Publishing Web for Students' Final Papers
Publishing Web for Students' Final Papers |
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From: Pamela, Geisler
Email:
Course: Psychology 100G
College: UCSC
Instructor: Eugene Matusov
ClassWeb: http://www.ematusov.com/psych100G
ChildrenObservations: No
Date: 13 Dec 1996
Time: 20:16:58
Remote Name: s18-pm03-ontro-t.telis.org
This paper emphasizes the value and benefits brought about through diversity and the importance of incorporating them positively into education. As we reach the twenty-first century, we are faced with an increasing population of minorities who come from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. We must overcome the current educational system which often operates to serve the "white middle-class majority in which "minorities are denied the opportunity to receive an equal education (Ogbu, 1995). In order to achieve this, people and teachers must become more aware and attentive to the varying needs of students from different backgrounds.
These challenges teachers face can be seen as a barrier to effective teaching and learning because it slows the schooling process. However, overwhelming research has shown that diversity is, in fact, an invaluable advantage to teachers and students of all backgrounds. With proper application of the culturally relevant pedagogy and other proposed solutions we are headed towards an educational system in the United States that adheres to all groups of students and uses diversity as a beneficial factor.
The United States today is comprised of diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socio-cultural backgrounds. Consequently, classrooms and students reflect this diversity. A look inside of a typical American classroom would reveal a significant population of minority students from backgrounds which are culturally distinct of that of the white majority. As the 21st century comes near, we face the prominent issue of the ever-increasing diversity of students within our educational system. It is estimated that by the year 2056 minority students will outnumber the white majority in the overall student population (Henry, 1990:30). As a result, the classroom has become a nucleus of convergence for children of different cultures and abilities. However, schools and teachers are not traditionally prepared to deal with the diversity of the classrooms. Teachers, classrooms, and curriculum are constructed to serve the specific interests of white, middle class students, prohibiting those students from non-white, non-middle class backgrounds from receiving a quality education (Osborne, 1996).
Diversity is brought to the classroom through the different cultural values and beliefs of minority students. The culture of the traditional classroom is based on "achievement ideology, which states that if an individual works hard enough s/he will succeed at anything attempted." This ideology assumes that an equal opportunity to succeed exists for all students. However, this ideology contradicts the beliefs and realities of the majority of the minority students. For instance, Ogbu (1978) states that a job ceiling exists for minorities which "denies them the opportunity to use their education meaningfully and (be) rewarded with jobs and wages that commensurate with their training and ability." Because the classroom reflects the white, middle-class culture, it provides little opportunity for minority students to in corporate their own cultures in their learning. Hence, diversity in the classroom creates challenges for teachers who must meet the needs of all students, including students whose needs do not coincide with their expectations (MacLeod, 1995).
In the past, effects of diversity have sometimes been misunderstood. A study which examined the different discourse patterns of black and white children portrayed an instance of this misunderstanding ( Michaels, S., & Cazden, C. B., 1986). The different styles of oral presentations in black and white children were examined. The black children were often seen to be less capable and sophisticated when interpreted by the white teachers. However, the study proved this only reflected a difference in style not ability.
On the other hand when recognized, diversity is often an advantage. A research manager, Paul Williams, realized the advantage of diversity when directing twenty scientists, including immigrants from 13 countries, in developing major advances in Hewlett Packard Laboratories. He attributed the success of this group to "incredible diversity and, oddly enough, to the inherent difficulties of communication that flow from this diversity." He explained that miscommunications at times were challenging, but that the confusion often caused more creativity within the group which he stated, "opened people to the unexpected." Diversity can be seen as a benefit in many areas and it is essential establish this ideal through education and schooling.
