Multicultural Education

Being responsive to multicultural education will always be a challenge for teachers. I think teachers will forever be faced with diversity and obstacles that they will have to overcome. There are many different ways to approach multicultural education, but there are also many ways that you should avoid. When you need a multicultural curriculum transformation, you first need to ask yourself a few questions. What are the necessary steps should I take? What is the issue at hand? How do I need to make myself more knowledgeable in order to have a different perspective? It is important to educate oneself about a culture before diving into a lesson. It will not only benefit you as a teacher, but for the student as well. The student will see that you are trying to understand things from their point of view, therefore they will have more respect for you as well. I realized throughout my field work experience in college that the curriculum are becoming more and more diverse, but I feel as if they are not fully including diversity. Since schools are becoming so diverse, the students need a deep understanding of the world around them in order for them to understand their peers. If students don't understand their peers, they will not feel comfortable, causing them to segregate themselves to stay in their comfort zone. One topic I would like to focus on is discussing differences. One thing that teachers often mistaken while teaching multicultural education is that they focus on the differences between cultures more than the similarities between cultures. Obviously there is differences between the cultures, and the students have figured that out. It is important to discuss the main differences, but it is also MORE important to discuss the similarities between cultures so the students have something to relate to. Students are more understanding and are more willing to engage themselves if it is something they can relate themselves too. For example; holidays. Most classrooms aren't allowed to just discuss one holiday anymore because students and parents are more sensitive to their religions and cultures. For instance; during Christmas time, it is important to talk about holidays such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah as well, and it is important to discuss the differences AND similarities. Discussing these holidays to a group of students in the U.S. "All of these holidays are celebrations like Christmas, so depending on what culture you are from, that is the holiday you will celebrate around Christmas time. Each holiday has certain traditions that they do everyone year. Does anyone know of any of these traditions?" The students can then raise their hands and take guesses like "All of these holidays include presents, and family parties". This way the students can relate and see the difference perspectives of the difference cultures. Teachers should not shy away from teaching multicultural lessons. There are so many ways to make it fun and exciting for the students!