Cultural diversity
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[edit] Definitions, Synonyms, Organizer Terms
Current definitions of culture are informed by research from a variety of fields: anthropology, psychology, sociolinguistics, and critical theory.
Nieto (1999) offers an extensive definition of culture as "the ever-changing values, traditions, social and political relationships, and worldview created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a combination of factors that include a common history, geographic location, language, social class, and religion."
Nieto also adds "Culture is dynamic; multifaceted; embedded in context; influenced by social, economic, and political factors; created and socially constructed; learned; and dialectical."
Definitions - received Jan. 29, 2005
Diversity - n. 1. a) The fact or quality of being diverse; difference. b) A point or respect in which things differ. 2. Variety or multiformity.
Cultural Diversity - n. Ethnic, gender, racial, and socioeconomic variety in a situation, institution, or group; the coexistence of different ethnic, gender, racial, and socioeconomic groups within one social unit
[edit] Application in classrooms and similar settings
A classroom is bound to have numerous ethnicities creating a multicultural environment. Teachers must learn about the dominating ethnicities in order to better accomodate students' needs and learning abilities. Also, it is important for English teachers, such as myself, to incorporate primary or supplementary literature that exposes students varying ethnicities.
For instance, I taught in a school that was closely separated into thirds - Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic. However, there was an Asian population as well that needed consideration. A Filipino student entered my classroom and a light went on that triggered my need to learn more about the Filipino culture. I focused on values and beliefs and tried to incorporate that knowledge into my units. This helped the student feel more at ease in the classroom because her culture was acknowledged.
Cultural Diversity Within Inclusion Classes in Terms of Classroom Management
According to Leslie C. Soodak,
"1. How do teachers create a sense of community in classes comprised of students who differ in their abilities and behaviors?
2. How can teachers form a safe and responsive learning environment for all members of the classroom community using knowledge from two traditionally discrete fields (i.e., special and general education)?
3. What considerations and accommodations need to be made at the building and district level to ensure there are explicit and fair expectations for all students?"
Soodak, Leslie C. Classroom Management in Inclusive Settings. Theory Into Practice 42.4 (2003) 327-333
These are all very good questions and need to be addressed in order for a classroom environment to be conducive for optimal learning opportunities. Fortunately, in her book "Tools for Teaching [1], Barbara Gross Davis from the University of California, Berkley gave many examples of strategies to facilitate a more communal atmosphere in the classroom. Among the strategies she included the following:
- Recognize any biases or stereotypes you may have absorbed
- Treat each student as an individual, and respect each student for who he or she is
- Rectify any language patterns or case examples that exclude or demean any groups
- Do your best to be sensitive to terminology
- Get a sense of how students feel about the cultural climate in your classroom
Get the Faculty involved...
- Introduce discussions of diversity at department meetings
[edit] Evidence of effectiveness
Carol S. Weinstein, in addition to Daundra Tomlinson-Clarke and Mary Curran, all of Rutgers University, contributed to the following article that can be downloading via PDF on the right side of this below link:
Toward a Conception of Culturally Responsive Classroom Management
This article touches base with the various components of the cultural diversities within classrooms across the nation, even the world.
[edit] Critics and their rationale
Rationale found from Queen's University at Kingston by Sarah Houlden
Houlden states that, "As people continue to immigrate to Canada, increasing cultural diversity, it is important for students to become more aware of the contributions these groups provide to Canada. It is becoming increasingly important for students to value the different cultural groups around them. It is not acceptable for a person to be racist and students will be more open to different cultures the more they are exposed to various cultures and learn about their heritage and background."
Furthermore, Houlden's most crucially mentiones that, "Not only is it important for students to gain an appreciation of how the mosaic of people in Canada is changing but it is also important for students to be aware of what Canada was like in the past and how the culture has change to its present status."
This train of thinking can easily be translated to the United States way of thinking.
Also see Cultural Content Knowledge
Arthur Applebee writes that, "Melting pot images of the United States have lost whatever relevance and power they may once have had, even though we may still debate what alternative should replace them. In such a society, curriculum must introduce students to diversity and multiple perspectives, seeking not consensus but understanding of difference, the willingness to listen, and the ability to disagree" (Applebee, 1996, p. 125). Ultimately, after Applebee quotes Mikhail Bakhtin, he states that we should "imagine a common culture in which diversity yields richness rather than chaos" (Applebee, 1996, p. 128).
