Larissa posted this comment, but it was kind of hidden and I didn't know if anybody would see it, so I'm re-posting it here. I'd be interested to hear what others think. (Some of you in Wheeling voiced your opinions on this today).
Larissa said: On a separate note... The article entitled "Taking Multicultural, Anti-Racist Education Seriously" really bothered me. I understand the point of the interview with Enid Lee was to better define what multicultural/anti-racist education is and how it works; however, Lee comes off extremely strong with her point of view. I felt as if Lee looks down upon every single teacher, school, district, and state that does not use this "multicultural/anti-racist education."She states, "If you don't take multicultural education or anti-racist education seriously, you are actually promoting a monocultural or racist education" (ROC, pp. 15).
After reading this comment I felt that if we do not include every other cultrual perspective or every "voice of the people who are frequently silenced," then we are not "taking it seriously." But, it's not possible to include every single culture or every single voice in the curriculum. There just isn't enough time to do something like that. So, my question, then, is are we promoting a false pretense of multicultural or anti-racist education? And, does it mean that we are not taking it seriously??
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In class today Greg posed the question: If you have a classroom of all white students and in your library you have books with only white characters, are you perpetuating racism? Or by not telling both sides of the Colombus story?
I do not believe this teacher would be perpetuating racism. He or she is not intentionally denying their students the opportunity to learn about other cultures. If a child asked to put a book with characters of a different color into the library and the teacher refused, that would be racism. Rather, in the first scenerio the teacher is not being racist, but nieve. Perhaps she is even perpetuating nievety to her students.
I agree with the fact that it seems impossible for teachers to include every culture and perspective into the curriculum. I am so confused on how to do this because I do not want to offend anyone or give the students information that does not apply to everyone in that culture. Many teachers ask their students to give reports on different countries and their culture. Many students focus on the food, music, dress, activities, and special events. In my opinion, these are the things that may represent the culture's surface. I am confused on how else to teach more in depth about the culture and dig deeper because, realistically, it seems almost impossible.
On another note, Enid Lee talked about how teachers who don’t practice an anti-racist or multicultural education are promoting a monocultural or racist education. If there is such a thing as “monocultural” education, I think that it began with the textbooks. The historians who write the textbooks are only looking at social studies from one perspective. Teachers were educated with these textbooks when they were in school so it may almost be a second nature to teach a “monocultural” education. I am not saying that it is right, but it is what most teachers “know.” This shows that teachers also need to read and think critically, so they are presenting different perspectives and ideas on social studies topics. When the teachers show the students how they are critically thinking and reading, the students may pick up on that and model their behavior.
I agree with Larissa's opinion on the article by Enid Lee. She come off SO strong that it's kind of intimidating to even read. After looking closely at her article, it made me (especially as a new teacher) apprehensive to even try anything in my classroom because it might offend someone or be "wrong."
On a similar note, my cousin is a teacher in the city and she taught for three years in a private school where the majority of students were Latino (or is it Mexican-American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican... based on where they're from? :) ). Her class specifically was 100% Latino. She was instructed by her school to teach her students about their history and heritage, thus increasing their knowledge about their own culture, but leaving out any other type of culture, even white. Who's to say this is right? If a school of predominantly or all white students had their teachers teach only about the students' white heritage, this would be a huge controversy. However, because A. this was a provate school and B. the culture being taught is an overall minority in our society as a whole, it was not seen as bad. What do you all think about that?
P.S. Greg, obviously I was able to get my account working again so disregard our talk earlier, thanks!
I completely agree with Larissa. I believe that Enid Lee has good intentions about improving education; however, I feel that she came off too strong in her interview. Enid Lee said, “Most of all, you have to get in touch with the fact that your current education has a cultural bias, that it is an exclusionary, racist bias, and that it needs to be purged” (ROC, p. 17). This quote bothered me. I do not believe that I need to throw away everything I have learned because Lee says it is bias. Although I did grow up in a community where there was very little diversity, I still learned a lot about other cultures and races. I was taught to accept all people, regardless of their race, religion, or gender and I believe that I do this. Also, being an intern in the Elgin school district has opened my eyes to many other cultures. My first grade class is composed of mostly Hispanic students and I have learned a great deal about their culture in the few weeks I have been in the classroom. I do not agree that I need to “purge” my current education. Instead, I could build upon it and become more aware of other cultures. It is vital for students to learn about other cultures besides their own, but like many of you said, there is just not enough time in the school year to learn about every culture. How do we pick and choose which cultures to incorporate into our curriculum?
