Diversity is an essential factor to having a successful classroom. Diversity combines many different cultures and ethnicities to create a society that works together. This is a concept that many assume they have integrated in their life, when in actuality, it is not very prevalent. For example, the University of Illinois gives the pretense of diversity. As students walk along the quad they will notice numerous ethnicities. However, upon closer inspection, students will come to the conclusion that there is an overwhelming population of Caucasian students and those of separate ethnicity tend to group themselves by race. Over time it has become evident that diversity is essential to the advancement of society, yet all to often it does not exist. What causes these problems? What can be done to remedy the segregation of races? The solution begins in the educational institutions. First. the problem must be recognized. Then, numerous actions should be taken to increase the cultural diversity within the classroom. Only then, through diversified teaching, will children learn to accept all races and not only tolerance of all races.
Understanding the history behind discrimination is important. Between 1901 and 1914 there were mass amounts of immigrants traveling to the United States in hope of good jobs and to achieve the American Dream of riches and prosperity. Due to the immigration from Europe to America in the early 1900’s, many old Americans began to fear the weakening of the society intellectually (Sanders 1999). An example of the hypocrisy of discrimination immigrants faced can be found through the Statue of Liberty. Although the Statue of Liberty symbolizes acceptance and freedom during this time, the immigrants still received great discrimination that did not allow them to enter the schools. It was stated, Prejudice spread against the immigrants to create a national epidemic of racism (Tozer 1998). Evidence of this racism was seen in situations such as the Immigration Restriction League. In 1894 the Immigration Restriction League created a campaign to restrict immigrants through literacy tests. Ideas such as these were already creating limits to things such as voting participation by African Americans. (Tozer 1998). What the citizens of the time failed to realize was that these tests were unfair. Many exams tested concepts that were unfamiliar to the immigrants. Thus, it was not testing their intelligence; it was unfairly testing what the immigrants knew about the American society, in which they had never lived. This contributed to the unequal education among immigrants and Americans. When the immigrants began their life in the United States they were labeled as inferior. This made it much harder to succeed. Because these immigrants were labeled as inferior, many only received work in places such as mines and factories. Nearly sixty percent of the industrial labor were immigrants (Tozer 1998). This percentage of immigrants working in industrial labor only added to the inequality among different races. Another significant political adjustment was the end of the Civil War. All people regardless of race were considered to be free. Thus, they were seeking ways to find equality among political, economical, and social status. After years of being subjected to cruelty and unfairness, African Americans were determined to be seen and treated as equals. The lack of equality of this apparent “freedom” that the immigrants and African Americans faced is still affecting society today and must be solved within the educational system.
After understanding the history, it is important to discover the reasoning behind diversified teaching. The concept of intercultural education became important for numerous reasons. Intercultural education would increase self-esteem, build positive attitudes and respect among groups and enhance a ‘renaissance' of American culture (Sanders 1999). When an intercultural system is put in place to address all of these issues, students will begin to understand one another much better. Then students begin to understand and learn from each other, and in turn there will be acceptance among all ethnicities. Only then will racism begin to diminish. Another goal of intercultural education as written by Sanders is get to the root of the racial issues that arise. Until we solve the problem of racism, new dilemmas will always develop (1999). Thus, the issues of culture and race must come out in the open so that people can realize the truth about cultures and no longer base their opinions solely on misinterpretations such as media coverage. Another significant reason for the need of intercultural education is due to the fact that only 35% of the teachers entering the work force between 1990 and 2000 will represent ethnic minority populations of their students. (Leavell et al 1999). Due to this incredibly low representation of minorities in the teaching force, it is imperative that the remaining 65% of teachers that are not considered a minority, have the ability to teach a diverse education and relate to the minorities. In short, it is mandatory to incorporate multicultural education, enabling children to work together and accept each other for all of the important yet distinct qualities that all students have.