[edit] Signed "life experiences", testimonies and stories
Cultural diversity can be such a cool thing. I grew up in a predominantly white private school, so teaching in a place that is extremely diverse has been a joy. I can stand in the hall and hear Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, Mandarin, Hindu, Hebrew...the list can go on and on. What we need to be careful of is to not make such a big deal out of cultural diversity: I think that when we place too much emphasis on the diversity it can become a polarizing act. Many students are very aware of their differences, and most just don't care.
I think that cultural diversity is something that needs to be addressed by teachers in the schools as something that is positive. Often in rural areas there is not alot of cultural diversity. As a result, when a student is from a different culture there is a question of what do I do to support their learning needs. It is imporant before a teacher can teach diverse populations they need to recognize that they are also multicultural. In addition, how much of a role will these beliefs play within the education of the child. Camille Unzicker
I just finished my first year of teaching at an elementary school in a very small country community. The student population is nearly 100% white. While I had more worries about the extreme lack of diversity, I have loved teaching there and am going back next year. Throughout my undergrad I did a Social Studies project that was based on teaching a new "Culture of the Month" every month to students. I hoped to get lots of books, pictures, guest speakers, food, art, ect. from the culture. I was doubting the effectiveness of this program at my small, non-diverse school. I wasn't sure they would get anything out of it and none of the other teachers were doing anything similiar. But, I went ahead and carried out the program. It was a huge success!! The students loved learning about different people and places and I really felt like I gave them knowledge and social skills that they may not have gotten otherwise. I think it is very important to teach diversity even where diversity does not seem to exist.
--Annie Craig, 2nd Grade Teacher
Just a comment.... have a diverse student body, in my opinion is an asset and something that should be looked at as a positive quality (similar to having high ACT scores, or being involved in different activites). Having that specific background brings something to the table that not everyone can. It would be difficult to have an intelligent discussion about race and its affects if we did not have multiple sides of the arguement.
Having a diverse student body, while being an attribute to a school, does not alone guarantee acceptance of other cultures. Teachers must model and students must learn about cultures and their differences. More focus needs to be placed on curriculum in teaching and embracing cultural diversity. Students need to actually jump into the shoes momentarily of their fellow students who speak different languages, have varying religious beliefs, and customs and traditions. The lines of communication need to be opened, and intolerance put aside. Until this happens, the black children will continue to sit at one table in the cafeteria, the Hispanics at another, and the whites at another. Is this truly cultural diversity? Pat Reed
No matter what the cultural make-up of elementary and secondary public schools, all students need to learn about other cultures. Most of us will meet and interact with people from other cultures throughout our adult lives. I was privileged to teach multicultural literature for several years at the high school level. Each quarter we studied the celebrations, religions, customs, and history of a cultural/racial group other than the general make-up of our school, which was 80% white. We had no African Americans, no Native Americans and one Asian student . The balance were Latinos. Nevertheless, we spent a full quarter studying Native American, African , Latino/Hispanic, and Asian literature and music. I believe that we fear what we do not understand and I felt that if I could introduce these mid-western farm kids to a bit of culture that they were previously unaware of that it might be the start of them learning to value the differences in people. How boring is life if we associate only with those who have similar backgrounds and beliefs. I value the differences in race and religion in my circle of friends. I believe tolerance is learned. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham , Alabama has a great resources magazine called Teaching Tolerance that is free to teachers. It explores ways to get different cultures to work together while maintaining respect for individual differences and beliefs. N. Meeker
Our 6th grade social studies curriculum focuses on World Cultures. We begin the year by discussing the many factors that make up American culutre. Then we discuss cultures of students in our class who may not be American and their similarities and differences. This opens the eyes of students to recognize and appreciate the diversity that we have. Last year, this was particularly informative as I had students from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Poland, and Paraguay in my class. As the year continues, we study the cultures of India, China, a number of countries in Africa, and a number of Latin American countries. The curriculum is geared so that students will be more aware of, and perhaps more accepting of, the diversity of the world. C. Cheifetz
I agree that cultural diversity needs to be included in all classrooms regardless of the racial composition of the classroom. I also believe that multicultural education needs to be included in all parts of the curriculum throughout the school year. It also needs to be done in a manner that does not add to stereotypes. If a teacher is unsure about not knowign soem cultural information a good resource are her student's parents and the students themselves. Lily Jimenez
