Culture and CommunityChapter 5

Overview– Multicultural Classrooms– Social Class Differences– Gender Differences in the Classroom– Language Differences in the Classroom– Creating Culturally Compatible Classrooms

DIVERSITY The Melting Pot vs. Salad Bowl/Stir Fry (Jane Elliott) Cultural deficit model The James Banks(2002) Model-

– Content Integration-examples and content from a variety of cultures and groups

– Equity Pedagogy-Matching teaching styles to learning styles

– Knowledge Construction Process-Helping students understand how implicit cultural assumptions within a discipline influence ways that knowledge is constructed

– Prejudice Reduction-Identifying racial attitudes and how you as a teacher can modify them

– Empowering School Culture and Social Structure-Create a school culture that empowers students from all groups

See Figure 12.1, Woolfolk p.149-Banks’s Dimensions of Multicultural Education

Culture and Group membership– What is culture? knowledge, attitudes, rules, traditions, values,

customs, behavior patterns that characterize a social group/guide behavior in a certain group

– Visible and Invisible signs of culture• Visible: costume, music, food• Invisible: rules for relationships

– Cultural Cautions:• Real children are complex beings and belong to and are

influenced by MANY groups to which they belong• Membership in a group does not necessarily determine

behavior• May belong to more than one group

– Influenced by many cultures – Ideas and beliefs of one culture sometimes are incompatible

with another group(s)– Groups create cultures such as:

Regional Ethnic Religious RacialGender Social class

Social Class Differences

Socioeconomic Status (SES)– 4 levels: Upper, Middle, Working and Lower– Income is not necessarily an effective measure of SES– Relative standing in society based on income, power,

background and prestige. – Social class is a strong characteristic that unites people

even beyond ethnic differences Characteristics of the Poor

– 1 in 4 Americans under the age of 18 lives in poverty– Poverty level is $18,100 for a family of four– US has the highest rate of poverty for children among

industrialized nations See Table 12.1, Woolfolk p.151-Selected Characteristics of

Different Social Classes

SES and Achievement Poor Health Care Low Expectations leads to low self-esteem Learned Helplessness Peer Influences Peer Influences and Resistance Cultures Tracking Childrearing Styles Home Environment and Resources

Ethnic and Racial Differences

•Ethnicity: A cultural heritage shared by a group of people. This can be based upon common nationality, culture, language, religion or race

•Race: A group of people who share common biological traits that are seen as self- defining by the people of the group•Minority Group: Group of people who have been socially disadvantaged—not

always a minority in actual numbers. Sociologists use this term to label a group of people who receives unequal or discriminatory

treatment. •Cultural Conflicts are usually the subtle/invisible signs of culture. When cultural

differences meet, misunderstandings can occur and members from different cultures may be perceived as rude, ignorant or disrespectful.

Development of Prejudice

Prejudice: “Prejudge” Prejudgment or irrational generalization about an entire category of people such as:

-racial -ethnic -political -religious-geographic -gender -sexual orientation

Why do prejudices develop?-combination of personal and social factors-Children may develop prejudices as a result of familial attitudes, friends, media, advertising, and the entire environment around them-Authoritarian Personality that rigidly conforms to the belief that society is naturally competitive, with “better” people reaping its rewards-Using schemas to structure and make sense of the world through our experiences. Our experiences help us construct our schemes of knowing about different groups of people based on the characteristics we have encountered or what others have told us. These are stereotypes that we develop.

Stereotype Threat- Burden placed on person(s) being stereotyped. Pressure to confirm or combat stereotype.

Short-term effects-Test anxiety-performanceLong-term effects-Disidentification-self defeating-don’t care attitude

Culturally Compatible ClassroomsTo Eliminate, Racism, Sexism and Prejudice

– Social organization: the way people interact to accomplish a certain goal. Some groups are more effective with cooperative learning than others

– Learning Styles: differ for students from different ethnic backgrounds as all children differ so be careful not to automatically presume to teach a certain way because a child is of a certain background

– Sociolinguistics: study of formal and informal rules for how, when, about what, to who, and how long to speak in conversations within cultural groups

– Participation structures: formal and informal rules for how to take part in a given activity—school structures tend to be more aligned with communication rules found in middle class homes.

Research supports that when schools are changed to meet the social organization, learning style and sociolinguistic needs of ALL students, experiences and achievement changes.

All classrooms should strive to be Culturally Compatible in which procedures, rules, grouping strategies, attitudes, and teaching methods do not cause conflicts with the students’ culturally influenced ways of learning and interacting.

Girls and BoysDifferences in the Classroom

Gender-Role Identity-learned very early from parents/guardians Biological and environmental differences do exist between men and

women Interactions with our parents/guardians help shape our notions of

what is to be known as male or female -gender schemas Androgynous individuals are well adjusted individuals who possess

both “masculine” and “feminine” characteristics depending on a situation

Gender Biases in the curriculum, stereotyped views of gender roles Sexual discrimination in classrooms-teachers create and perpetuate

– give boys more praise, comments, criticisms and corrections– ask boys to do physical tasks, be leaders, girls to arrange ‘pretty”

stuff, be secretaries

Se GUIDELINES, p. 169-Avoiding Sexism in Teaching

Language Differences in the Classroom

Culture affects communication. Children from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds experience many confusions in the classroom—one of the largest can stem from language and dialect differences.

Dialect A variation of a language spoken by a particular ethnic, social or regional group.

– Dialects have rules and order Standard Speech is the most generally accepted and used form of a

language Best Teaching Approaches

– Focus on understanding the child

– Need to be sensitive to your own possible negative stereotypes about children who speak a different dialect

– Ensure comprehension by repeating instructions using different words, asking students to paraphrase and give examples. illustrations should also be used.

– Accept the dialect as valid but teach the standard form of English.

–See GUIDELINES, page 178-Dialects in the Classroom

Bilingualism Increase in numbers of children for whom English is not their native language Most recent reports show that almost 25% of students speak a first language other

than English, usually Spanish. Speaking two languages fluently is called Bilingualism. Those that are not proficient in any language are semilingual Higher degrees of bilingualism are associates with increased cognitive abilities. English as a Second Language (ESL): Designation for programs and classes to

teach English to students who are not native speakers of English Limited English Proficiency (LEP): Descriptive term for students who have limited

mastery of English 2 formal approaches

– Transition• English should be taught as early as possible.• Do not teach in native language• Most bilingual programs follow this

– Native-language maintenance instruction• Use the native language to teach new skills while teaching the English language• Will have problems learning “math” in a ‘foreign” language• Sends the message that home language is second class• Any academic concepts learned in native language will still be retained when more

proficient in English• In High School/Middle School need to take courses in a second language—mix English

and ESL students and teach together—all become bilingual

See page 182, Table 14.3Ideas for Promoting Learning and Language Acquisition