Multicultural classrooms

A common occurrence in American classrooms, especially in urban schools, is to have students from different cultures.  These multicultural students might be immigrants or the children of immigrants.  They might be English learners or might speak different dialects of English.  Whatever the case may be, it is likely that teachers will encounter students from multicultural backgrounds, and so will need to know how to educate them properly.

Different cultures have different ways of approaching things like education.  They also have different ways of looking at things and talking about things.  Teachers will need to understand their students’ cultures so that they can approach them on common ground.  Teachers should try to learn about their students’ cultures and what their expectations are.  They might ask the students or meet with their parents.   By understanding the cultures, teachers can better understand their students and better understand how they understand things.   It is also recommended that teachers have students read books related to their culture.  For example, a teacher might have students read a book about Mexican Americans and their experience.  This way, the students will be more engaged because they will relate to the reading.  I think, though, that teachers should not go overboard in this, though, and primarily rely on multicultural books, as I am not sure this will be doing the students any favors.  The students should learn about the dominant they live in, so that they will be better able to understand it and thrive in it.  If teachers primarily focus on other cultures to try to engage students, they will be depriving them of necessary knowledge.

It is also recommended that teachers allow students to speak and write in their own dialects, or allow English learners to use the grammar structures of their native languages.  This will get the students more likely to engage in learning, and they will better reflect on the subject matter.  It is recommended that students only be required to learn and use the dominant English dialect in English class.  What’s interesting about this, though, is that it seems like everywhere else it is recommended that learning to read and write not be solely relegated to the English classroom, but that all subject area teachers should teach students how to read and write.  This principle does not seem to apply, though, to students who use other dialects or are English learners.  It seems like this could put them at a disadvantage.