>My students are going to be teachers in California classrooms. They have
>to learn
>how to deal with diversity and they have to learn how to teach students from
>different linguistic backgrounds.
Yes! What about having your students do some investigative research? For
example, have them go to different schools--maybe an excellent one with few
minorities and one not so good one with lots of minorities (of course I'm
stereotyping here)--examine how the schools differentially prepare their
students for higher education, speculate on the effects of the different
schools in preparing their students for higher education, and offer
recommendations to help improve the educational system. Another
possibility might be to have students engage in volunteer tutoring of
minority students and write a paper on their experiences, incorporating
pedagogical theories to interpret those experiences. Perhaps they could
even incorporate the perspectives of the students they are tutoring.
(There might be a need for consent and confidentiality in this last
suggestion.)
>I have to be careful that I am not accused of being biased myself.
>Perhaps a little bit of history and California's teaching credential
>requirement about cross-cultural education may "convert' some, not all.
Please take my comments as well-meaning and not as an attack, but how can
someone not be biased if they are trying to convert others to their point
of view? How can students not perceive their teacher as biased if they
feel the teacher is trying to convert them?
>I plan to present the pros and cons, based on sound theories and I have to
>rely on students who are more open minded to participate in the discussion.
>I believe that having opposing views in class is a good thing.
I would suggest instead of merely presenting the pros and cons, you let
them do some research. You could give them a reading list of both sides,
but let students choose one side or the other (hopefully you'll have some
students on both sides) and then let them present the results of their
research, perhaps in a presentation/class forum manner. It may be that
part of the reason some students feel resentment is because they don't feel
they are legitimate participants in the discussion. It's difficult for a
student to be open-minded when they feel their views are not considered
seriously by the teacher. Sincerely giving them access to the discussion
can help decrease resentment and increase open-mindedness.
>I will probably need to guide the
>discussion and refer to sound theories and pedagogies.
As part of the discussion assignment mentioned above, have the students
incorporate into their research "sound" theories and pedagogies to support
their positions. (Again, you can provide a reading list of different
theories and pedagogies.) If you guide the discussion too much or towards
your perspective too much, you'll lose credibility and, as a result, your
students. In fact, if you're a minority promoting multiculturalism, then
you have to work doubly hard to present a balanced and unbiased
perspective. Otherwise, you'll have the credibility of tobacco companies
publishing their own research to support their positions. On controversial
subjects like this one, it may be better for students to do their own
research and come up with their own answers.
>In short, I have to be better prepared, which includes having
>anticipated the opposing views most likely to emerge and how to handle them.
If your opposing students perceive you as "handling" their views, you'll be
perceived as biased. Again, let the students in the class who are
pro-multiculturalism (I assume there must be a few) take up your position.
They may not be able to argue as well as you, but they'll do well enough,
and their opponents may listen more to them than to you. Your role may be
best limited to preventing the debate from becoming "a verbal brawl."
Rather than impose our perspectives on students, we need to empower them by
bringing them into the discussion as legitimate participants and trying to
create common ground from which to discuss this issue. Learning occurs
through"increasing participation in communities of practice" (Lave & Wenger
49). In engaging them in discussion, we shouldn't expect them to agree
with us, although we may hope so. Instead, we should expect that they
learn to wrestle with the issues involved and come to understand better the
perspectives of different voices.
It seems too obvious to say on this listserv, but we need to remember that
people's perceptions of multicultural education are socially/historically
conditioned and created, and when two widely disparate thought collectives
come into contact, communication may not take place (Fleck). For this
reason, simply showing the students statistics and research is not always
an effective approach. After all, how many of us accept the interpretation
of the statistics and research of the authors of _The Bell Curve_?
On a final note, we need to stop simplistically stereotyping those who
disagree with us as being arrogant or afraid or insecure. Of course, these
factors may come into play, but they are not the only factors involved.
Not too long ago on xmca, quite a few disparaging comments were made
against people taking a phonics approach in reading. Should we similarly
assume that the primary factors motivating these comments derived from
arrogance, fear, and/or insecurity? Giving multicultural opponents the
benefit of the doubt, might they not--whether rightly or wrongly--be
motivated by a sense of injustice?
Anyway, Melanie and Esteban, best of luck.
Charles Nelson
c.nelson who-is-at mail.utexas.edu
Fleck, Ludwik. (1979/1935). _Genesis and Development of a Scientific
Fact_. (Eds. Thaddeus J. Trenn and Robert K. Merton; Trans. Fred Bradley
and Thaddeus J. Trenn). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Lave, Jean, & Wenger, Etienne. (1991). _Situated Learning: Legitimate
peripheral participation_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.