultural classrooms. Davidman & Davidman (1997) stated several multicultural strategies are as follows: 1. Multi-perspective teaching of American, Canadian, Mexican, and World History 2. Un-tracking 3. Gender-Fair Instruction 4. Teaching Conflict Resolution Techniques ...
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...Issues in Multicultural Education Effective instructors must understand the issues that impact multicultural education in the United States. The significance of providing an eminence instruction in an unbiased approach to all of their students is essential. The tide of demographic changes in the United States has affected most classrooms in our schools. As a result, some classroom teachers realize they must quickly acquire a comprehensive understanding of ethnic, cultural, and social-class diversity present in today’s schools. Otherwise, these teachers will face difficulty in classrooms comprised of fifty-one percent minority students. (Texas Education Agency, 1993) Nonetheless, traditional teachers with no experience in multicultural education training is a significant issue in Texas. Dayton Independent School District’s mission statement states, The mission of Dayton Independent School District is to educate all students to the maximum extent of their abilities and to challenge them to excel in a changing world. The fundamental purpose of Dayton Independent School District is to develop in all students the essential academic skills and knowledge of which to build lifetime learning. All students are taught a core curriculum of English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Health, Physical Education and Technological Literacy. All students will be expected to acquire a knowledge of citizenship and economic responsibilities and an appreciation of...
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...Issues in Multicultural Education As we enter the second decade of the 21st century there are new, recurring, and emerging threats to multicultural education as a social justice movement in NC schools and communities. Multicultural education issues in NC have been the subject of discussion throughout multiples universities and political groups all around the entire state. The state of public education is necessary to the extended discourse around international and intercultural education. Students’ experiences during the elementary and secondary years have important implications for their citizenship in a globally interactive world. Some schools of education have acknowledged the urgency for developing culturally competent teachers, while others grapple with ways to fit appropriate programs into their curriculum. University of North Carolina in Greensboro has a study with teachers over the past decade. The goal of this research is to help teachers—especially new or preserves teachers and those who implement multicultural science education because of district mandates or changing classroom demographics—understand the importance of multicultural science education and to provide teachers with a list of resources they can refer to for additional information and activity ideas. East Carolina University’s teacher preparation program at the beginning of 2007 consisted of using eight key questions to guide their inquiry of how ECU’s teacher preparation program relates to multicultural...
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...ISSUES IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION NAME: INSTITUTION: A multicultural setup brings people with diverse backgrounds together. The environment in the school should provide everybody with an equal opportunity to realize his/her full academic potential. The diversity should offer a unique learning experience for every individual within the community. However, racism comes up as a major issue in a diverse cultural setup. Racism cuts across the society and it affects the education system. Racism adversely affects the education of diverse students in our community. In spite of numerous attempts for all humanity to have equal treatment, racism exists in our education system. It is evident that racism in our education system contributes to the dismal performance of students from minority groups. Personal observations highlight the fact that racism affects the academic lives of those students who are racially abused. In our education system, the students mostly affected by racism are those from the minority groups. The students mostly affected by this problem are of African and Asian descent. It involves discrimination against these students by fellow students, instructors at schools and through policies which ignore the special needs of this minority groups. Racism as a problem needs a comprehensive approach in finding a solution. The solution should be all inclusive involving the students from these underrepresented groups, the policy makers at school, fellow students from...
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...A Multicultural and Democratic Education Knowledge is beautiful and powerful because it is influential and vast. In fact, it is pivotal for one to understand that knowledge will forever be limitless. For instance, modern day education philosophers such as bell hooks and Ann Sharp are known for their thought-provoking intellectual beliefs regarding education. Nonetheless, bell hooks is known for her intriguing philosophies regarding African-American feminism in cultural studies, social issues, and education. hooks’ beliefs derived from her personal experience with social and racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s. On the other hand, Ann Sharp is known for fighting against ageism; she believes that children should be respected as individuals....
