Counseling Psychology and Pedagogy Master Program PSD 437

1. MULTICULTURALISM and
DIVERSITY in EDUCATION

2. MY PERCEPTUAL LENS

3. MY PERCEPTUAL LENS
What do you see?

4. MY PERCEPTUAL LENS
What do you see?

5. MY PERCEPTUAL LENS
A Quick Quiz:
1. YOU ARE A PARTICIPANT IN A RACE. YOU OVERTAKE THE SECOND PERSON. WHAT
POSITION ARE YOU IN?2. IF YOU OVERTAKE THE LAST PERSON, THEN YOU ARE IN
WHAT POSITION?
3. MARY'S FATHER HAS FIVE DAUGHTERS.
THE NAMES ARE NANA, NENE, NINI, NONO, AND
________ .
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE FIFTH DAUGHTER?

6. MY PERCEPTUAL
LENS
What is this?

7. MY PERCEPTUAL
LENS
What is this?

8. PEOPLE ALWAYS RESIST
CHANGE.
WHAT PREVENTS THEM
FROM SEEING, ACCEPTING &
UNDERSTANDING NEW
AND/OR DIFFERENT IDEAS?
Why?

9. DIRECTIONS
DON’T READ THE
WORDS, SAY THE
COLORS QUICKLY IN
WHICH THEY ARE
PRINTED.

11. Although we see both the color and the meaning
of each word, experience has taught us to pay
more attention to the meaning.
James R. Stroop called this the “interference effect.”

12. WHAT IS MULTICULTURALISM?
 “the preservation of different cultures / cultural
identities within a unified society”
 “several different cultures coexist peacefully and
equitably”
 “relating to the social or educational theory that
encourages interest in many cultures within a
society rather than in only one mainstream
culture”

13. MULTICULTURALISM İN
EDUCATION
 Schools serve a society which is rich in
ethnic, racial and cultural diversity. …The
public schools, therefore, have a
responsibility for developing in all
students an understanding, tolerance,
respect and appreciation for the variety of
cultural attributes and behaviours.

14. TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO
MULTICULTURALISM IN THE
CURRICULUM AND CLASSROOM
 1) Centered on Dominant Culture: a context
where a dominant culture’s beliefs and behaviors
are mainly depicted
 2) Color Denial: belief that all students are
treated equally regardless of race
 3) Tourist Multicultural: teaching children of
other cultures only during brief episodes during
school year (Sparks, 2005)

15. THE IMPORTANCE OF
MULTICULTURALISM
 Some Ideas:
- Learn about diverse perspectives of the world
- Learning about one another, the histories and
contributions of diverse groups
- Aware of other cultures around you.
- Be tolerant, non-discriminatory of each other
- Recognizing diversity in your own classroom
- Democratic values, such as equality that foster
cultural pluralism
- Experiences at home play a significant role in
how students learn at school

16. MULTICULTURALISM & CHOICE
THEORY
 Ethnic identity development is psychologically
liberating and empowering
 Identity clarification is a critical variable - a
fundamental aspect - of human development
 Referring to the Language simulation, how do
you think choice theory relates?
 Power, Love & Belonging, Freedom, Fun and
survival

17. MULTICULTURALISM IN THE
CLASSROOM
 The focus for our presentation is on the
transformative or integrative concept of
multiculturalism.
“How to incorporate multiculturalism as a fluid
element in the classroom.”

18. MULTICULTURALISM IN
SCHOOL SUBJECTS
 An Activity…
 1) Do you think that multiculturalism is present
in your subject, and how?
 2) Suggest some practical ways in which you
could incorporate multiculturalism into your
subject?

19. MULTICULTURALISM IN
SCHOOL SUBJECTS
 Rank the subjects from 1-6
(1 being most multicultural elements, 6 being
least)
 What did you notice about the subjects by
looking at the posters?
 Multiculturalism is a framework to all subjects.
 The teacher has to make it a ‘transformative’
element in the subjects

20. MULTICULTURAL
ENVIRONMENT
IN THE CLASSROOM
 Children need to feel included and accepted
 Necessary to provide variety within a structured
environment that helps optimal learning for all
students
 Use different learning strategies that addresses
the various learning styles of students in the
classroom

21. MULTICULTURAL
ENVIRONMENT
IN THE CLASSROOM
 Classroom posters, pictures, books, music, toys,
dolls that are diverse in ethnicity, gender, age,
abilities an race
 Our own examples

22. MULTICULTURALISM IN THE
CLASSROOM
 A Conclusion:
 Example lessons and ideas
 Final Message: Multiculturalism should be an
important integrative part of the classroom and
curriculum.

