Supporting Multicultural Differences in Your Classroom
68Minor changes in schools can reap major benefits for multicultural students
Some schools have restructured aspects of their operation in order to become more accommodating for their multicultural population. Approaches have been made toward providing additional support to multicultural students when needed and to make the learning environment more multicultural-student-friendly. In the same respect, it has been deemed beneficial to all students to not only encourage those multicultural students to maintain their native culture practices, but to also use their differences to educate others about those cultures.
Getting input from the parents of a student is beneficial, especially if that student has just come to the school, is from a diverse cultural background, and/or speaks a language other than English. One can normally expect parents to want the best for their children, and parents should be encouraged to participate and contribute in attaining that goal, particularly where education is concerned.
A collaborated effort between the parents and teacher can accelerate and enhance the child's acclimation to his new and/or different scholastic environment. If the parent is aware of what the child is encountering and experiencing in class, and what the teacher's instructional strategies and goals are in regards to the student, the parent can extend that support in the home.
When the teacher maintains a culturally diverse classroom environment such as with materials, subject matter and displays, the multicultural student may feel more comfortable and open. When he knows that the teacher acknowledges and respects his culture and cultural differences, and is working to facilitate the student's learning, the student may also feel more at ease in approaching the teacher with a problem.
Making the child aware of the resources available for extra assistance can encourage him to refrain from nonparticipation. English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, recorded cassettes and tutorials, and literacy materials from other languages can provide additional support for the culturally diverse student, as well as give him confidence and faith that the school is willing and eager to assist him and satisfy his instructional needs.
Grouping based on standardized tests should be avoided, and grouping by ability is just as inappropriate. If the class is broken into discussion groups or cooperative groups, each group should consist of members with various ability level, cognition, and degrees of language skills. This arrangement allows for the students' assorted skills and levels of proficiency to work off of one another, and such a combination could provide some scaffolding for the diffident learners.
Another recommendation is for schools to build a better cultural balance in school personnel by having staff members with diverse cultural backgrounds. This type of atmosphere may endow a feeling of belonging and un-aloneness for the students from different cultural backgrounds.
Multicultural staff members could also be useful in helping new students who may have the same ethnic backgrounds they do, and the students may find in that particular person someone he can go to in times of distress or difficulty. In addition, the other students in the school may be more welcoming to the culturally diverse student if they have (or have had) contact with a school staff member from a different culture.
Another approach relates to instructing students whose first language is not English. When giving instructions for an assignment, the teacher should ensure that the student has understood them, and not assume that, if he does not ask a question regarding the instructions, he has understood them. Sometimes having the student repeat the assignment back to the teacher, in his own words, gives the teacher and student an opportunity to clear up any possible confusion. It also gives the teacher a chance to take note of the student's verbal skills, articulation, vocabulary, and comprehension.
A "multicultural center" should be incorporated into the school's campus in which all students are welcome, and materials are available for the students to read, utilize, research, and experience other cultures as well as their own. This would be best utilized in intermediate, middle and high schools. Most colleges and universities have such facilities available that also serve to give those students of diverse cultural backgrounds a place where they can meet others who may share their beliefs and customs. However, it should not be designated a "club" per se, as that would imply a concept of separating the school's population and community. In order to promote togetherness across cultures, the Center would enable students to explore other cultures and foster acquaintances with fellow students from same as well as different cultural backgrounds.
