In a culturally plural society such as the United States, the necessity of raising new generations with tolerance of diversity has led educators to form a new approach, multicultural education. This model is not only an educational reform movement, with the major goal of changing the structure of educational institutions in order to develop an awareness within the students that all the people who make up the American society are human beings with similar needs and aspirations. It also foresees that all students, regardless of their diverse backgrounds, are given an equal chance for academic achievement. For example, schools in the United States are on principle individualistic in their learning and teaching styles and norms. However, the results of many studies show that, unlike Anglo-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, and American-Indians are group-oriented (Banks and Banks 10). They need the cooperative teaching style rather than the individualistic one.
The principal goals of this perspective have been summarized by Tiedt and Tiedt, according to whom all students will learn to:
Extend this right to self-esteem to others; compare their individual cultures to those of others.
Identify different cultural groups in their community and the United States and describe the similarities and differences of these groups; learn that different is not synonymous with deficient.
Discuss stereotyped thinking and how it leads to prejudice; apply critical skills to solve such problems in the school and community and consider how this process might extend to solving worldwide conflicts of interest. (6)
Methodology
Subjects
In the schools we observed, there were 111 American children in the Child Development Center and 202 in the High School. Tables 1 and 2 present the distribution of students in terms of gender, ethnicity and/or race. The age of children in the Child Development Center ranges from 1 to 6 and in the High School from 13 to 18. We observed all the classes in the Child Development Center and six classes in the High School. The letters in the tables, indicating race and ethnicity are assigned by the US government. These data have been obtained from the questionnaires given to the parents by the school administration to be filled out on a voluntary basis during registration. Since we have no access to any data on the religion and sect of the students, we cannot provide any relevant information.
At the Child Development Center, all the teachers were female. As for
the racial and ethnic distribution, one was African-American and all the
others were of Eurocentric origin. At the High School, this distribution
was more scattered. In other words, the teachers assigned to the school
were of many different origins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Procedure
Since the schools observed are located on what is formally termed “the Turkish and American Air Base in İncirlik, Adana,” the research was conducted under the permission of the Turkish General Staff. We observed the classes in a five-month period, on a weekly basis during the 1995/1996 academic year. We also joined the in-service training sessions on Multicultural Education given for the teaching and administrative staff.
During our observations on how multicultural competencies are implemented in the classroom setting, we used a standard observation matrix. Besides observing six different courses in the High School and all the classes in the Child Development Center, we took some photographs of the posters and objects displaying the activities suggested in their curricula.
The Child Development Center follows a curriculum prepared by the National Academy of Early Childhood. The academy also inspects the Center on a regular basis for physical environment, teaching materials, and nutrition. In the High School, the goals of the implemented K-12 (from Kindergarten through Grade 12) curriculum focus on preparing the students for the 21st century. Therefore, we looked at both of the implemented curricula. We studied them from the multicultural perspective for the purpose of the research.
The necessity of being sensitive to cultural diversity is particularly emphasized in the curricula as follows:
Findings
In the multicultural approach, the teaching process begins with the
development of each student’s concept of self and expands to an understanding
of others. Eventually, Multicultural Education engages in larger issues
and problems of the world as depicted in Figure 1. Teachers first help
each student develop his/her individual culture, I-culture. In the
next two steps, teachers introduce diverse cultures starting from those
available in the classroom throughout the nation and the world. Otherwise,
the developed self-esteem formed out of the I-culture could turn into egocentrism.
The final step to be attained is the level where the concern with larger
problems and issues is evoked.
To exemplify how the teaching process depicted in Figure 1 is implemented in the classroom setting, we utilized the matrix for multicultural competencies mentioned above. In the matrix, there are four kinds of learning, namely understanding concepts, acquiring values, developing skills, and demonstrating personal and social behaviors. Each type of learning includes topics in line with hierarchical steps (Appendix 1). We observed six curriculum areas in the High School. These are Reading, Oral and Written Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, Foreign Language, and Practical Arts and Vocations. In all these curriculum areas, the same matrix is taken into consideration by the teachers in determining the course objectives.
Although we observed instruction in all the above stated courses, only the reading course has been taken as the focus of this study since it is in this course that the diverse cultural elements are thought to be reflected best. For this purpose, we observed the instruction in the reading class of the 8th grade and analyzed the textbook utilized, taking the adopted matrix as a criterion. As a result of our analyses, we found that the topics in the matrix were covered in the classroom as well as in the textbooks and the teaching materials. One textbook that is used is How We Live Now: Contemporary Multicultural Literature. The stories in it seem to reflect all the diverse characteristics found in the cultural mosaic. This way, each individual belonging to a different social group could replace himself/herself with a character in the fiction. For the development of I-culture, we can give an example of a short story by Rosario Moralez entitled “I am what I am.” It begins with the lines “I’m what I am and I am US American I am Puerto Rican I am New York Manhattan and the Bronx ...” and finishes with the punch line of “I’m what I am Take it or leave me alone” (Repp 15).