23. What is multicultural education?

24. MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
(DEFINED)
A progressive approach for
transforming education that
holistically critiques and
addresses current
shortcomings, failings, and
discriminatory practices in
education.

25. MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION
The underlying goal of multicultural education is to affect social
change (transformation).
• The transformation of self;
• The transformation of schools and schooling;
• The transformation of society

26. DIVERSITY
WHY SHOULD WE LEARN ABOUT DIVERSITY
Diversity can enrich your life and your world.
Understanding and appreciating differences help:
• Individuals gain new insights and outlooks while
enjoying new relationships.
• Communities tap the varied talents of their
members to help meet common goals.
• Groups of every size-from classrooms to
corporations–when uniqueness is respected,
morale and productivity improve.

27. DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
• Like trees in a vast forest, humans come in a
variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.
• We share important dimensions of humankind
with all members of the species.
• Biological and environmental differences separate
and distinguish us as individuals and groups.
• A vast array of physical and cultural differences
constitute the spectrum of human diversity.
• The various dimensions of diversity help shape our
basic self-image and our fundamental world-view.

29. PRIMARY DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
Age
Race
Ethnicity
Heritage
Gender
Physical abilities/qualities
Sexual/affection orientation
Mental abilities/characteristics

30. SECONDARY DIMENSIONS OF
DIVERSITY
Education
Communication style
Work background
Work style
Income
Marital status
Military experience
Religious beliefs
Geographic location
Parental status
Dimensions of Diversity Handout

31. PROCESSING WHAT HAVE
YOU HEARD & ATTITUDE AWARENESS
SURVEY
• What do many of the comments we have written
on the lists represent?
• Are they true?
• Where did these comments come from?
• How would these stereotypes impact how we treat
certain people?
• What are the implications for student
achievement?

32. DIVERSITY &
ATTITUDES
Test your attitude
How aware are you about yourself and
others based on age, race, gender,
etc. ?
To explore, complete one of the
Implicit Association Tests at:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html
(https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.html)

33. OBJECTIVES:
• To discuss the impact of stereotyping in
the educational setting
• To examine a framework to measure
educator’s development towards
cultural competency in a multicultural
context

34. WHAT WE
KNOW
• There are differences between and among groups of
people.
• Race is a socially constructed attribute that is a
social phenomenon.
• Racism is a system of privileged discourses and
discriminatory institutional practices, which acts
upon our individual perceptions of reality.
And, our understanding of what is real is
intrinsically racist because we have grown up in and
live in a society with racist institutions.

35. WHAT WE KNOW
• Race is undeniably an element of social status
and is therefore, negotiated as a social process
rather than as a biological determinant.
Thus, the permanence of racism in our social
reality means we have a personal
responsibility to understand racism and work
against its effects on our interpretations, our
identities and how they play out in our
classrooms to the extent which our discursive
practices maintain inequity and injustice.

36. WHAT WE KNOW
• Cultural differences influence the teaching-
learning process.
• Schools, like society, advantage some groups
more than others.
• Schools adhere to a color-blind paradigm.

37. WHAT WE KNOW
• Culturally responsive teachers value and
build on students’ prior knowledge.

38. “If our destination is excellence on a massive scale,
not only must we change from the slow lane into the
fast lane; we must literally change
highways. Perhaps we need to abandon the highways
altogether and take flight, because the highest goals
that we can imagine are well
within reach for those who have the
will to excellence.”
Asa Hillard, University of Georgia

39. AS OUR STUDENTS
BECOME
MORE AND MORE
DIVERSE…
SO MUST OUR
WAYS OF
TEACHING
THEM.
“Exploring Diversity in the Classroom Through Teaching & Learning”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-qnuqCZ7hg

40. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Reflect and identify a paradigm that you currently hold that
will be problematic for you in working with students that are
different from you.
As a classroom teacher, what strategies will you use to adjust
the identified paradigm to work effectively in a multicultural
setting with diverse student?