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Dustin Ryan
Culture and Inclusion
Professor Pluciennik
11/12/15
Reflective Essay #2

Culture and education should be inseparable. It is crucial for the sake of our society, to
embrace and respond to the needs of all our students. We are taught about being responsive to
the needs of our students in teacher preparation programs. This stems from Maslows hierarchy
of needs. Culture, in my opinion, is deeply embedded with these needs. If a child is not feeling
the satisfaction of the most basic needs, they will not begin to feel respected or supported by
their peers and classroom community.
Cullinan discusses three presumptions that affect the relationship between the dominant
and nondominant culture in our society. Cullinan posits that these three presumption; the
presumption of innocence, the presumption of worthiness, and the presumption of competence
play a major role in how cultures are viewed (Cullinan 1999). Cullinan mentions that when we
merely tolerate someone, we are still wary of them. She provides a powerful example of one
students experience going from a segregated school to an integrated school. Many non- black
people, myself included, may have looked at desegregation as an event with positive effects.
We might imagine that one schools were integrated, everything changed for the better. This
account proves me, and that view completely wrong. When this student was taught in an all
black school, by black teachers, there was a joy to learning. That joy was stripped away for
many, when schools integrated. Then, students faced the kind of tolerance that Cullinan
describes, in which the joy is replaced by pure information, and the relationship to how they
once lived was lost. Realizing this, I lost my love of school (Hooks 1994). This is powerful.
That simple connection of life relationships to what we are learning has the power to make or
break a students love of school.
Gay mentions a multicultural pluralism that is needed within our education system. She
states that with the increasing ethnic diversity in the United States, there is an imperative need
for multicultural education (Gay 1994), She states that it is imperative particularly if education
is to fulfill its basic functions by being personally meaningful, socially relevant, culturally
accurate, and pedagogically sound (Gay 1994). This reminds me again of Maslow. If we have
an ever increasing population of ethnic diversity, we then need to broaden our understanding of
our students and both their individual and cultural needs.
Delpit gives many examples of black teachers expressing their frustrations of working
with white teachers (Delpit 2006). The frustrations being that white people, white educators,
claim to know what works for all, and never really listen - or hear the black teachers attempting
to bring personal experience to the table. I share the same frustration as these particular
teachers. Why arent these teachers being heard by their fellow educators, and why are their
experiences not as valid as the research? Research is great, and can be helpful, but
experience is just as real. Experience is rich with information about our students.
I had a conversation with a fellow teacher of mine on our tri annual reading tests, in
which we determine student reading level. These are typical running record passage tests with

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a comprehension discussion at the end. The child is tested for fluency and accuracy. At parent
teacher conference, we might say so and so is reading at a book ___, and has made no
progress since last trimester. We started to talk about the implications of this kind of test. Is is
a true reflection of where the student is, as far as reading level? This is the score we are
supposed to use on our report cards, per our school district. What happens if the student was
up until 11:30 in the parking lot of a bowling alley waiting for his parents? This is the story that
my colleague shared. There are many ways to approach this: one is, if youre aware - dont test
the child the next morning. Another, set up a conference with the family. What I feel it comes
down to, is based on experience, there are many things going on with students that we just
dont see or understand, even as hard as we may be trying to.
Multicultural education is critical in our education system. It is important for the
development of future members of our society, and a global society. As the world becomes
more and more connected, is crucial to have a background of cultural attentiveness and
responsiveness - not tolerance. Tolerance merely means that you are accepting of other
cultures being a part - but as Cullinan implies - wary of them at the same time. Whatever term
we want to give it, what we need is to embrace, include, and respect all cultures. This will help
us contribute to the global society. As teachers, we are at ground zero for this action. It is up to
us to set forth an environment that ensures students feel safe, secure, validated and respected.
This is the only way that students will being to take the risks required for learning.

Work Cited

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Cullinan, Cris (1999) Vision, Privilege, and the Limits of Tolerance
Delpit, Lisa (2006) Other Peoples Children
Gay, Geneva (1994) A Synthesis of Scholarship in Multicultural Education