Multicultural Education Principles

 Assessment

Employ forms of assessment that reduce bias and more accurately reflect students' literacy achievement.  Maintain equally positive expectations for all students.  Utilize alternate forms of assessment for student response.  Create assignments that are success oriented.

Rhodes & Shanklin (1993), Kendall (1996), Banks et al. (2001), Sleeter (1996).

 Curriculum

Multicultural education is not an entity unto itself; it must be embedded within the curriculum. “Critical multicultural education” is achieved by employing skillful teaching, modeling and practicing critical thinking skills across the curriculum.  Students that learn to think critically about their perceptions of the world - the racism, the injustices, etc. will begin to envision the larger goal of changing the world.

Guyton (2000), Sleeter (1996).         

 Role of the Teacher

Construct teaching and learning experiences that broaden and expand student's perceptions as well as conceptions of the world. Utilize creative teaching techniques and guide student's to draw upon past and present social and historical circumstances.  Reconnect students with cultural models within their own traditions.  Literature is an ideal vehicle for accomplishing this goal.

Abdullah, S., Kamberelis, G. & McGinley, W. (1992), Sleeter, C. E. (1996).

 Learning and the Learner

Students must possess a degree of cross-cultural understanding  - “the existence of an “interconnected world”. (Bennett, C. 1999).  Teachers must strive toward the goal of socially, culturally, and historically relevant literacy pedagogies as a means of assisting students to use literacy productively in order to achieve a greater degree of educational, social and economic advantage. (Abdullah, S., Kamberelis, G. & McGinley, W. 1992)

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Multicultural Vignette #1

Miss Allen always looked forward to the first parent conferences of the year held in December.  She had already invited the parents in twice formally, and had always had an “open door” policy; many parents were frequent visitors and willingly volunteered their services.  Due to the large number of students between Miss Allen's morning and afternoon Kindergartens her conferences were limited to10 minutes each. 

“I'm very pleased with Anthony, Mrs. Federico, he has made wonderful progress and the help that you give him at home is really appreciated – teamwork certainly pays off!” Miss Allen said in a complementary tone. “Miss Allen, we are very happy with Anthony's school work, we have another matter we would like to speak to you about …Yurev” they both said in unison.  “Yurev?  He is such a wonderful child!” Miss Allen interjected.

“Our Anthony came home a few weeks ago talking about being in an orphanage and wanted to know if we would ever send him there, would we go visit him, would he be sent away to another family…” Mr. Federico announced in a tone denoting anger.  “He said that another boy in his classroom, Yurev, shared that he was from an orphanage in Russia during a “circle time” and he has mentioned it several times since and you allow him to do that?” he continued.

“The children and I share during morning circle, each child is afforded the opportunity to share, but is never forced to do so. Yurev did come from an orphanage – in fact he has only been in this country a short time – less than a year I believe” Miss Allen replied matter-of-factly. “I'm sure you feel badly for Yurev, and we are happy he has a home here in the United States, but we feel, in fact other parents we know also feel that it is inappropriate for you to let him share that with his classmates – they are too young to hear all that” continued Mr. Federico.

“I feel very strongly that it is important for the children to share their thoughts and feelings, for the children to really get an opportunity to get to know one another – in fact the focus of our curriculum, which encompasses many multicultural concepts and activities stresses the importance of getting to know one another and respecting each child's individuality” Miss Allen stated confidently.

“Anthony does not appear to be upset when Yurev shares his stories, and please let me assure you that I would not allow any sharing that I feel would be inappropriate for the other children to hear.  In fact, Anthony and Yurev have struck up a friendship in the classroom, and very frequently choose to work with one another.  Anthony is a very kind, caring and sensitive child with a big heart.  I think is wonderful that he is expressing his concerns and questions regarding orphanages rather than keeping them to himself” said Miss Allen.  Mr. And Mrs. Federico agreed that that was a “good thing” and assured Miss Allen that they would write a note or call if any further concerns arose.  They proudly departed with Anthony's work folder and wished Miss Allen a nice holiday and vacation.

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Multicultural Vignette #2

“This story takes place in both Japan and America…” Miss Allen began as an introduction to Yoko's Paper Cranes.  “The characters in this book are Japanese….” Before Miss Allen could complete her introduction James blurted out “Japanese people are from Japan!” “You are absolutely right – good for you James,” Miss Allen replied.

“ Teacher, may I use your pointer and show everyone where Japan is?”  Shelby asked quietly. Miss Allen handed her the pointer and Shelby confidently strolled over towards the map of the world and pointed to Japan. “Wonderful Shelby!” gleamed Miss Allen. There were five bingo chips in the small see-through pouch on a hook indicating that the children had already “read” 5 books that were set in or had characters from Japan.

“I remember, I remember,” cried Cassie.  Again, correctly anticipating Miss Allen's next question. The Japanese girl's name was Sadako!” One of the first read-alouds Miss Allen used in September was Children Around the World, which was permanently as well as prominently displayed by the map of the world.  Each year Miss Allen's students thoroughly enjoyed this book as valuable resource.