The most important question becomes, “How do teachers learn how to become
multicultural teachers?” “Strategies for Preparing Culturally Responsive
Teachers” identifies two main points on how to teach preservice teachers
to teach. The first was to develop cultural knowledge and sensitivity
to student teacher. Second, is to obtain more knowledge relating
to instructional materials, strategies, assessment tools, affective learning
needs, and other skills to with the families and the community (Leavell
et al 1999). One of the ways that was suggested to prepare teachers
to teach multiculturally was to take the student teachers outside of the
school and let them observe and explore their communities so that they
gain understanding and respect for the habitat their students are learning
in (Leavell et al 1999). It is impossible to really teach multiculturally
unless a teacher understands part of the culture in which they are teaching.
This can only be obtained by immersing oneself within the culture.
By doing this, there is also a chance that some internalized stereotypes
of students might be broken. Activities for preservice teachers such
as fieldtrips to the community will hopefully end the stereotypes that
they might have about cultures that are unfamiliar to them. By providing
the student teachers with positive information and contact with the diverse
adults within the community, the student teachers will feel more comfortable
with what was previously uncomfortable for them. (Leavell et al 1999).
The main idea of training student teachers is for them to break away from
the stereotypes. When teaching, they will be able to enact not only
multicultural techniques, but also multicultural beliefs. “In order
to change beliefs, behavior must first be changed” (Leavell et al 1999).
Now the question becomes, what are some of the strategies used to teach
multicultural education. One of the strongest advocators of diversity
within the educational system is Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings.
The diversity in which she most strongly believes in is culturally relevant
teaching. Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings states that culturally relevant
teaching is important because by teaching the children so that they respect
who they are, that they have intellectual and academic integrity, and help
to develop a critical consciousness in them, the nationality of the kids
in the classroom will not matter. (Willis 1998). When the students
understand, respect themselves and others around them, diversity and acceptance
will come naturally. She feels that there are three main factors
that go into teaching culturally relevant material. The first is
that teachers focus on academic achievement. Second, they should
value what the kids bring with them to the classroom and help develop and
maintain it. Finally, the teachers should want the kids to be socially
and culturally aware, critically conscious (Willis 1998).
Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings believes that these simple steps will enable children to become better students. The second step, valuing what the children are bringing to the other students, is important and often overlooked. She depicts an example where a student entered the class with a different dialect, such as ebonics. Instead of criticizing the child and telling him that he is speaking incorrect, Gloria explains, the teachers should help the kids to understand where the language is appropriate and how it translates (Willis 1998). This is a way of accustoming the children to situations where ebonics are acceptable and other situations where “proper” English is needed. The diversity within the teaching and learning styles can be nothing but beneficial. Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings also discovered that the teachers having a sense of culture is mandatory to teach various races within a classroom. It is important for children to recognize that the cultures they belong to have a history. However, unless the teacher understands his or her own culture, it is challenging to pass on the concept of importance to the teacher’s students. If the teachers understand the students, the students will in turn begin to understand that the types of decisions they make, they way they think, and they way they see the world is culturally mediated (Willis 1998). The diversity of the various students within the classroom is important. Kids learn from each other and benefit from learning about each other cultures. However, for the teacher to make the most of the numerous cultures within a classroom, they must understand themselves first. By ignoring cultural differences, the teacher would be inflicting more harm than good. Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings declared, “I think that teachers have to recognize that, in racially stratified society, kids are coping with that burden. The kids know that the difference exists and I think that, by trying to ignore it, trying to pretend that it doesn’t exist, we only make school that much more unreal for kids (Willis 1998). Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings represents the concept of culturally diverse schooling. It is beneficial to the students because they learn how to interact and accept various cultures and races.