In response to Kristen’s post, I do agree with her that it is not right just teach the culture that is represented by the student population. It is important for students to learn about their own culture; however, they also need to learn about people outside of their school and community. If we want to teach students about acceptance, then we must make them aware of other cultures, religions, races, etc.
I agree with Beth that a teacher who has a library with monocultural texts is not necessarily perpetuating racism; however, I feel that having a diverse library would be the easiest way to teach multicultural education. As it was repeatedly stated today in class, it would be extremely difficult to teach multicultural education without over generalizing or stereotyping. For instance, even if a teacher were to create a unit on the United States, she cannot group people from New York City and people from rural Illinois in the same category. While they live in the same country, these people most likely lead very different lifestyles. This is true for any country or continent in the world. Over generalizing is a very common problem when attempting to teach about many different cultures within the minimal amount of time allotted for social studies. However, exposing students to many different types of texts can be beneficial in creating a multicultural curriculum.
I agree with everyone how Enid Lee came off very strong in her interview; however, I think that we might be reading a little too much into how she is posing her response to questions. It seems that she is very passionate about the issue of implementing multicultural education in the school curriculum, and her passion for the subject matter might be showing through in her responses and causing us, as the reader, to see her as attacking us. I definitely don't agree with her use of absolutes and that we should be "purging" what we as educators know and are familiar with and that we should feel ashamed, in some sense. The words she uses certainly make her come off as being antagonizing, but I don't believe that is her purpose. I just think that she really wants us, especially as fresh, young educators, to pay even closer attention than the teacher we had growing up, to the issue of multicultural education and its vital role in the classroom. Regardless if my speculation as to why Lee uses such a harsh tone in her interview is right, when reading, it's important to always read with a critical lens and not take things for what they are all the time. "Take things with a grain of salt," is a phrase that comes to mind to describe what should be done when reading articles, interviews, textbooks, etc.
On that note, I want to point out that multicultural education does not always have to do with teaching children about people from different countries. Like our Old Henry lesson, multicultural education can be teaching children about the variety of cultures that exist within their own neighborhood – whether or not the neighborhood itself is diverse. I don’t think that multicultural education has to be this expansive topic that we as teachers have to feel the pressure to cover completely in-depth, making sure to include every culture that exists in the world. Teachers can start small and teach about the diverse cultures that can be found right in the children’s community. I think that major ideas and themes that carry over to the “bigger picture” can be obtained from more concentrated lessons.
I also forgot to add --
Just like we read with a critical lens and look at who the author is, what their perspective on the incident might be, etc., we need to remind our students to read with a critical lens as well. We talked about it in class briefly with the Zinn chapters, but those "bulletin board" questions of whose voices are missing from the account, where the author of the piece stands on the issue, etc. are an important part of multicultural education as well. In a textbook describing the internment of Japanese-American citizens, the voice of the Japanese-American citizens is usually missing. An appropriate teaching opportunity here would be to bring in a Japanese-American citizen's account of the internment camps. Again, though, it's important to read with a critical lens and remember that although the experience might have been true for the one Japanese-American who was in the internment camps, the experience may not be true for EVERY Japanese-American in an internment camp. I think that what Lee is trying to stress and what Greg talked about in class is that teachers cannot overgeneralize and simplify the ways of living for different cultures. Within each culture there are a variety of experiences, beliefs, etc. As teachers, we need to keep continually reminding our students of that fact. One way to do that would be to remind them to always be reading with a critical eye and not taking things for their "face value" so to speak.
