Multiculturalism as a Way to Bring Cultures Together - Essay Example

Multiculturalism Some people define multiculturalism as a way to bring cultures together. They say that it is a way to study many cultures and get to understand how we can learn from each other. According to the readings we have studied multiculturalism is more about people tolerating and understanding the differences that people have and learning to embrace them in some way. This does not mean that another culture will be totally accepted but if everyone is the position of understanding they can at least get an understanding if the differences. Many people say that we need to celebrate the differences in people instead of pushing them away. We have to get rid of the stereotypes and learn to embrace the strengths that everyone brings to the table. Instead of ridiculing someone because they are different we are to seek the commonalities so that everyone is included in whatever we are doing. When you are in a classroom it is very important to take into consideration the diversity of cultures that are represented. In many school districts Americans struggle with the idea that they have to teach English as a second language to those children who come from Mexico. It is important to make sure that all children are included in the classroom by encouraging them to explore their differences. Some teachers bring in readings about different cultures and create activities around them. Children today do not only have racial differences because of the extended families that raise them. Today a teacher my have children who are disabled, who come from single parent homes and those who come from gay or lesbian homes. These are all a part of the multicultural arena in the class room and all should be made to feel comfortable in their learning. Gender bias in the classroom is not new. There have been several studies done to show that boys and girls receive different educations in most classrooms. In elementary schools many girls are looked over when they raise their hand to answer a question in favor of a boy to answer. In other classrooms it is the boys who are getting the lower grades and who are being referred to special education classrooms. Sometimes this bias comes because of the way the teacher perceives the individual learners in each category. Some teachers seem to socialize young girls towards what they expect a feminine individual to do. They also pressure the boys to accept the role that someone masculine would assume. Chapman (2008) suggests that education teaches girls that they are not equal to boys and there are behaviors that are accepted from males that are not tolerated from girls. Many textbooks also continue the gender bias in the way they are written. As an example, textbooks often leave out the contributions that women have made to any subject especially math and science. Women are also left out of technology texts in favor of men who have been the inventors and makers of history. In order to correct the situation textbooks should be ones that give an equal understanding of what men and women have contributed to history and to different fields that students study. If the textbook does not display this information the teacher should bring in extra reading to supplement the information. Children should be treated equally inside the classroom and a discussion about proper decorum for everyone should be provided. Teachers will need to be brought to task about their own gender biases and they should be given strategies that they can use to change their attitudes around this bias. The challenge for teachers is that gender bias is a part of our culture so it is ingrained in their thinking. It will take effort to make the changes. All teachers have bias because they are human beings. When it comes to racial stereotypes they are brought up understanding certain things about certain types of people. In the classroom it is difficult because on the one hand teachers are not supposed to have these biases but sometimes they cannot get past them. When you look at student placement more whites and Asian children are placed in regular and advanced classrooms more often than minority children. To avoid these inappropriate placement teachers must examine the learning style of the children they teach. Although standardized tests tell one part of a story they do not tell the entire story for the individual child. A measure should be created beyond standardized testing because it is already biased against minority students who have a more hands on way of learning. Teachers should also involve the families to find out how better to work with their children and schools should involve them on boards and community committees to better understand the needs of minority students. Bringing parents into the classroom to learn along with their children while teaching children to learn they make sure that their children are more involved in their overall education. Schools that encourage this parental involvement help parents to feel more involved. The two barriers to involvement might be: 1) parents get too involved with their own child and they become a hindrance to the classroom instead of a help. This can be resolved by giving parents an orientation as to what is expected from them in the classroom and how they can be involved collaboratively with the full classroom. 2) Students may try and get favors from their parents instead of paying attention in class. Children must be educated as to the role of their parent within the classroom. One of the best ways to support multiculturalism in the classroom is to help students learn about all cultures. This will take students beyond what a textbook might say and totally immerse them into the culture. Teachers can bring additional information about the culture they are studying and have students create projects around the culture. As an example, a teacher may bring in information about Africa and how the slaves were taken because of their advanced agricultural society. They can talk about African American inventors and why Eli Whitney was given the patent for the cotton gin instead of his slave who actually invented it. They could have students do their own reports about specific issues that they are interested in and present the information to the class. In every classroom whether it is music class, English or history teachers could bring in the contributions of other people within a culture. In English they could read literature from different authors in elementary school or have these authors on their reading lists for high school. They could bring in the contributions of mathematicians who were women, gay or from a different culture other than Anglo. One of the reasons why multiculturalism is challenged is because people lack the education about other cultures. Teachers must educate their students so that they will learn to be more tolerant of other people. Teachers can talk about current events that the children are struggling with daily. An example of this is when there was so much talk about keeping Mexicans out of the country. Since we are supposed to be a land where everyone is welcomed, teachers could talk about both sides of the controversy. This would at least help students to think about cultures differently. All of these methods will create a friendly environment to discuss more around cultures. Some of the strategies that other educators have used to create and promote multiculturalism in their classrooms include: 1. Asking questions in different questioning styles -- this can allow a student to answer the question through their cultural communication style. As an example, a teacher might ask students what they would do in certain situations that would allow the student to tell something about their culture I their answer. 2. Create group learning with different cultures -- when teachers have a diversity of students in their classroom (racial, gay/lesbian, gender, disabilities) they can mix them up into group learning so that each can be exposed to the others culture. This will promote a better understanding of those within that culture when they are working together for a common goal. 3. Bring in speakers of different languages - so that students understand that English is not the only language spoken in the United States, speakers who are bilingual can help students gain exposure to the sounds of different languages. 4. Actively involve students in learning -- students learn more by getting them involved in small groups, in interactive role plays or in projects that have them working together than they do with lecture or tests. Multiculturalism is not a difficult addition to the classroom when teachers think ahead about their lesson plans. This is not something that can be put into a testing situation necessarily because it is an actual piece of learning instead of going towards a test. References Chapman, A. (2008). Gender Bias in Education. Research Room EdChange Multicultural Pavilion. Retrieved February 17, 2009 from http://www.edchange.org/ multiculturall/papers/genderbias.html. Read More