Against the support of diversity are the complete immersion schools. One of the first places to test this was Milwaukee. It first began here due the to the fact that African American male youth score lower than any other group on standardized tests. They are also three times more likely to be misplaced in classes for slow learners than are reflective of the problems experienced in other large urban school districts (Leake 1992). The statistics are horrifying. It is inexcusable that such low populations of African American males are graduating. However, immersion is not the answer. The problem lies within the teaching methods. In the typical urban school, minority students are expected to learn in an environment that goes against their home language, denies their historical existence, and demeans their culture (Leake 1992). Thus, taking Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings method of culturally relevant teaching style would greatly help in solving the problem. This way, the African American males could still stay integrated within the school system while at the same time not losing their heritage. By staying in the integrated schools they will also retain the benefits of diversity. Through diversity they will feel comfortable with the other cultures after high school. If they been separated during high school, it would be much more of a challenge to enter the real world. Their previous high school experience would have been a façade. These students needed the current teachers to adjust to them and teach them with their culture in mind, not completely separate them from other cultures. The diversity among students cannot harm; it can only help students.
Additional strategies include open discussion about taboo topics such as white privilege and supremacy as well as inequalities between races. Leavell., author of “Strategies for Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers” claims that open discussion within a classroom creates a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere so that the students are willing to share their differing values and beliefs (1999). Topics such as these are very emotional topics for young students so it would be vital to be cautious as to the way it was approached. However, awareness of these issues can aid the students’ long term because students will be able to see some of the social inequalities that have occurred. Understanding would racial inequalities would enable students to actively work against social injustices” (Rios 1999). Through understanding the social inequalities students would understand issues such as racism more clearly, know that it was all right to be different then their peers, and also demonstrate to the Euro-American students some of the structural inequalities our society creates (Rios 1999). Through working together to end these inequalities, students will work together and learn from each other. The reading of multicultural literature is an additional step towards multicultural education. Multicultural books allow for students to begin to understand what other cultures are like. Although these books are very important that when choosing a book the book correctly portrays realistic examples of people, culture, and ethnicity so that additional stereotypes are not created (Leavell 1999). If a piece of literature is chosen that is demonstrating another culture, it will bring awareness to all students within the classroom. Throughout all methods of multicultural teaching, be it diverse group work, open discussion, or multicultural literature, the most important concept is a need for a curriculum that affirms all the students’ cultural backgrounds (Rios 1999). When students feel comfortable with who they are and their background, they will be willing to express themselves better. This will then begin to enable all children to learn from each other in a multicultural atmosphere.
An example of the problems of education without multicultural education is Mike Rose. Mike Rose, author of Lives on the Boundary, grew up in a poor city and was the victim of discrimination. Because of this, he understands the importance of diversity and acceptance. He commented, “Class and culture erect boundaries that hinder our vision – bind us to the logic of error and the ever-present stirring of language -- and encourage the designation of otherness, difference, deficiency” (Rose 1989). The only way to end the class and culture boundaries is to diversify the students within the school system. This will help for numerous reasons. As the students begin to get to know each other, they will become more accustom to each other. As the students become accustom to each other, they will start to become friends and learn from each others personalities and cultures.
Diversity through class instruction is also needed. For instance, standardized exams. One of the women Rose worked with, Ruby, became victim to the standardized exams. After taking one, she realized she did not perform as well as her other classmates. This was due to the unfair testing questions. Had the class been taught with the diversity of the students in mind she would have faired better on the exam. Her culture of learning had been ignored. Rose suggested that a problem was the tendency to assume that the lower economic class was different from the upper or middle class in the way they thought and used language (Rose 1989). Diversity is important to allow people like Ruby to succeed. Various teaching styles are needed to help all learning styles. This encourages the diversity that is essential to the improvement of the society.
Diversity is important to create acceptance among people. Although
large steps have been taken with an increase in diversity, there is still
a far distance to travel. With more diversity of people and teaching
styles there will not be separate groups of ethnicity sitting on the quad.
With more diversity the amount of violence will decrease because people
will understand each others cultures and beliefs, thus, creating more open-mindedness.
As Nieto eloquently states, “’a movement beyond tolerance is absolutely
necessary if multicultural education is to become more than a superficial
‘bandaid’ or a ‘feel-good’ additive’” (Leavell 1999). Educational
diversity is mandatory to allow the United States to prosper with progress
and acceptance amongst all of its citizens.
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Rios, Francisco. “Avocation Social Justice and Cultural Affirmation:
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Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary. New York, Penguin Books,
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