In addition to short stories, other literary genres included in the book are also utilized to help the students develop an understanding of others. For example, "Para Teresa" is a poem, by Ines Hernandez, on the conflict between two Chicana school girls and their assimilation into the predominantly white world (Repp 240). Another literary work that introduces the multicultural structure of the society is an essay by Simon Ortiz. This essay, which is entitled “Language We Know,” is about the difficulty of maintaining one’s cultural heritage, values, philosophy, and language while becoming truly American (Repp 499).
The multicultural character of American society is reflected not only in the textbooks and the teaching strategies but also in the classroom settings and extra-curricular activities. In Figure 2, we see a poster displayed in the yard of the High School with the aim of developing self-esteem, uniqueness and positive feelings about oneself. Figure 3 is taken from the Child Development Center. In the photograph, we see the door frame of a classroom, on which there are human figures painted in different colors. We see the reflection of the same topic in Figure 4 taken from a classroom. Students’ hand prints in different colors are presented on the corner board with their names written. We believe that the messages in these two photographs imply the concept of tolerance towards the people of different colors. This strategy is also adopted in the other displays. For instance, in all these displays, there are reflections of real-life situations, free of gender stereotypes, rather than imaginary heroes and heroines of cartoons in the classroom setting.
The tolerance demonstrated in the choice of posters and books is also reflected by the teachers themselves with positive attitudes towards students’ cultural heritage and physical appearances. They never allow their students to form biases against each other’s cultural issues. Each classroom also has its own multicultural bookshelf equipped with books related to people of various cultures (Figure 5).
During the interviews, the teachers stated that they are careful with their choice of vocabulary in their classroom talks in order not to form any sexual bias. For example, while introducing the occupations, they avoid assigning any traditional male or female roles. The teaching materials are selected taking this criterion into consideration as seen in Figure 6.
The following items taken from the first and the second chapters of the Child Development Center’s program clearly present how sensitive the administrators are to sexual discrimination:
Figure 8 exemplifies another subculture of a multicultural society in which we see a poster depicting the disabled on the wall. It is believed that the disabled are part of the cultural mosaic in a society, and this should be brought to the attention of children in the early years of their childhood so that they can be aware of the needs and expectations of the disabled.
One other observation we made in the Child Development Center was related to the introduction of the racial and ethnic minorities in US society. In the classrooms, there are many toys in different colors (Figure 9) and many posters and ornaments belonging to diverse groups.
Along with the exposition of the above-mentioned physical diversities, the teachers also try to introduce the traditions, customs, dishes (Figure 10), festivals (Figure 11), languages, religions (Figure 12), and well-known American characters (Figure 13) coming from minority groups.
In our interviews with the staff, we have learned that they have a multicultural
calendar on which the important days of minority groups are marked. During
our observations, we witnessed the recognition of cultural and ethnic values
by the celebration of the festivals and the important days in the histories
of these groups. The multicultural activities of November on that calendar
are given in Appendix 2.
Conclusion
We observed that the classroom settings, the course contents, the textbooks, and the related activities were all designed in conformity with the goals summarized by Tiedt and Tiedt (6). Moreover, in the real-life application of these principles, the teaching and administrative staff were multiculturally correct. The multicultural curriculum they followed evidently reflects on their part an awareness that the American society embraces a sampling of many cultures.
As we concentrated in this study on our observations of the teaching
aspect, we do not know to what extent the goals were achieved, i.e., how
much the students benefited from and/or were affected by this multicultural
education. What is more, we are not unaware that when prejudice and discrimination
are reduced toward one group, they are either put into new forms or directed
toward another group (Banks and Banks 3). We hope nevertheless that scholars
will follow on and report on what the multicultural approach in education
has meant for students, both in İncirlik and in US schools in general.
Or is it too early yet; do we have to wait until the generation who has
been the recipient of this education starts climbing the echelons of power
to appreciate the implications of such an approach?
Banks, J. A. and C. A. Banks. Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1989.
Guide to Accreditation. Department of State National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. Washington, DC: National Academy of Early Childhood Council, 1991.
Multicultural Education as a Part of School Improvement. California State Department of Public Instruction. Sacramento: State of California, 1979.
Parillo, V. N. Strangers to These Shores. New York: MacMillan, 1985.
Repp, J. How We Live Now: Contemporary Multicultural Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Tiedt, P. L. and I. M. Tiedt. Multicultural Teaching. Boston,
MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1990.