I grew up in and currently teach in a predominantly white area. I went away to school here during my undergraduate to get out of the single minded aspect of the way I was raised. Now I am back in the same type of setting teaching. My students seem very open to all types of situations, until they get hands-on experience. I took a group of 70 students on a performance tour to New York City. Many of students have been to Chicago, but not very to New York. This is quite a shock to them. They did not know exact how to act or react in some instances of what was going on. I and the tour guide tried to lead by example. It is very interesting have this group of students in a totally different environment. As I bring different styles of music into the classroom the more interested they are in the culture and other aspects of the origins. I try to be as knowledgable as I can be, but being from the area that I am, it has taken a lot of study and not enough experience to know what I know. I wish that I could bring in more natives of the different cultures to bring the first hand experience to them. -Jeremiah Kramper-
Contrary to Jeremiah, I grew up in a predominately Black area. I didn't get immersed into a diverse environment until I went to private school for HS. My HS, (IMSA), was very diverse collecting people from all over Illinois. We had out own little rainbow coalition. I loved it. Now at UofI, I am lovin it. I see diversity everywhere, even thought the university is predominately white. If it were not for my HS experience, I would have not been as open minded about the experiences I have encountered at the UofI. Ty Martin
Growing up in a predominately white area, I was not exposed to cultural diversity before I came to college. However, after being here and seeing the diversity in my classes, I support cultural diversity in the public school systems. This allows students to become friends with people of different backgrounds, which will allow them to have more of an open mind about many topics. However, I also feel that cultural diversity is not approached correctly in the public school systems. For example, February is Black History Month. I don't understand why we do not incorporate them into our curricula throughout the entire year, and not just African-Americans, but the same about Mexican-Americans. I think this is more beneficial to do this than to learn about white people for eight months and then to learn about African-Americans for only one month. H. Eichelberger
I strongly believe that teaching diversity and acceptance of differences is obne of the most important concepts that can be accomplished by a teacher. We in America have so many different ethic groups and races, that it makes it even more important to be able to accept diversity. In the classroom, these differences should be celebrated as a positive learning experience. However, in the dictionary, the word diversity comes just before the word division, and some educators teach diversity as such. When diversity is taught, it should be done in a way that brings everyone together, and not to separate. To me, there are no African Americans or European or Hispanic Americans...we are all AMERICAN'S. That unity is what will bring us back together as a people, and continue to keep this country strong.
Cultural diversity encompasses so many issues (i.e. ethnicity, interests, SES, sexual preference etc.) and I think that the big idea that I have found myself teaching to students is that the one unifying factor in living in our world is that none of us are exactly alike. I teach my students how to recognize the strengths of thier classmates which may be very different from their own strengths. I also teach my students how they can use each others strengths to improve areas of weakness. I believe that we all need each other despite our differences, because each person possesses knowledge, gifts, and talents that create potential to help someone else. ~C. Hatchett
I think it's more important that we as teachers learn how to address cultural diversity when it comes to classroom environment and discipline. Students of some cultures seek attention, others are very shy. Some trust teachers, others don't trust any authoritarian. Students of some cultures are disruptive (teacher's perspective), others like rules and routine. How do we as teachers provide for the most efficient and safe room with all these various cultures (and personalities) represented? I also think we need to address our own (teachers') prejudices. We all have them but, so few are willing to admit it. If we don't admit it to ourselves then how can we get past our prejudices? I frequently hear teachers complain about the behavior of students of a certain culture when it comes to discipline and expected behaviors in the classroom/school. - J. Adams
[edit] References and other links of interest
Cosmopolitan Club at the University of Illinois
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
Applebee, Arthur N. (1996). Curriculum as Conversation: Transforming Traditions of Teaching and Learning. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Chisholm, Ines M. (1994)."Preparing Teachers for Multicultural Classrooms". The Journal of Educational Ideas of Language Minority Students, v14 pg.43-68. Click here for access
Wikipedia - Cultural Content Knowledge
Meaning making is at the heart of literacy: How people learn to make sense of their world is affected by the culture into which they are born (Moll, 1992; Scribner & Cole, 1981; Vygotsky, 1978, 1987).
Bruner (1996) observes, "Culture, then, though itself man-made, both forms and makes possible the workings of a distinctly human mind. In this view, learning and thinking are always situated in a cultural setting and always dependent upon the utilization of cultural resources" (p. 4).
Cultural Diversity in Wikipedia
[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_into_practice/v042/42.4weinstein.html Weinstein, Carol "Culturally Responsive Classroom Management: Awareness Into Action" Theory Into Practice - Volume 42, Number 4, Autumn 2003, pp. 269-276.]
Increasing cultural diversity also brings into question the concept of the cultural hegemonist who unwittingly supports the indoctrination of dominant culture into all of his students. Teacher Talk
Lessons for how to Celebrate Diversity http://www.perfectfit.org/celebrating_diversity/category3.html