I guess when I read this article I didnt see it the same way. I do think she was saying the everyone should have a multicutural classroom. However, we had this discussion in our group. We were given the question, "Lee says there is no 'neutral ground' on the issue of anti-racist education. What does she mean? Do you agree?" My group came to the conclusion that she means in your classroom it is either a monocultural or multicultural classroom. I dont think she is trying to say that you are racist if you dont have a multicultural classroom. It just has to be one way or the other, you can't just not choose. I do agree with that, however I dont think she means that it has to happen all at once and everything you do has to deal with every culture. In the interview she says, "I don't think it's reasonable to expect to move straight from a monocultural school to a multiracial school." "It usually happens in stages." I don't think it is possible to consider every culture in everything you do, but I dont think thats what she is asking for. I guess I just read the article in a different way, and I heard her as being passionate, not in a mean way.
I definitely agree with your comment, Larissa. That exact quotation prompted me to think about the 2nd grade classroom that I am in right now. My cooperating teacher definitely does not do all that Enid Lee says one needs to do in order to have a "multicultural, anti-rascist" classroom. I do not believe at all that we are promoting a rascist classroom if we do not have time to do all she asks.
I said this in Wheeling's class, and I'll repeat it here-- while my cooperating teacher does not (so far) do activities that are blatantly anti-rascist or multicultural, I feel that our students are definitely exposed to different cultures solely by allowing our students to share about themselves. When looking from a cultural point of view rather than a race point of view, one will most likely have a good amount of diversity in the classroom. By allowing students to share about their families and lives you are indirectly educating students about other cultures.
I think about our school days-- we barely have time to get through everything we are required to touch on--I think it is unfair to assume that just because we may not have time to go all out with promoting anti-rascist education that we are promoting a rascist classroom instead.
I have given Enid Lee's article much thought, along with all of the comments made in response to Larissa's post. I do agree with Lisa N. and have interpreted the reading as, "everyone should have a multicultural classroom," and that, "you can either have a multicultural classroom or monocultural classroom." It must be one or the other. Of course, this article seems overwhelming and like we discussed in class, it is not possible to do all of items that are suggested in the different types of teaching articles that we receive. We are exposed to a lot of different beliefs, and I believe that Lee is extremely passionate about multiculturalism. It may be awkward to read an article, especially one with content that you are not exposed to often or ever, and to feel as if the author is coming off too strongly and/or in the wrong way about it. We will have to operate our classroom by portraying OUR values and philosophies, taking bits and pieces of what we learn and are exposed to. Our beliefs will then shape who we become as an educator, as well as a person.
This last weekend, I read the book, "Holler if you hear me," by our very own, Greg Michie. A lot of what was in this book helped me realize that if you do not promote multiculturalism, a racist classroom can occur, although not intentionally. An excellent example from the text, is when a lot of Mexican-Americans from Quincy School called the bilingual kids, "brazers." To the children of Quincy School, the term meant that the kids were too Mexican. "The kids' rejection of their ethnic identity seemed to stem, at least in part, from a clash of cultures that they experienced between life at home and life in school..." pg. 73(ex. at home children spoke Spanish, at school, kids would get in trouble for speaking Spanish & at home, kids watched Spanish channels/shows, while at school, pop culture references were Euro-American.) There were no cultural bullentin boards, murals, or anything within the school. After hearing this, wouldn't it be easy to understand why some kids, "began to view so called "American" culture as superior to their own? It was being offered up--consciously or not--as what was normal, average, or even ideal....." pg. 74 This is just a small excerpt from the text, but hopefully it gives a clear example of what can happen within a school community. Let me know what you think about this!
I agree with Kaitlin that the book Holler if you Hear Me by Greg Michie is a good representation of how important it is to create a multicultural classroom. Classrooms today are more diverse than ever before. Children therefore need to learn about other cultures in order to appreciate people who they encounter every day. By hearing about those who are considered “different” from them, children learn to appreciate these differences instead of denouncing them.
Not only do we need to learn how to welcome others’ differences, but many students also need to learn how to accept themselves. In Holler if you Hear Me, the Latino students were seen as “too Mexican.” However, when they went to Mexico, they were seen as “too American.” This criticism caused them to struggle with their own identities. Because of this, many students were forced to give up their Mexican heritage in order to fit in. By embracing a multicultural classroom, students of different backgrounds will be able to appreciate themselves for who they are and can hold on to their own cultural identity.
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