Our classrooms today are embedded in culture. We may look out at our classrooms and have it represent various countries throughout the world. As a Caucasian woman teaching in these classrooms, I feel it is imperative that these cultures are recognized and celebrated within the school and classroom. The question becomes, how can this be accomplished? I am fascinated by other cultures, but do not feel educated enough to teach them, for fear of offending someone or “getting it wrong.” We must also ask ourselves as educators, how does our own culture reflect how we teach the curriculum? Is the curriculum relatable to students from other cultures? Who is the best person to be teaching these cultures?

The two articles that will be discussed offer very different perspectives on the issue of incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom. One takes the position of a Caucasian woman facilitating multicultural learning and her as the focal point. It is a teacher-centered approach, with a teacher from the majority attempting to teach a multicultural education to her students (Rose-Cohen, 2004). The other article takes a more student-centered approach. This article focuses on the lived experiences of our students and how that has shaped who they are. It also reveals an interesting theory; do minority teachers do a better job of teaching multiculturalism than those from the majority (Phillion, 2002)?

In the first article, Rose-Cohen exposes the idea of how often white educators do not believe to have a culture that they can call their own (2004). They go about their teaching practice glorifying and highlighting the traditions of their students who have visible cultural differences, without acknowledging their particular culture. She says “well-meaning white educators often find themselves in the paradoxical position of speaking up for the importance of cultural diversity and then claiming we have no culture ourselves (2004).” I have lived this paradox. It is critical for educators to acknowledge other cultures, but in the midst we may be denying our own. Embedded in this denial puts us in a position of being better than those we teach with a more rich cultural history (2004). Rose-Cohen expresses the feelings that when we don’t acknowledge our own culture, we don’t realize the impact that this has on our own teaching practice (2004). The reality is that there are visible and invisible cultures throughout our classroom. What needs to be understood from the authors’ perspective is how we must make ourselves vulnerable and expose our own culture, to better understand the cultures of others. Rather than making others “exotic” because of their backgrounds, we must simply live and learn together in a multicultural environment (2004). The author claims it to be possible to be a white-educator while still connecting to the lives of our multicultural students and teaching them with an understanding of their culture.

The second article takes a different approach. Phillion experienced a 20-month study, in which she immersed herself in a classroom with a teacher who was a minority (2002). The school was described as inner-city and multicultural. Phillion entered this study with what she assumed was prior knowledge about incorporating culture into the classroom, through a wealth of literature that she had studied (2002). One of the best parts of the article is her acknowledgement of how we as a school-system, label our schools in a way that does not always portray them in a positive light. We use labels such as disadvantaged, low socio-economic and inner-city. These labels do nothing but allow people to make judgments without really getting to know the students and teachers within the schools (2002). What made the teacher in this case-study so exciting to the researcher was that she shared a common racial background to most of her students, and was an immigrant. The author states that “minority teachers benefit the education system as a whole by opening up the discourse in teacher education to diverse views” (2002). Does this make this “type” of teacher more valuable to her students than someone from the majority? The author would suggest that yes she would.

In considering both articles, while it effectively takes away my position as a majority teacher in a diverse school, I agree with the second article. Phillion makes a strong argument about how we must remove the labels from our children and simply live as people inter-dependently in the school system. In saying this, I still believe that as a teacher in the majority, that I am a good teacher. However, the attention needs to lie on our commonalities and when differences are experienced, there must be discussion and learning, and most importantly understanding.

This is a contentious issue. The topic of culture can create widespread debate among many people. As an educator in a very diverse community, it is my job to begin to acknowledge my own culture and the role this has on how I teach, while at the same time making those students cultures around me shared and understood within the curriculum as often as possible. I look forward to taking a more student-centered approach to multiculturalism and having my students be the experts on their culture, and appreciate those around them by experiencing them in a positive way. I plan to incorporate culture into the curriculum and have my students display their culture and learn those of others through a variety of technological mediums. This may include slideshows, podcasts and blogs as a way to have an open and informative discussion and learning environment in our classroom.

There are many questions that remain to be explored and discussed. How can we best incorporate various cultures into the curriculum? Can majority educators provide the same experience as minority teachers who have experienced what our diverse students are going through? How can we display culture in the classroom in an effective and educational way? Are we getting close to meeting the needs of our more culturally diverse students? Are majority students getting lost in the battle?

Annotated Bibliogrpahy

Phillion, J. (2002). Narrative multiculturalism. Curriculum Studies, 34 (3), 265-279. Retrieved June 26, 2008, from EBSCO Host Research Database.  

This article was a case study in which a minority teacher was observed in a culturally diverse school. The researcher examined this teachers’ ability to teach culture, and her effectiveness based on her minority status. This article is a more student-centered approach, in which the teacher is seen as more of a facilitator than a leader. This put the “power” into the hands of the students, rather than having the teacher preach about cultures that she is not familiar with.

Rose-Cohen, L. (2004). Knowing Ourselves So We May Know Others: Reflections for a White Facilitator of Multicultural Learning. Health Literacy in Adult Education, 15 (1), 36-39. Retrieved June 26, 2008, from EBSCO Host Research Database.  

This article was a reflection on how multicultural learning is taught by white educators. It takes a teacher-centered approach, in that it examines the effects that white teachers have when teaching multiculturalism in the classroom. It describes a need for these teachers to first acknowledge that they have a culture themselves before they can even attempt to teach and learn the cultures of others.