However, this perspective is not taken by all. Some theorists have looked upon diversity in the classroom as a disadvantage and an obstacle to effective teaching. For example, Harrison (1993) found that in native Alaskan and New Zealand Maon settings parents felt that teachers needed to be members of the community in order to provide the children of that community with an adequate education. Furthermore, research done by Ogbu, (1995) suggests that the students themselves must completely assimilate and acquire the dominant culture of the school in order to succeed. This research suggests that it is not the responsibility of the teachers to change the structure of the classroom to guarantee the success of the minority students. Rather, it is the responsibility of the students to accommodate to the teaching style of the teacher.
However, I feel these methods are not practical in the US and would increase the racial and cultural tensions of our society. In Systematic Reform: Perspectives on Personalizing Education it stated, "If matching were achieved, then all teachers would teach only their kind, and children would be limited in educational advantages of learning from and about other peoples. (pp. 3) The United States is headed towards greater diversity (Henry 1990:30) which can be an advantage if it is viewed as an asset and people take time to understand differences and learn form them. As Michael Rothschild wrote, "Truly novel solutions are freer to sprout in an environment where no single culture dominates, where no homogeneity myth need be maintained. Different perspectives and views lead to new ideas and change. We can make use of the benefits that diversity can bring by incorporating aspects and understandings of diversity into education."
Many researchers have found that diversity in the classroom can be a gift which allows students to learn from each other and to learn about different cultures, languages, and backgrounds. For example, in Spanish/English bilingual classrooms Spanish speaking students can learn English while English speaking students have the opportunity to learn Spanish. Furthermore, students can develop social and communication skills through interaction with those from different backgrounds.
There are also activities that can enhance learning while simultaneously encouraging developing interpersonal skills, even when language barriers exist. For example, student could participate in designing recipes or cooking together which could be designed to include a hidden fractions lesson. Or perhaps, a measuring lesson could be taught through simple and fun science experiments. Activities such as these would be enjoyable for students and create collaborative interactions that would be fairly natural and encouraging to students whose first language is not English. Additionally it would be an effective teaching strategies in that children often learn more successfully by "doing in activities that are meaningful to them, than with paper and pencil" (Butler, 1986).
Current research of the subject of diverse classrooms demonstrates that today's classrooms are becoming entirely diverse. As a result, an increasing number of children are not fitting into the generic "white, middle-class" standard, and thus not receiving an adequate education (Price, 1995). Therefore, in response to these findings, measures need to be taken to incorporate cultural differences in the classroom as a positive aspect and to adopt new teaching strategies that will work to benefit both the Anglo and non-Anglo students. Although different sets of recommendations have been suggested by various researchers and experts there seem to be overlapping strategies similar throughout them all. The fundamental strategies to be implemented include (but are not restricted to) the following core theories:
1.) Listening to the voices of excluded minority students and working towards increasing minority family involvement. Teachers can invite parents and community members to the classroom as guest speakers and volunteers. Parents can help teachers integrate both the home and the school language in to the children's education.
2.) Collaborate community social services with education. It is not only the role of the school to create a more culturally relevant environment, rather the efforts need to extend beyond the classroom and into the community. This collaboration creates a cohesive community environment between the school and home which provides opportunities for educational success.
3.) Prepare teachers for a greater range of students that reflect the actual student population rather than the generic white middle-class majority. Teacher training programs need to address and prepare teachers to deal with diversity found in their classrooms. Furthermore, these programs must provide teachers with tools to incorporate individual needs into the classroom. (Bowman, 1996).
According to a study done by Ladson-Billings (Bowman, 1992), what is needed is a "culturally relevant pedagogy resting on three main principles: 1.) students must experience success by working up to teacher expectations, 2.) students must develop and or maintain cultural competence through the integration of cultural issues, and 3.) students must develop a critical consciousness to challenge the status quo through collaborative teaching strategies in with the teacher and student play and active role and equal role in education.
Osborne (1996) took these three propositions a step further by dividing them into five core theories and four different classroom strategies:
Fundamental Understandings:
1.) Culturally relevant teachers need not come from the same ethnic minority group as the students they teach. Teachers can address the diversity of the classroom through sharing their backgrounds and cultures with their students. Furthermore, teachers who are sensitive and culturally aware are able to recognize and meet the needs of their students.
