In this chapter, Taylor provides an overview of race and ethnicity, how they affect a student's identity, and how educators can play an important role in embracing ethnicity as change agents.
As Dr. Cantu noted in his lecture, the United States Census Bureau now lists 15 separate racial categories. Fifteen! While these categories are probably needed for accuracy in the count as they relate to the varied immigrants residing in our country, I believe it is also indicative of today's politically correct society. Instead of denoting oneself as white, black, or Asian, we now have a multitude of choices.
Of course this is affecting our students in various ways -- in my experience in rural settings, the students would ask why African Americans include "African" in front of American. "Does that mean I have to say I'm American American?" they would ask. I attempted to explain that technically, they could say they were Irish American or Italian American, or any other category that described from which their ancestors came. The inevitable response? "I'm from Delavan. My parents are from Delavan. My grandparents are from Delavan. My great-grandparents are from Delavan. Why can't I just say American?"
Naturally, this would evolve into a lively debate about immigration, ancestry, and cultural heritage. If I were still in the classroom, I would pounce on this opportunity to engage the students even further by encouraging them to research their ancestry and use the social action theory to advance their knowledge by partnering with an urban school and comparing our findings via websites and blog posts. By doing this, I believe I would be following Cornel West's advice to end the truncation of race discussions ... and emphasize how we're all Americans now.
My question for the class: how can we as educators take off the color-coded prism through which we view our students?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Chapter 2
The second chapter of the textbook describes on the current state of education for diverse students in the United States, including various reports on the progress (or lack thereof) of fourth and eighth grade math and reading scores and the gap in scores in diverse populations. Taylor also provides his four causal aspects of those gaps: high poverty schools, ill-equipped schools and teachers, inadequate facilities, and tracking of students.
My reflection on this chapter will focus on the utilization of Bank’s four approaches to curriculum reform, Gardner’s multiple intelligences, and de Bono’s thinking hats to develop a culturally diverse classroom.
As an educator, I strived to incorporate multiculturalism into my high school special education curriculum with both the additive and social action approaches. I would make efforts to provide different perspectives of issues, and encourage my students to discuss and analyze those points of view. I would also incorporate real social action into that discussion and analysis by assigning and encouraging community involvement as a culminating unit activity.
For example, I had a 17-year-old junior who had become enamored of Adolf Hitler after watching several programs about the dictator on History Channel. This student would frequently quote Hitler in classroom discussions, draw swastikas on his notebooks, and make non sequiturs in conversations about the German “genius.” In an effort to use his fascination with the ruler as motivation to learn, I wrote several stand-alone units about the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” and genocide.
When this student realized that not only Jews – but also people with learning disabilities -- were exterminated, I saw the proverbial light bulb shine over his head. He continued to show interest in the Hitler topic, but instead began writing his essays from the other point of view – the victims. The culminating activity was participation in the reading of names at the Holocaust Memorial at Grand Prairie; I’m proud to say my student participated and wrote an article for our classroom newsletter about his experience.
This anecdote illustrates how an educator can provide develop a culturally diverse classroom with various curriculum approaches, utilization of a student’s specific learning intelligence (in this case, verbal/linguistic), and a thinking hat (in this case, green for alternatives and new ideas).
My question for this class is: how can we better utilize the transformation approach in the curriculum when dealing with cultural, racial, and other diversity issues?
My reflection on this chapter will focus on the utilization of Bank’s four approaches to curriculum reform, Gardner’s multiple intelligences, and de Bono’s thinking hats to develop a culturally diverse classroom.
As an educator, I strived to incorporate multiculturalism into my high school special education curriculum with both the additive and social action approaches. I would make efforts to provide different perspectives of issues, and encourage my students to discuss and analyze those points of view. I would also incorporate real social action into that discussion and analysis by assigning and encouraging community involvement as a culminating unit activity.
For example, I had a 17-year-old junior who had become enamored of Adolf Hitler after watching several programs about the dictator on History Channel. This student would frequently quote Hitler in classroom discussions, draw swastikas on his notebooks, and make non sequiturs in conversations about the German “genius.” In an effort to use his fascination with the ruler as motivation to learn, I wrote several stand-alone units about the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” and genocide.
When this student realized that not only Jews – but also people with learning disabilities -- were exterminated, I saw the proverbial light bulb shine over his head. He continued to show interest in the Hitler topic, but instead began writing his essays from the other point of view – the victims. The culminating activity was participation in the reading of names at the Holocaust Memorial at Grand Prairie; I’m proud to say my student participated and wrote an article for our classroom newsletter about his experience.
This anecdote illustrates how an educator can provide develop a culturally diverse classroom with various curriculum approaches, utilization of a student’s specific learning intelligence (in this case, verbal/linguistic), and a thinking hat (in this case, green for alternatives and new ideas).
My question for this class is: how can we better utilize the transformation approach in the curriculum when dealing with cultural, racial, and other diversity issues?
