Multicultural Education: An Plan of Action and Integration ...



Multicultural Education: An Plan of Action and Integration Into the ClassroomEDU 6525Winter Quarter 2011Betty KrygsheldSeattle Pacific University Banks (1996, p. 288) has stated the goals of multicultural education as five interrelated dimensions: content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy, and empowerment or problem solving. Banks’ goals are interrelated, so it is nearly impossible to select one or two goals without touching on the others. I teach in a school in which the students experience little social inequity themselves. The school is small with very little racial diversity. The community in which this school is located is eighty-six percent white. Overall there is much less diversity than in a larger city setting. The school in which I teach is a private organization, which further reduces the amount of diversity in the school population. In order for my students to be prepared to live in and impact a diverse world, it will be important for my school to actively pursue multicultural education goals and strategies. In particular I want to focus on content integration and equity pedagogy as they relate to my teaching position in a non-diverse school. Banks (1996) writes about integrating information about racial, ethnic, and cultural groups into the curriculum. It is through this integration that stereotypes of various groups are overcome. From Banks’ perspective the most effective way to accomplish this is through the transformative approach. This is most easily seen in the content area of history. In traditional teaching, the learning is often textbook-based and the perspective the student receives is the perspective of the textbook author. Using the transformative approach, students construct knowledge about an event or issue by studying the interpretation of that event or issue from the perspective of different social classes, and ethnic and racial groups (Banks, 1996, p 339). This type of learning gives a much more realistic idea of what actually occurred in history. Banks illustrates the transformative approach to integration of curriculum when he writes of teaching about the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. (1996, p. 340) From a textbook perspective, the movement was the drive toward equal rights for all races of people. For students from a non-diverse school, such as the students I teach, this seems fair but not particularly important. Looking at this lesson from a transformative approach, students read the accounts of people who experienced the inequity such as Jo Ann Gibson Robinson and Rosa Parks. Students construct knowledge of the civil rights movement that is more accurate and transforming than an objective textbook account. The students then begin to understand the effects of segregation on human beings. The students are moved toward seeking out injustices and taking part in “action designed to reform society and make it more democratic” (Banks, 1996 p. 344). I see the need for using the transformative approach most profoundly in teaching about the westward movement as it pertains to the formation of the State of Washington. The textbook I presently use presents this westward movement as a negotiation between the United States government and European countries who had also laid claim to the land. Students are lead to believe that the people who were affected by this negotiation were the United State, who saw Manifest Destiny as their goal, and the European powers. The textbook makes no mention of the nations of Native Americans who were displaced to make way for the spread of democracy. It is important for our students to understand democracy and its value to them, but it is equally important to question whether democracy is extended to the Native Americans who were moved from their homes. To add a transformative approach to this unit on western expansion, prior to teaching the unit I ask my students to choose a tribe of Native Americans from Washington State. The student researches location, clothing, homes, transportation, food, and at least one cultural celebration. Since there is little written history, it is hard to use primary sources. The students are then asked to write a report on that tribe and reproduce an artifact from that tribe. The outcome of this has been very encouraging when it is time to teach the unit on western expansionism. The students are proud of the tribe they have learned about. They are quick to realize that the issues in western expansionism deal not only with the United States and European countries but also with the displacement of “their” tribe. As a result of what I have learned in this multicultural education class I have decided to change the reports the students write just a bit. Previously I have asked the students to write about the tribe and draw a conclusion dealing with what they most admired about the tribe. However I was inspired by the essay written about C. G. Woodson in Banks’ book Multicultural Education: Transformative Knowledge and Action (1996 ). Woodson believed it was important to teach about the contributions that African Americans have made to this nation and its history (Banks, 1996, p.100). He believed that if students learned this, stereotypes could be broken. I think it will be important for my student to draw a conclusion concerning the attributes and life styles practiced by their tribe that are important in our world today. I want my students to see the Native American people as contributing members to society. Without this perspective the Native American people will be marginalized in their eyes. I believe that Banks’ idea of using history and the transformative approach to integrating information about racial, ethnic, and cultural groups into the curriculum is an important step in developing a multicultural nation (1996, p. 339). However, when working with young children I think that those ideas do not necessary lead directly to social action. Young children do not necessarily grasp the full concept of history. As they learn history they tend to put the events and issues they study into the present time. As I teach fourth graders the history and culture of Native Americans in my class, I must be aware that my students are often using this information to construct a picture of how Native Americans live in the year 2011. For these students then, the Native American becomes frozen in time. A classroom illustration can illuminate my point. In our studies of Coastal Native Americans our class made tribal masks. They were quite impressive. I commented to the students that we would have