2.) Socio-historical-political realities beyond the school constrain much of what happens in thee classroom and must be understood well by the teacher who implements the culturally relevant curriculum. The teacher must have knowledge about the history of the backgrounds represented in the classroom. They must also recognize the realities of their students' daily lives and experiences such as economic status, divorce, etc.
3.) It is desirable to teach content that is culturally relevant to students' previous experiences that fosters their natal cultural identity, and empowers them with the knowledge and practices to operate successfully in mainstream society. it is important that the teacher is aware and understands the realities of her/his students' community in order to present the classroom material that is culturally relevant.
4.) It is desirable to involve the parents and families of the children belonging to both marginalized and normalized groups. The family and school need to work cooperatively to enable the child to receive positive reinforcement from both sides and come to feel a positive sense of ethnic identity as a member of both cultures. This can be achieved through involving parents in the classroom activities and assigning work which draws on knowledge learned at home. 5.) It is desirable to include students' first languages in the school program and in classroom interactions. Children need to have a sense of continuity between their home and school experiences, and bilingual/bicultural programs can help to fill the gap between home and school through connecting the two languages.
Classroom Practices:
1.) Culturally relevant teachers are personally warm towards and respectful of, as well as academically demanding of, all students. Regardless of race or economic background, teachers need to clearly communicate their high expectations of all students.
2.) Teachers who teach in culturally relevant ways spell out the cultural assumptions within which the classroom ( and schooling) operate.
3.) There are five components of culturally relevant classroom management:
* Using group work to make the educational setting a collaborative effort, yet also competitive.
* Controlling indirectly rather than confrontationally. This includes directly making teachers' expectations clear to this students and clarifying requirements through "negotiation". * Avoiding "spotlighting (i.e. not separating children for public performances) in an effort to emphasize collaborative presentations.
* Using an unhurried pace giving children a longer "wait time and time to get organized in groups." This is especially important for children of lower grades and those involved in bilingual programs.
* Using the home participation structures of the children. Children are more likely to participate if familiar communication strategies are used. This depends on the teachers familiarity with the culture of the community.
4.) Racism is prevalent in schools and needs to be addressed. Racism, sexism=, and classism exist, and the only way it can begin to be tackled is if we accept it and try to understand it (Osborne, 1996). In Solutions to Diversity in Schools, flexibility was explained to be the key aspect in successfully attending to diverse needs. They found it essential that al people, from the students to the authoritative positions, be able to participate in decision making processes. Flexibility is essential so that education processes can be suited to their student group that is liable to change from year to year. These suggested starting points for teachers to begin incorporate issues of diversity into the classroom are starting points for teachers to reconsider their social justice strategies concerning marginalized students. This will result in the enhancement of participatory democracy for all (Osborne, 1996). These teaching strategies not only benefit the marginalized students, but they work to benefit teachers and students from all backgrounds. Although integrating a culturally relevant pedagogy is not an easy task and it demands teacher to broaden her/his ideas, it also serves as a tool for growth and education for both marginalized and mainstream students and teachers.
After all, education is a two-way street and requires collaborative strategies. Teachers need to learn how to learn from their students, and how to get them to learn from their students, and how to get them to learn from the diversity found within their community. Michael Rothschild wrote in The Diversity Myth , "Instead of working hard to educate all our diverse peoples and welcoming them as full partners in the enterprise of innovation, we have written them off as hopeless, and, in so doing, written off our most potential asset. We must work through the school systems to recognize diversity as a great benefit to the learning process promote people to be open to understand and learn from others."
Bibliography
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Unknown (1994). Systematic Reform: Perspectives on Personalizing Education -- Sept. 1994. [On-line]. Available: http://inet.ed.gov./pubs/EdReformsStudies/SysReforms/tharp2.html
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