Comparing Democracy and Multiculturalism in the Classroom - Research Paper Example

Task: Domestic and multicultural room Executive summery This research was carried out on at collage level on democracy and cultural diversity in the classroom. It involved actual visit and carrying out of interviews ion respondents who in this case were the students and partially the staff. It was done in such a manner that bell hook’s theory on education could be analyzed in relation to the research and its relevance noticed. This generally put it clearly that the research on democracy and cultural diversity in were worth embracing in the classroom setting. In a democratic classroom, it was expected that the class members air out their view on the whole idea without fear of contradiction that maybe negatively geared. In which case, the democratic setting was to demonstrate a high-level participation of students with guidance of the teacher when need arises. For diversity, on the other hand, the students interviewed was composed of students from a diverse community outlook basically consisting of blacks, Latina and whites. The cultural diversity required understanding and appreciation of the diversities. Through this research, it was found out that Hook’s theory applied best in getting the students to share ideas thus democracy was highly advocated for. The diversity to some extent was seen to contribute to the lack of democracy in some cases. Introduction This research was carried on a diverse group of students and minor consideration of the staff. The whole process included the visit to the school and observation of the real situation. Other methods were also applied which resulted to a result that was analyzed critically and conclusions drawn. This was done with an aid of some philosophical theory ideas from Bell Hook. This theory highly proposed the democratic setting of a classroom to work better for a learning system. Diversity on the other side was viewed as an asset that could help in having a wider understanding of varied cultural views, norms and diversity hence enriching knowledge. Literature review In this subject education, a class to be handled by a teacher can consist of students from different cultural backgrounds; this can potentially form a basis of discrimination against some students. As such, the minors in the population are most likely to fall a victim of the discrimination. On the other hand, according to Thomas (2003) a democratic class may exhibit fairness to most of the students who make a decision in case of any undertakings. These students, therefore, exercise the full freedom of putting what is in their interest. However, the few who may not be for the same idea may not be considered but forced to join the majority (Amy 46). A class exhibiting such a kind of setting whereby there is diverse cultural outlook expression and a majority preference choice, there may be challenges and merits associated with it. To begin with, multicultural classroom is a can be termed to be sensitive hence prompting the students to achieve their potential (Kymlicka 26). This type of class allows the student to have an understanding of their own culture and appreciate the similarities and differences with other perspectives and cultures in the process of their interaction. The well-known components of such a class are influence of culture in a society, components, which are academic in nature and relevant to the various cultural groups, and the communication skills that can be applied effectively across cultures. In such a case, the teacher can give preparations to all the students so that they may be multicultural competent ii the diverse society. For a democratic classroom, the students and teachers make a decision on what they feel is right to be done (Portelli & Solomon 33). It is more contribution based than authoritative. Various characteristics may be associated with this type of classroom. This may include hand in hand working of the teacher and student to enable students to apply what they learn in their community, application of the learnt points in public and getting feedback. Students get an avenue to escalating degrees of making a choice within the dimensions given by the teachers, collective working of problems to learn content and skills and students who hold to high degrees of excellence in their academic goals and contribution to the community at large (Canter & Canter 77). The teachers consider this method important regardless of the top down approach, which has lost preference more so in the latest century. The students get to take responsibility of their own behavior by establishing their own regulations. Thus, they get to know their strengths thereby creating a collaboration atmosphere. This contradicts the traditional classroom where the teacher makes most decisions and choices for the students. Participation of all the school community in policy making and governing of the system is the way to be put into practice. For the young students, meeting to make reasonable decisions when need arises in the classroom community. Research methodology The effectiveness of democratic and multicultural classroom and its handling can be evaluated. In this report, the research methods included the application of interview and direct observation as the major mechanisms. The students were observed and studied to acknowledge the effects of these methods. Analysis of data after, the collection, the validity of the analyzed data was then carried and the relation to educational philosophy of Bell Hooks. The research was more of quantitative thus the foundation of the objectivity. However, critical theories were also applied as an alternative. The critical research methodology was set in such a manner to relate to the critical theory as discussed by education theories, which were specific to hooks philosophy. This research was in an attempt to enable an explanation to different assumptions that are socially constituted. A subjective Results and discussions In the observations, the estimation was 60-65% were Latino, and 20-25% were whites. There was also a smaller representation of blacks and pacific islanders. The school was also situated in a place where they experience gangs which affects the students’ lives. The class was controlled by the democratic method and discussions were held in order to make major decisions. This helped the students to express their views on ideas. The classroom was managed such that there was an intervention and support on positive behavior. In this manner, the students took control of the class, but they only involved the teacher in supporting them in their process, in the change of