a Native American coming to speak to us, and I was excited to show him their work. One child was quite frightened. Her response was, “That’s not safe. He might kill us.” This child has been exposed to many stereotypes concerning the Native American. Further she has learned that historically Native Americans were hunters. In today’s society, it is simply a small leap for a child to link hunting and violence. It is important to very purposefully link these students with Native American people that live today. If this is not done, the Native American people will be dismissed by my students as unimportant in today’s society and stereotypes will persist. I have decided to borrow an old concept from the Intergroup Movement. In 1954, Gordon Allport hypothesized that prejudice can be reduced by interracial contact if the contact is cooperative in nature, the individuals experience equal status, and contact is sanctioned by authorities (Corkalo, 2011). Research done in integrated schools suggests that interracial contact enables children to find the similarities they have and thus reduces prejudice (Goodwin, 2008). I have decided that it will be important to try to establish an email pen pal relationship with my students and the students in one of the Native American tribal schools. My hope is that the children can correspond about everyday items like what they like to do after school, and what subject they enjoy the most in school. It is important that my children see Native Americans as real, contemporary peers. Prejudice reduction through interracial contact will be one major action item and take away from this class. The idea that every student deserves an equitable education is one of the hallmarks of the multicultural education movement. Equity pedagogy is an important part of being certain that every child receives an equitable education. Banks suggests that equity pedagogy “exists when educators modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse ethnic, cultural, gender, and social class groups” (1996, p.338) . Modifications in teaching strategies cover a vast array of strategies such as using multiple intelligences, constructionism, project-based learning, cooperative learning and everything in between. Banks states what every teacher knows: every child is unique, and every child has his own learning style. Every child deserves an equitable education; therefore it is imperative that the teacher know her students and use strategies that will help them learn. Banks’ point however is more specific. He is pointing out the tendency of certain ethnic groups to learn more efficiently when a specific teaching strategy is used. Banks points out the tendency of African American and Mexican American children to make more academic gains when cooperative learning is used in the classroom (1996, p. 338) . Although I teach in a school with little racial diversity, I recognize my class is diverse in learning styles. I need to be aware of the individual learning styles in my class. However, I think I must go farther. If my students are going to live successfully in a diverse world, they too must understand that the people they will solve problems with in the work places of the future will have individual ways of working problems out. My students must be exposed to strategies such as cooperative learning so they will be able to work successfully with those who use this style of problem solving. These are the thoughts I will use to encourage myself when the cooperative group work gets a bit noisy and tedious. I have learned much in this multicultural education class, and I will use many of the ideas. I still have one area of concern as it relates to multicultural education. I, like Schlesinger (1998), continue to be concerned about unity in the United States. Banks recognizes the importance of unity, but he suggests that unity is a decision to be made by a people rather than an imposition of a set of common values as was attempted through the process of assimilation. Banks asserts that the idea of assimilation lacks the moral authority to achieve unity and true democracy (1996, p. 335). I believe that Banks and those who drive the multicultural movement must define this stance. On what do they base morality? What is the ‘moral’ thing to do? Having lived in a highly segregated area for many years I am aware that what is moral to some when it comes to race relations is not the same as it is for others. For many people in our nation, morality means staying with and promoting ‘your own kind.’ Without clear articulation of the basis of the moral stand we take, we as a nation run the risk of fragmentation. While I concur with Banks on the superiority of truly educating all people so they are able to reach for truly democratic ideals, I would also agree with Schlesinger’s concern that fragmentation in this nation is a clear threat to democracy. Multiculturalists must articulate the basis for their claim of moral superiority more clearly. Multicultural education is important for all students since all students live in an increasingly multicultural nation. It is important that I not only use multicultural strategies in my teaching but also show leadership in this area within my school. In an effort to show leadership I have also rewritten two of my unit overviews to more clearly articulate the multicultural aspects that are taught in the units. Although I use these aspects when teaching the units, I must be able to clearly articulate these ideas to the teachers with whom I share my units. Those two rewritten unit overviews have been submitted with this paper.ReferencesBanks, J. A. (Ed.) (1996). Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledgeeducation, transformative knowledge and Action.action. New York: Teachers College Press.Corkalo, D. (2011 ). Peace education - The development of peace and its basic principles. Retrieved from Goodwin, S . (2008.). Cross-racial understanding and reduction of racial prejudice. Retrieved from HYPERLINK " taning_and_Reduction_of_Racial_Prejudice.pdf" taning_and_Reduction_of_Racial_Prejudice.pdf HYPERLINK "" \l "ixzz1GUNGwmvL" Multicultural education - historyEducation - History, the dimensionsDimensions of multicultural education, evidenceMulticultural Education, Evidence of the effectivenessEffectiveness of multicultural educationMulticultural Education. (2011). In Education Encyclopedia: State University. Retrieved from Schlesinger, A. M. Jr. (1998). The disuniting of America: Reflections on a multicultural society. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ................
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