This tab contains ideas and suggestions on how to physically evolve your current classroom into a multicultural classroom. Here are the main topics in this tab:
Introduction
- Guest Speakers
- Class Meetings
- Teaching History from Multiple Perspectives
- Multilingual Instruction and Curriculum
- Classroom Resources
- Classroom Organization
Resources
References
Introduction:
Changing the environment or structure of a classroom is just the tip of the iceberg when becoming a multicultural educator. Just remember that multicultural education is a never ending process that continuously needs to be changed and adapted to the classroom environment. Multicultural education is not a specific subject taught five days a week. It isn’t a guest speaker visiting from another country. It isn’t a series of books for students to read. It isn’t celebrating Black History month or Hispanic Heritage month. It isn’t observing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech during the March on Washington. Multicultural education is ALL of these things and more. It is an ongoing process. One of the most essential aspects of becoming a multicultural teacher is establishing a strong multicultural environment. This page will show you several examples of how you can be proactive in developing a multicultural classroom, in your process of becoming a multicultural educator.
This is a brief introduction to multicultural education from Dr. Banks. Dr. James A Banks, the Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington- Seattle, created five dimensions of multicultural education. 1.) Content Integration 2.) Knowledge Construction 3.) Equity Pedagogy 4.) Prejudice Reduction 5.) An Empowering School Culture. This following video defines these five dimensions.
“Sharing life experiences helps students get to know one another and can generate a sense of belonging” (Walkingstick & Bloom, 2013, p. 58).
- Guest Speakers:
Plain and simple. Have people who are experts about other cultures talk to your class. Whether the speakers are parents, community members, or other respected individuals their knowledge and experiences will be richer than any textbook and the students will have an opportunity to interact with the speaker. This is a simple and enriching step in creating a multicultural classroom.
“Another way teachers can support cultural competence was demonstrated by Gertrude Winston, a White woman who has taught school for 40 years. Winston worked hard to involve parents in her classroom. She created an "artist or craftsperson-inresidence" program so that the students could both learn from each other's parents and affirm cultural knowledge” (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 161).
- Class Meetings:
The class meeting is a great way to establish ground rules for acceptance in any classroom. A class meeting is a time where “students share compliments, acknowledge and provide solutions for their concerns, and share their life experiences” (Walkingstick & Bloom, 2013, p. 57).
- These meetings should be held periodically (I personally enjoy having community meetings once a week), but not so often that students become bored with the idea. The sharing of life experiences is a great place to begin the implementation of your multicultural classroom foundation.
- During the first meeting you (the teacher) should begin by saying something along the lines of “our class meetings are a place where everyone should feel safe and free to express who they are, what concerns they have, and really anything about themselves so we all know what makes you you.” This isn’t a place for people to point fingers or judge others for differences. The students MUST understand that this is the beginning of building a safe classroom environment. Explain who you are, what your background is, and that you are someone who students can always come to with any concerns. You must express that you are accepting of all students, with no reservations, or the sense of community won’t be earned.
- When students are ready to share, introduce the talking stick. This can be any object (I use a rain stick, which can be shaken if students begin interrupting the speaker). The rule about the talking stick is that NO one except for the person holding the talking stick may speak or interrupt in any fashion. This teaches students how valuable it is to listen to their peers and how to respect one another.
- Topics for the class meeting should be planned ahead of time to create a meaningful discussion that is structured. These topics could range anywhere from respect or responsibility, to cultural differences, civil rights, or the roles of each gender in these cultures. The topics can really be anything that you think your class could benefit from discussing.
- Above is a graphic organizer used by Walkingstick and Bloom (2013, p. 56) to show how class meetings fit into the building of a multicultural classroom environment. This is an example taken from a classroom focusing on Native American values and culture, but it can easily be adapted into any classroom that has a variety of cultures represented. The idea of the classroom meeting is modeled after Native American tribal meetings thus making class meetings multicultural!
- Teaching History from Multiple Perspectives:
When teaching history take the time to view conflicts, wars, important events, and everyday living from different perspectives. Have students analyze and discuss what the different viewpoints in the given situations could have been. A great example of this could be a lesson about the United States expansion west. The history textbooks tell the story from the settlers (white) perspective. How would this have looked from the Native American (non white) perspective? How would this have looked if you were a Buffalo watching the settlers interact with Native Americans? This video briefly discusses a school where a teacher did just that:
I would also recommend the book Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (2008). This is a great reference for those teachers who are brave enough to teach against the textbook when it comes to American history. Students will love to learn that textbooks don’t always tell the WHOLE truth. This will help create critical thinkers in your multicultural classroom.