behavior. This method took into consideration that most difficult behaviors have a reason thus the students exhibiting them were handled with dignity and compassion (John 122). It was found out that self awareness was very important. For this reason, when one understands his or her culture and the biases threat they may be having against other cultures, then they get to put up a positive relationship with them. It was also found that learning of the various cultural values and practices was essential to the students to learn that everyone has a culture. Attitude towards democracy and education In this section, the interviewed people were more composed of the teachers and school administrator. Most of them seemed not to give a sincere response could be due to fear of the values and bias on the basis of doctrines. However, most of the respondents stated that the democracy in education was not existent. Other reasons behind the respondents experience on education not found to be democratic was due to lack of funding, teacher dictatorship, curriculum and monetary issues. Some respondents felt the presence of democracy. Although this was just a minority, their reasoning was that they were always informed about the cones and pros of issues concerning the school. They also added that they were encouraged to vote once they grow up. Additionally, teachers listened to their thought and involved them in participation, in the curriculum as appropriate. About what the school had left them to perceive democracy, most of the students who responded were less positive. Infect it appeared that, for most students, it was their first time to think about democracy in a critical manner. Some of the respondents openly aired that the school had ignored such an idea (Alexander 78). Some were rather neutral about the whole issue of democracy. These stated that they felt no impact on lack of teachers to teach about it despite having some horrible teachers and failing to think about democracy beyond the class. This research has widely demonstrated that, for the students, democracy analyzed critically on democracy as a philosophy and diversity on a wide range is not embraced. The respondents in this case did not specifically look into the main democratic issues, and the diversity appreciation as part of their way of life almost all the respondents believed that election is the key indicator of democracy. It was also evident from the interview that democracy does not apply for all individuals in the same way. The major point of concern in this document, however, is the relation between democracy and education in connection to diversity. Considering a large number of respondents, the willingness of teachers to shape their values was the very critical in the development of democracy from school to the community other than building positive interaction between the diverse cultures. This includes appreciation of the diverse cultures. Relation to the theories Bell Hooks explains that instead of authoritative teaching skills, the teacher may involve the conversation method and include pedagogy and critical thinking. He father suggests that engaging communal and trusting works better for education systems. In his definition, bell describes the critical thinking to be an approach to an issue which intends to understand the core truth, not only involving the surface view that may be visible so obviously. In order to realize such, questions must be involved. In the process, she father states that the inquisitive nature is usually innate with children (John 56). Pedagogy, on the other hand, gives a picture that learning is an interactive process that takes place between communities in which radical ideas usually are encouraged. Here, the students get the ability to learn from each other and open themselves to share ideas with other participating students. Conversation is the other element torched on by hooks. She refers to it as an n adventure to critical thinking. Through conversing, the participants obtain and give ideas to each other. In her details, she gives a distinction between competitive conversation and true conversation. In this negative based discussion points to competitive conversation. This involves misinformation, prejudice and most aspects of an ill driven talk. Bell’s theory applies to the research findings in that the need to discus and democratize a classroom is brought out clearly. The class being diverse in culture, through the three principles in the theory, they can get to learn about each other’s cultures in an efficient way. The teachers, therefore, should embrace the democratic way of handling the classrooms. Conclusion Considering the research findings and analysis above, it is worth noting that the diverse cultures can be embraced positively to enable expansion in knowledge. This, however, may not be exploited in some cases or maybe looked at in a negative manner rather than a positive way. On the other hand, democracy in a classroom has so far been discussed to be the best learning policy. It, however, has been noted that it may not be demonstrated in some cases due to the teacher’s negligence. A philosopher by the name Bell Hook on a wide angle supports democracy in a learning setting. In her theory, she recommends that three principles can be applied in a learning setting for students. These include: conversation, pedagogy and critical thinking are the major considerations to make in the learning process. This involves the sharing of ideas among the students hence the students learn from each other. This is directly in line with the democratic classroom setting hence relevant to the research. Works Cited Guttmann, Amy. Democratic education. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999. Print. Kymlicka, Will. Multicultural citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print. Patterson, Thomas. The vanishing voter: public involvement in an age of uncertainty. New York: Vintage Books, 2003. Print. Portelli and Solomon. The erosion of democracy in education: from critique to possibilities. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 2001. Print. Canter and Canter. Assertive Discipline: Positive Behavior Management for Today's Classroom. Santa Monica, CA: Lee Canter and Associates, 1992. Print. Dewey, John. Democracy in Education. New York: Macmillan, 1916 print.. Jay, Timothy. What to do When Your Students Talk Dirty. San Jose: CA: Resource Publications, 1996. Print. Neill, Alexander. 1961. Freedom: Not License. New York: Hart, 1961. Print. Rohnke, Karl. Silver Bullets: A Guide to Initiative Problems, Adventure Games, and Trust Activities. Hamilton, MA: Project Adventure, Inc.1984. Print. Read More