Chapter 1
The first chapter of the ETE 663 textbook focuses on the changing pattern of immigration in the United States and provides context for upcoming discussions of multicultural education. Taylor dutifully reports a wealth of statistics and facts regarding national legislation, illegal immigration, and current issues facing our country. Rather than commenting on these statistics, however, I will instead focus on the historical assimilation of immigrants and how it relates to my educational experiences.
As Dr. Cantu noted in his video presentation, America is a land of immigrants; as such, it is a land of diversity and varied cultures. This melting pot of citizens historically assimilated (gave up their original culture’s characteristics and adopted those of their new country) as they immigrated to America. One of the most intriguing parts of this chapter is the quote from Horace Mann, who declared that public schools were “necessary, above all, to ensure the assimilation of immigrants.” Taylor also notes that these settlers were expected to learn English, take pride in American identity, and live by the Protestant work ethic in order to “be welcome as full members of the American family.”
In my opinion, this pattern of assimilation continues in public schools today. In my six years of teaching experience (all but one year in a rural setting), I observed new students in the district conform to the “norms” of their new community in a variety of ways (socially, academically, emotionally, and even physically).
For instance, the population of Delavan, a small farming community in rural southern Tazewell County, Illinois, is comprised of mostly Caucasian, working class families, the majority of whom were born in Delavan and stayed to raise their own families in the town. Most students in the K-12 school building literally grow up with the same classmates year after year, receive an intensive curriculum of vocational courses, and participate in the few extracurricular activities offered by the school (cross country, basketball, church-related youth groups, and Future Farmers of America, to name a few).
Many of the new students I encountered were teenagers who had been placed with foster families in Delavan. The majority of these students were African-American boys who had previously attended Peoria School District 150, and were accustomed to much larger classes, varied extracurricular opportunities, and multicultural peers.
As these students attempted to fit in at Delavan High School, they invariably began to change their appearance (most notably by wearing hooded sweatshirts instead of the dark polos – a nod to the lack of school uniform), choice of classes (study halls were replaced by the elective agricultural science class), and after school activities (joining clubs or sports – perhaps because the majority of their peers were in these groups).
Behaviors also changed; urban slang became noticeably absent after several weeks and talk of friends “back home” significantly decreased. These kids were doing everything they could to fit in, despite the 180-degree difference in culture. Looking back, with what I am learning about multicultural education, I’m sure I could have made more of an effort to acculturate these students and help their classmates dispel myths and stereotypes about the “new kids” in town.
As such, my question for the class is: how can teachers be encouraged to promote acculturation instead of assimilation when new students join the class? How can we help the new students realize that their backgrounds and culture are assets, not liabilities?
As Dr. Cantu noted in his video presentation, America is a land of immigrants; as such, it is a land of diversity and varied cultures. This melting pot of citizens historically assimilated (gave up their original culture’s characteristics and adopted those of their new country) as they immigrated to America. One of the most intriguing parts of this chapter is the quote from Horace Mann, who declared that public schools were “necessary, above all, to ensure the assimilation of immigrants.” Taylor also notes that these settlers were expected to learn English, take pride in American identity, and live by the Protestant work ethic in order to “be welcome as full members of the American family.”
In my opinion, this pattern of assimilation continues in public schools today. In my six years of teaching experience (all but one year in a rural setting), I observed new students in the district conform to the “norms” of their new community in a variety of ways (socially, academically, emotionally, and even physically).
For instance, the population of Delavan, a small farming community in rural southern Tazewell County, Illinois, is comprised of mostly Caucasian, working class families, the majority of whom were born in Delavan and stayed to raise their own families in the town. Most students in the K-12 school building literally grow up with the same classmates year after year, receive an intensive curriculum of vocational courses, and participate in the few extracurricular activities offered by the school (cross country, basketball, church-related youth groups, and Future Farmers of America, to name a few).
Many of the new students I encountered were teenagers who had been placed with foster families in Delavan. The majority of these students were African-American boys who had previously attended Peoria School District 150, and were accustomed to much larger classes, varied extracurricular opportunities, and multicultural peers.
As these students attempted to fit in at Delavan High School, they invariably began to change their appearance (most notably by wearing hooded sweatshirts instead of the dark polos – a nod to the lack of school uniform), choice of classes (study halls were replaced by the elective agricultural science class), and after school activities (joining clubs or sports – perhaps because the majority of their peers were in these groups).
Behaviors also changed; urban slang became noticeably absent after several weeks and talk of friends “back home” significantly decreased. These kids were doing everything they could to fit in, despite the 180-degree difference in culture. Looking back, with what I am learning about multicultural education, I’m sure I could have made more of an effort to acculturate these students and help their classmates dispel myths and stereotypes about the “new kids” in town.
As such, my question for the class is: how can teachers be encouraged to promote acculturation instead of assimilation when new students join the class? How can we help the new students realize that their backgrounds and culture are assets, not liabilities?
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