- Multilingual Instruction and Curriculum:
“Now he refuses to sing his native songs, play with his Indian artifacts, learn his language, or participate in his sacred ceremonies.” (Lake, 1990, p. 3).
Expand your students horizons by introducing them to different languages. Some students may already know multiple languages. This is a huge untapped resource! Utilize these students and praise them for their bilingualism. Give them the opportunity to teach their classmates, or just you. This will prevent any student feeling as the Native American youth did in the quote from Lake listed above. Teaching a new language is going to be as difficult as you would like to make it. Realistically it could be as simple as going over colors in Spanish during an art lesson or teaching simple numbers in French as a math warm up. Simple displays of multiple languages will prepare students for a multicultural life after they leave the classroom. You or your students can quickly learn how to convert English words into different languages using Google Translate. An art/history lesson could also include the study of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics or even the calligraphy of some Asian languages (i.e. Japanese or Chinese).
The reverse can also be said about English Language Learners (ELL). The more inclusion in the classroom and interaction with English speaking peers will result in a better understanding and mastery of English for the ELL student. “For new immigrant students, being in classes with English speakers is critical to mastering a new language” (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 37).
Books can also be read to the class in English first and then in another language. Ask students to compare and contrast what similarities they might have heard between the two languages while listening to the story. This could also be a lesson idea used to talk about expression and emotion in stories. Books written in English about other cultures give students an opportunity to study or examine multiple cultures through a literary standpoint.
- Classroom Resources:
To create the feeling and visual image of a multicultural classroom materials and manipulatives may be brought in and put on display. Examples of these resources could be, but not limited to:
- Posters or maps displaying other countries and different cultures.
- Pictures that you or students have taken that show multicultural experiences.
- Artifacts from foreign countries that members of your classroom or you have collected.
- Books that teach, inform, or tell stories about other cultures.
- Magazines or newspapers from places other than where you live. This will give students a better understanding of what day to day life may be like in the given culture.
- This is a video of how one teacher created a multicultural classroom (lesson plans included in the video!).
- Classroom Organization:
This section contains several ideas on how to arrange your classroom to create a multicultural feel that allows interactions between students.
The small group classroom allows students to work in a small group setting of three or four. This is great for ELL students who can benefit from these peer interactions. Small groups may also help create a safer feeling when students are discussing their heritage, culture, and beliefs. Group work is a large part of many cultures and this arrangement may be welcoming to students from community oriented backgrounds.
The split classroom is ideal for debates or discussions of opposing sides. Lessons teaching about different perspectives could benefit from this setup. This can also make a discussion more manageable by creating two smaller groups. Separate discussions may happen on each side of the room without disturbing one another.
The circle arrangement is ideal for classrooms that have class meetings. It forms a sense of community by allowing everyone to face each other. There shouldn’t be anyone inside or outside of the circle. This is a place that shows that everyone is equal and has the right to be heard. A talking stick could be used in this setting to establish respect and recognition of the speaker. This ties in with some Native American cultures according to Walkingstick and Bloom (2013) making it a great exhibit of multicultural education.
The horseshoe set up allows for discussion to take place with a central speaker. While not ideal for group work, this style of classroom gives students the feeling of community by everyone facing a common point. Debates and whole group discussions are most beneficial from this arrangement.
References
Case, A. (2013, February 26). The 5 dimensions of multicultural education. Retrieved
Colon, Y. (2010, April 7). Multicultural teaching. Retrieved from
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America’s commitment
Holladay, J. (2013, March 22). Multiculturalism in the Modern World: Jen Holladay at
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching: The case for culturally relevant
pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159-65.
Lake, R. (1990). An Indian father’s plea. Education Digest, 53(3), 20-23.
Loewen, J.W. (2008). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history
Walkingstick, J., & Bloom, L. (2013). Creating Community and Support Using Native
American Values in an Inclusive Third Grade Setting: An Action Research Case
Study. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 7(1), 55-78.
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