Summer Seminar 2014University of Puerto Rico –Rio Pierdas

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr. Myron Anderson Dr. Vanessa Anderson Dr. Jan Perry-Evenstad Dr. Percy A. Morehouse Dr. Carmen Sanjurjo Dr. Peter Vigil Metropolitan State University of Denver

What is culture?

What is multicultural education?

Criticisms of multicultural education

Relevance of multicultural education in U.S. ?

Relevance of multicultural education in Puerto Rico?

Connections to Bullying

Socially transmitted ways of thinking, believing, feeling, and acting within a group.

These patterns are transmitted and transformed from one generation to the next.

The various facets of culture are shared and interrelated

“…man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning (Geertz, 1973)

Multiculturalism

Multicultural Education

Heterosexual

Academic

Chicano

Upper-Middle Class

Husband

Professor

Middle-aged

Family MemberBrother/Son

Multiculturalism

Multicultural Education

cultural competency, the idea that teachers acquire the knowledge and skills to function productively in cross-cultural classrooms and to interact efficiently with students from cultures that differ from their own (Marquez-Chisholm, 1994);

culturally responsive teaching, an instructional strategy based on the theory that when curriculum and skills are situated within the lived experiences and frames of references of students, they are more personally meaningful and are learned more easily and thoroughly (Gay, 2000);

reflective practice, the concept that teachers develop the skills of critical analysis and self-reflection, allowing them to examine their own cultural perspectives and personal assumptions underlying their expectations, beliefs and behaviors when interacting with CLD students (Ladson-Billings,1995).

Content Integration

The Knowledge Construction Process

Prejudice Reduction

An Equity Pedagogy

An Empowering School Culture

Examples:

Utilize active inquiry-based learning Cooperative learning techniques Native –language instruction Performance-based assessment Incorporating students’ funds of knowledge

into curriculum (Moll, 1993)

Critical Pedagogy: Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, Donaldo Macedo, Peter McClaren, Ira Shore, Sonia Nieto, John Dewey

Problem posing, reflective thinking, knowledge gathering and collaborative decision making

Intentional instructional opportunities to discuss critically and act on issues that directly affect the society they will form:

Racism, Environmental Pollution, Human Rights, Sexism, Gun Laws (school shootings), Global Warming, Gay Rights, Ubiquitous Technology, Immigration, Income disparities, etc.

“Helping students recognize that they are protagonists in the story of their own lives and adequately preparing them to act upon this knowledge”

Multicultural education is antiracist. It does not gloss over the presence of racism in society but addresses it

Multicultural education is vital for both majority and minority students.

Multicultural education is critical pedagogy. Teachers and students do not view knowledge or educations as being neutral or apolitical

Multicultural education is ongoing and dynamic and involves relationships between people as much as content

Multicultural education is education for social justice. It connects knowledge and understanding with social action

What does it have to do with increasing achievement (e.g., test scores) ?

Contrary to Public school mission of preparing students to participate in shared national culture

Schools should teach allegiance to shared national values American education system is undermined by dogmas that

have little to do with quality education Puts minority sentiments on a pedestal while putting

majority values on trial. If “the system is so bad”, why are substantial numbers of

certain minority groups able to succeed? Other groups need to get on board

“Achievement Gap” Heterogeneous – student population

◦ Nearly 50 % students of color Homogeneous – teacher population

◦ 84 % of teachers are Anglo Disproportionate numbers of crucial statistics:

◦ Educational achievement◦ Incarceration rates◦ Socio-economic status◦ Life expectancy

Dr. Carmen Sanjurjo……