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...Running Head: Multicultural Education and the Various Challenges Multicultural Education and the Various Challenges Oletha Y. Mask-York Grand Canyon University EDU 230, Cultural Diversity in the Classroom April 29, 2012 Issues within Multicultural Education As an educator I realize that teaching can be challenging. It requires one to be dedicated to self and the population they serve. It can be exciting or boring. It is how you approach this profession that makes a difference. Teachers have to look into themselves and critique their beliefs and values about the prejudices of the world we live in. Can they open their minds and hearts to a world that has so many different cultures that has breed so many children? These children can have learning disabilities, mental or physical disabilities, or be English Language learners. It is left up to us to follow a curriculum that is exceptional to the needs of all children and it can be challenging. Some critics of multicultural education oppose teaching about different cultures because they believe it will lead to numerous problems. They think it divides cultures and teaches students to think of themselves as being different from the rest of society. Some believe it does not allow students to express their individuality places too much emphasis on the diverse backgrounds. They think that educating students about the U.S. democracy it will focus on the origins of Europe. The belief is if people do not assimilate into the mainstream...
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...Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 1 Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education Karri Runion Western Governors University Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 2 Abstract As schools prepare students to live and work in a comprehensive nation, it is evident that teachers and faculty must be readied to embrace this challenge. This paper discusses the ever- changing cultural landscape and the obligation of educators to reform common communication practices by the use of diversity skills. Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 3 Demographic Changes There are three dominant demographics present in the faculty and volunteers of our local school district. Our interest for this growing trend will reveal the source from which they derive as well as bring growth and improvement to our schools. They are as follows: * Socio-economic * Ethnicity * Language A diverse teaching staff as well as student community is important to strengthen our school as a whole. Students have the right to gain experience and knowledge from teachers with similar cultural backgrounds or at the very least teachers that can relate with and teach from an understanding of a wide array of cultures. “A benefit of a diverse workforce is the ability to tap into the many talents which employees from different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities and disabilities bring to the workplace.” (Lindenberger, J...
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...Synopsis Multicultural education has been a tool used in the United States to foster education in public schools for all cultures to enjoy in it. The article A History of Multicultural Education in the USA: Origins, Approaches, and Misconceptions by Rasit Celik that appeared in the second volume of Online Journal of New Horizons in Education of October 2012 endeavors to critically analyze the origin of the education tool, the approaches used to apply it in the schools and various misconceptions that are associated with multicultural education. The article explains the origin of the idea of multicultural education citing the common ground as “…a response to gradually increasing cultural diversity and became a distinct part of civil rights movement in the second half of the twentieth century in the USA” (pg 2). Different schools of thought place precedence to different sources. Payne and Welsh for example, attribute the source of multicultural education to democratic ideologies such as the Bill of Rights, the Hammurabi Code, The Magna Carta among other ideas. The article also looks at the works of Donna M. Gollnick (2008), Christine Sleeter and Grant (2008), Banks (2008), (2010) and Dhillion and Halstead (2003) to determine a common basis on the origin and concludes that the cultural awareness and fight for equality in the 1960s was the biggest boost to achieving multicultural education in the United States. The article also discusses four different approaches used in multicultural...
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...As I researched a broad range of topics covered in multicultural education I stressed over what I could possibly write about in my paper. Honestly, at first there weren’t many topics that stood out to me that I could expand on in a paper. As I thought more about it I decided to write about a topic I could relate to and was a large part of my college education, Greek Life: A Culture onto Itself. Starting college is a very big transition for most teenage students. They just became adults, have to be responsible for themselves, leaving home for the first time, on top of all this they are also trying to find a place or group to fit in with to make their college life more enjoyable and successful. Some students find cultural organizations to join, for example whether it be a religious organization, ethnic based club, or athletic teams on their college campus. Then there are those other students who neither identify with religion, cultural ethnicity, or athletic clubs, so these students find acceptance elsewhere in an organization that has its own cultural identity, practices, and even their own language or phrases: the fraternity or sorority. When I started college I was one of these lost students who couldn’t find a place to fit in. Hunter College was a large commuter school where everyone seemed to come and go, and I couldn’t find a group I fit in with. I wasn’t athletic, so joining a sports team wasn’t an option. I wasn’t overly...
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