ETE 663

Chapter 1 – Multicultural Education:  Characteristics and Goals

Students coming into my classroom need to feel accepted no matter what their skin color, ethnic background, social class, gender, or other cultural habits.  I attempt from the first day to read stories that make children think and that view different situations, usually ones that are unfamiliar to them.  While we are reading the stories we will stop to explore the meaning of the situation or the vocabulary.  I will encourage the students to think and make connections followed by discussions with an elbow partner or whole group. Students learn a lot from each other and their connections to the world.  They are able to look at the story through the lenses of their fellow students and see it differently than the connections or experiences they may have had.  I try to teach respect and acceptance of differences (as long as they are not hurting others).  My hope is to help the other students in our classroom develop respect for differences in others as a way to grow and accept change.  I often explain to my students that I enjoy having a “rainbow” classroom because what we look like on the outside is not what matters because we all run the same way under our skin.  We all want the same things, which are to be loved, cared for, and treated with respect.  The students join into the conversations and add their own comments as the year progresses.

            Students who come to our country from other cultures are especially vulnerable since they are faced with understanding two languages and cultures.  Some of them assimilate or take on the new culture at the expense of their native one.  This leaves them more vulnerable because we are what and where we come from.  It is with us for the rest of our lives.  I try to encourage these students to share some the things they do at home with the rest of the class through pictures, drawings, or stories.  This way my students can ask questions or make a connection with this student’s life.  Either way, it is my effort to help them embrace where they came from in a positive framework and then let them know that it is all right as they take in new habits in their new country.  This can also be true for some of our own children as they move from a very different part of our country. 

            Although the majority of teachers in my school are white females, we do have a percentage of African American teachers, as well as our Hispanic ELL teachers.  I think as the years pass this will change as the decrease in the white population takes place, the ranks of white teachers will decrease to be replaced by the other ethnicities and races represented in our country.  I hope that we continue to be accepting of each other and the differences of the children in our classrooms and work for the betterment and inclusion of all.

Question:  How do you help new students feel welcome in your classroom?  Do you have special ways to contact parents and make them feel welcome?