“Japan is made up of islands, some people eat with chopsticks – Sadako did!” Lou added enthusiastically. “They sleep on the floor,” Joe offered as Marie quickly interjected “Joe, they sleep on mattresses that roll that are on the floor.” Marie had recalled:

            “I sleep on a mattress called a futon.

            At night, I unroll it on the floor.

            In the morning, I roll it up and put it away.”

            (Children from Around the World)

Charles and Nick shouted in unison “They have video games just like ours!”  “OK now, let's all settle down, I'm so proud you remember all of that information,” Miss Allen stated. “Now children, let's get back to our story!” she said excitedly as the class quickly settled down, all eyes were upon her.

A prereading discussion followed which included discussing the vocabulary words:  grandmother, grandfather, crane, origami, mail.  Miss Allen had bird books and encyclopedias on hand for “crane”, she demonstrated the art of origami by making a paper crane, and reviewed the concepts involved in mailing a letter. The students recalled immediately that they had previously completed a chart on the topic of grandparents.  Kevin volunteered to locate the chart book labeled “Family” at the Book Center and Stephen wheeled over to assist him – his lapboard was the perfect size for “transporting goods.”

“My 'Second Mother', oh … my grandmother is coming over tonight and she's making lasagna, then we are all…” Alicia began.  “That's wonderful.  Now Alicia, how are you related to your grandmother?” Miss Allen inquired with a gentle voice. Alicia hesitated before answering confidently “Nana is my other mother.” “Very often grandmothers seem like they are “Second Mothers”, in fact Nana is your mother's mother.  Your mother has shared with me that in your home your grandmother enjoys being called your 'Second Mother', that's very sweet, grandmothers often are referred to in many ways.”

Miss Allen vividly recalled the afternoon earlier in the school year when Mrs. Perez had returned to school with Alicia shortly after dismissal and insisted on speaking with her.  Earlier that day the class had been discussing grandparents and Alicia had offered a similar answer as today, at which time Miss Allen's response was “Alicia, you have one mother, your grandmother is your mom's mother, just like Hosea's grandmother is his mom's mother.”  This was all said very matter-of-factly, nothing else had been said yet Alicia had arrived home crying saying that Miss Allen told her that Nana was not her “second mother”. Yes, Miss Allen recalled the day as if it were yesterday.

Mrs. Perez shouted angrily, “Miss Allen, who do you think you are telling my little Alicia that Nana is not her “second mother.”  Miss Allen had tried to calm her down, as Alicia was looking on wide-eyed, with tears running down her face.  Once Mrs. Perez had finally calmed down they had all sat down together at a nearby table.

“My mother lives with us and we both do everything around the house and take care of our children, my children love Nana and think of her as their “2^nd. Mother,” Nana loves being called that and I see nothing wrong in having my Alicia think of her Nana as a 2^nd. Mother.” Mrs. Perez stated firmly. Miss Allen addressed Mrs. Perez, with her voice a bit shaky. “I apologize for any misunderstanding I may have caused, if you have a moment I would like to share the content of the lesson on grandparents you are referring to. We were having a discussion about grandparents, and we were brainstorming how our grandparents may be related to us.  Many of the children do not understand that concept, and when Alicia stated that her Nana was her 2^nd. Mother I wanted the other children to understand the relationship between family members.  I think it is very special that Alicia thinks of her grandmother in that way, yet I also have the responsibility to have the children understand …” Just then Mrs. Perez spotted the Perez family picture and dictated story underneath the picture.

            I love my family.

            There are 10 people in my family.

I have two brothers, three sisters, one mother, one father, and Nana who I like to call my 2^nd. Mother, and Papa.

Mrs. Perez was able to “see” Alicia's story had been written as she would have liked – indeed the reference to her Nana was right there.  She quickly glanced at the other family stories making note that many of the children did not live with both parents, some children lived with their grandparents, and two of the children were with “2^nd. Mothers”, their reference to their foster parents. 

Miss Allen commented how unique each child's story was and how each child enjoyed sharing and hearing about their classmates families.  Alicia piped up “Miss Allen said we are going to put these in our booklets that we can take home at the end of the year!”  Unfortunately the Language Arts time had run out, Yoko's Paper Cranes would have to wait until later in the day – the children quickly lined up for Music.

Children Around the World, Donata Montari. (2002).  Toronto, Canada:  Book Art Inc.

Yoko's Paper Cranes . Rosemary Wells. (2001). New York, New York: HypernionBooks for Children.

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Multicultural Resources

 Journal Articles

Children's Books – Universals of Childhood.  The Reading Teacher, 51 (5), 424-433.

Children's books published in countries around the world are featured.  “Through international books, young readers recognize the similarities among children around the globe as well as the unique features of other children's experiences and circumstances”.

Clark, Leilani, DeWolf, Sheridan & Clark, Carl. (1992). Teaching Teachers to Avoid Having Culturally Assaultive Classrooms.  Young Children (7), 42-49.

