Free Essay About Education

Multicultural Classroom

Introduction
Classrooms are important aspects of the learning and teaching process in the society. Effective management and organization of the classroom facilitates understanding and promotes cohesion among the students and the teachers. Classrooms have different areas of interest that require understanding to promote effectiveness and efficiency. Some of these areas include classroom organization, classroom management, and multicultural classroom among others. Nevertheless, I chose to discuss multicultural classroom for various reasons.

Reasons for Choosing Multicultural Classroom

First, multiculturalism refers to sharing of many cultures, which means that a multicultural classroom allows for diversity in the learning and teaching process. The significance of having a diverse teaching and learning environment is that it provides a wider scope of understanding in the classroom, especially from the different cultural views. Second, a multicultural classroom assists the students as well as the teachers to recognize their similarities, as well as their differences. Additionally, it enables them to explore variant cultures, which creates different opportunities for them to understand that despite the different traditions and customs that people have, they often share certain common traits.
A multicultural classroom enables the students to learn that people can be unique and different, yet have much in common. These realizations can help them to accept their differences, which in turn aids in the elimination of racism and prejudice as well as assists them to respect and accept people from all backgrounds and cultures.
A multicultural classroom also encourages the establishment of cooperative social skills. When the students learn to accept the similarities and differences among people, they develop the capacity to get along and work with others better. That is; they begin seeing each other’s individualities and viewpoints. A multicultural classroom can assist the students from the minority cultures to develop social skills and cooperation in settings that might be unfamiliar to them. Additionally, the self-esteem of such students is boosted as they are accepted and recognized for their individualities. Culturally sensitive classrooms build self-confidence among the students through the integration of cultures of all the students in the learning experience.

Subtopics

Multicultural classroom is a wide topic that encompasses various elements. These elements define and promote the understanding of the topic by widening the scope of knowledge on the same. Three subtopics for the major topic of a multicultural classroom include teaching diversity, multicultural education competency, and multicultural resources.

Teaching Diversity

Teaching diversity involves the provision of variant perspectives by the teachers or educators on the subject matters that they teach. As such, they foster diversified skills and enable the students to understand the subject better (Singelis, 2009). They provide culturally sensitive atmospheres in the classrooms through activities such as incorporating various activities, encouraging students to reflect critically on different experiences and inviting speakers to talk about various topics (Huddleston & Unwin, 2002).

Multicultural Education Competency

Multicultural education competency involves identifying and developing a multicultural competency in classroom in different ways (Hunter & American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1974). Significant components of multicultural education competency include the explicit awareness of the influences of culture in society, the academic content relevant to the cultural groups and the skills of communicating effectively across the cultures in classrooms (Sodowsky, Kuo-Jackson, Richardson, & Corey, 2008).

Multicultural Resources

Multicultural resources include all the materials required to create a culturally sensitive classroom (Dilg, 2003). These materials or resources include the aspects that the educators or the teachers can employ to make their classrooms more multicultural, including the types of books, the manner of addressing the students and the development of teacher-student relationships among others (Noordhoff, 2006).

Focus Questions

The focus questions will further narrow the scope of the study and provide essential insights of each of the subtopics chosen for discussion. The following are the focus questions for each of the subtopics respectively.

What is the best way of incorporating multiculturalism into the classrooms?

What are the ways of developing multicultural competency?
What can the teachers do to make their classrooms multicultural?

Resources

What Is The Best Way Of Incorporating Multiculturalism Into The Classrooms?
The best way of incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom is to include books in the class library and curriculum that feature the multicultural characters. Teachers can focus on incorporating various multicultural forms of literature in their daily routine and suing teachable moments to discuss similarities and differences (Timpson, 2003). Nevertheless, the following resources will be elemental in discussing this focus question:
Huddleston, P., & Unwin, L. (2002). Teaching and learning in further education: Diversity and changes. London: Routledge. This resource talks about the influence of diversity and changes in the learning and teaching of further information.
Singelis, T. M. (2009). Teaching about culture, ethnicity & Diversity: Exercises and Planned activities. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. This resource provides information on the diversity, ethnicity and culture in the classroom settings.
Timpson, W. M. (2003). Teaching diversity: Challenges and complexities, identities, and integrity. Madison, WI: Atwood Pub. This source talks about the complexities, integrity and challenges of teaching diversity.
What Are The Ways Of Developing Multicultural Competency?
The development of a multicultural approach in the classroom is an ongoing process that involves various aspects. Examples of these aspects include evaluating the curriculum, books and methods used in teaching. A second aspect is engaging the students in the process of learning (Vera & Speight, 2003). Other examples include asking critical and probing questions to students to determine their knowledge on certain topics and critically evaluating various historical views from variant perspectives. The following resources will add information to the same:
Hunter, W. A., & American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (1974). Multicultural education through competency-based teacher education. Washington: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. This resource provides information concerning the multicultural competency of teaching in education.
Sodowsky, G. R., Kuo-Jackson, P. Y., Richardson, M. F., & Corey, A. T. (2008). Correlates of self-reported multicultural competencies: Counselor multicultural social desirability, race, social inadequacy, locus of control racial ideology, and multicultural training. Journal of Counseling Psychology. doi:10.1037//0022-0167.45.3.256. This source gives information on the correlations of multicultural competencies in the classrooms.
Vera, E. M., & Speight, S. L. (2003). Multicultural Competence, Social Justice, and Counseling Psychology: Expanding Our Roles. Counseling Psychologist. Doi:10.1177/0011000003031003001
What Can The Teachers Do To Make Their Classrooms Multicultural?
Dilg, M. (2003). Thriving in the multicultural classroom: Principles and practices for effective teaching.
Noordhoff, K. (2006). Preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education. doi:10.1016/0742-051X(93)90013-7
Vang, C. T. (2013). An educational psychology of classroom management: Best professional practices in the multicultural classroom. New York: Peter Lang.
References
Dilg, M. (2003). Thriving in the multicultural classroom: Principles and practices for effective teaching.
Huddleston, P., & Unwin, L. (2002). Teaching and learning in further education: Diversity and changef. London: Routledge.
Hunter, W. A., & American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (1974). Multicultural education through competency-based teacher education. Washington: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
Noordhoff, K. (2006). Preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education. doi:10.1016/0742-051X(93)90013-7
Singelis, T. M. (2009). Teaching about culture, ethnicity & diversity: Exercises and planned activities. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Sodowsky, G. R., Kuo-Jackson, P. Y., Richardson, M. F., & Corey, A. T. (2008). Correlates of self-reported multicultural competencies: Counselor multicultural social desirability, race, social inadequacy, locus of control racial ideology, and multicultural training. Journal of Counseling Psychology. doi:10.1037//0022-0167.45.3.256
Timpson, W. M. (2003). Teaching diversity: Challenges and complexities, identities, and integrity. Madison, WI: Atwood Pub.
Vang, C. T. (2013). An educational psychology of classroom management: Best professional practices in the multicultural classroom. New York: Peter Lang.
Vera, E. M., & Speight, S. L. (2003). Multicultural Competence, Social Justice, and Counseling Psychology: Expanding Our Roles. Counseling Psychologist. doi:10.1177/0011000003031003001