Labbo, Linda D. & Field, Sherry L. (1998). Visiting South Africa through Children's Literature:  Is it worth the trip?  -  South African educators provide the answer.  The Reading Teacher, 51 (6), 464-475.

Menkart, Deborah. (1993).  Multicultural Education:  Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms.  NCBE Program Information Guide Series (16).

Miller, Howard M. (Ed.). (1998).  Teaching and Learning About Cultural Diversity – Victims, heroes, and just plain folks.  The Reading Teacher, 51 (7), 602-604.

Professional Books

Bennett, Christine I.  Comprehensive Multicultural Education – Theory and Practice.(1999).  4^th. Ed. Boston, MA:  Allyn and Bacon.

Holt, David & Moooney, Bill, Eds. (1994).  Ready-To-Tell Tales – Sure-Fire Stories From America's Favorite Storytellers.  Little Rock, Arkansas:  August House Publishers, Inc.

Kendall, Frances E. (1996).  Diversity in the Classsroom.- New Approaches to the Education of Young Children.  2^nd. Ed. New York, NY:  Teachers College Press.

King, Edith W., Chipman, Marilyn & Cruz-Janzen, Marta. (1994).  Educating Young Children in a Diverse Society.  Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Neugebauer, Bonnie (Ed.). Alike and Different:  Exploring Our Humanity with Young Children.  Washington, D.C.: NAEYC.

Ramsey, Patricia G. (1998).  Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World – Multicultural Education for Young Children. 2^nd. Ed. New York, NY:  Teachers College Press.

Siccone, Frank. (1995).  Celebrating Diversity – Building Self-Esteem in Today's Multicultural Classrooms.  Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Sleeter, Christine E. & McLaren, Peter L. Eds. (1995).  Multicultural Education, Critical Pedagogy, and the Politics of Difference . Albany, NY:  State University of New York Press.

Thomson, Barbara J. (1993). Words Can Hurt You – Beginning A Program Of Anti-Bias Education. Reading, MA:  Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Web sites

http://www.unesco.org/education/index

UNESCO – dedicated to the promotion of cultural diversity and education in efforts to balance human and ecological needs.

http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/equity/

Resources about issues regarding equity and cultural diversity in multicultural materials

http://www.worldculture.com/index.html

Comprehensive site filled with world culture resources.  Included are country capitals, world currency, foreign language on-line dictionaries, country e-mail contacts, cuisine, headline news, and embassies.  A monthly contest tests cultural knowledge as students travel to five nations to research questions.

http://webap.abcnews.com/countrysearch/countryserarch3.asp

Compare world cultures by category, or go directly to a country for detailed information.

http://www.neat-schoolhouse.org/Classroom/Social_Studies/Multicultural/Multicultural.html

Wonderful resources for multicultural lessons, projects, and research tools for cultural studies.  Dozens and dozens of web links.

http://www.nebe.gwu.edu

The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education

Journals

Rethinking Schools

111E. Keefe Avenue

Milwaukee, WI.  53212

Multicultural Education

Published quarterly by National Association of Multicultural Education

Caddo Gap Press

3145 Geary Boulevard Suite 275 San Francisco, CA.  94118. (1-415-750-9978)

Teaching Tolerance

400 Washington Avenue

Montgomery, AL  361-4

(Teaching Tolerance magazine is mailed twice a year at no charge to educators.  Published by Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal and educational foundation). 

Order Dept.: FAX: 1-334-264-7310

Educational Materials

Different and the Same:  Helping children Identify and Prevent Prejudice10 videocassette series, with Teacher's Guide, Training Workshop Guide and video. 

GPN

P.O. Box 80669

Lincoln, NE.  68501-0669

1-800-228-4630

Designed for Grades 1-3 this program utilizes appealing animal puppets to portray school children who are diverse in appearance and background.  In each program the characters tackle a different diversity issue.  Different and the Same principles of fairness, awareness, inclusion and respect.

Many Faces:  Celebrating Cultural Diversity

A literature-based multicultural program for students in grades K-0.

Troll communications.1-800-020-8765. 

Celebrate Reading

Literature based comprehensive Reading program.  Celebrate Reading is comprised of anthologies that contain fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that celebrates a diversity of cultures, experiences, and ideas.

Scott-Foresman Co.

Second Step – a Violence-Prevention Curriculum

Second Step is a curriculum designed to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children and increase their level of social competence.  It accomplishes this by teaching skills in empathy, impulse control and anger management.  Lesson cards depict a wide variety of cultures.

Available from:

Committee for Children

2203 Airport Way South, Suite 500

Seattle, WA.  98134-2127

www.cfchildren.org

1-900-634-4449

Professional Development

Primary Source

Primary Source is a nonprofit center for multicultural and global education that offers professional development and curriculum resources to teachers and school communities.  The center promotes social studies education that is historically accurate, culturally inclusive and explicitly concerned with racism and other forms of discrimination.

Primary Source

P.O. Box 381771

Cambridge, MA  02238

1-617-923-9933

http://www.primarysource.org

Primary Source Newsletter – Re: SOURCE

125 Walnut Street

Watertown, MA  02472-4-52

1-617-923-9933