TRANSFORMING

EDUCATION 1

Transforming Education
Making Change Through Discourse, Critical Thinking and
Multicultural Inclusion

Lukas P. Stanley
Western Michigan University
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In Mary Cowheys book, Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and

Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades, she writes anecdotally about her

experiences teaching first and second grade in Massachusetts. Throughout the book, she

provides examples of how she facilitates some extremely insightful and meaningful

conversation within her classrooms on topics ranging from social inequity to

environmental concerns to local politics (Cowhey); topics that most early elementary

teachers would never dare tackle head on in the classroom. These ideas point towards a

larger shift in educational mindset, beginning in the 1990s and continuing through the

present. This shift is concerned with multiculturalism in the classroom, and the various

pedagogical strategies by which teachers can create a truly multicultural environment for

their students. To define the phrase multicultural with regards to the classroom, let me

begin by splitting the word into its components: multi and culture. Multi refers to

more than one and culture refers to a group of people with a homogeneous set of

customs, beliefs, and social structures. Language, and subsets of language are another

particularly important part of culture, as they are, a shared way of speaking and thinking

about the world can lead to a sense of belonging to a particular group. In culturally

diverse classrooms it is important to consider how we often use language in ways that

don't make sense unless you are an 'insider' (Budd). When there are multiple cultures

colliding in classrooms, there is a natural resistance to cooperation due to lack of

knowledge about the other set of customs, beliefs and social structures, or else there is an

unwillingness to recognize the value of a culture other than ones own. However, in an

increasingly globalized world, and especially within a country as diverse as the United

States of America, there is an abundance of cultures present in every classroom in the

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country. It is of particular, utmost importance that students learn from the very beginning

of their educations to value and understand cultures other than their own for the sake of

unity, collaboration, and peace. With this in mind, I will explore how teachers, at any

level of education, can work to create classrooms in which there is an authentic

integration of multiculturalism and further develop why it is important to do so.

To begin putting the idea of multicultural classrooms into historical context,

consider this passage by Milner (2011): Culturally relevant pedagogy allows students

to see their culture in the curriculum and instruction. Historically, teaching has been a

one-way street, in which the teacher has knowledge, imparts it unto the students, and

assesses them on their retention. In this model of education, the culture of the students is

irrelevant, because the mode of learning is passive and non-participatory only the

teachers cultural background or training factors into the classroom environment. Milner

proposes that a shift in this paradigm begins when students develop a critical

consciousness and that they move beyond spaces where they simply or solely consume

knowledge without critically examining it. The idea is for teachers to create learning

environments where students develop a voice and perspective and are allowed to

participate (more fully) in the multiple discourses available in a learning context by not

only consuming information but also through helping to deconstruct and to construct it.

What Milner is proposing here corroborates the suggested model for culturally relevant

teaching that Cowhey also employs. This model is one in which the students and their

cultures and ethnicities are present and validated (Milner). Previous decades have seen

some movement in the right direction, with the acknowledgement of the importance of

other cultures, especially of the African-American community, which has an especially

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conflict-ridden history. Society began trying to right past injustices with things like

Martin Luther King Junior Day, and Black History Month, but in many ways, this is just

a Band-Aid (Miller). All that tolerance does is say, Ill acknowledge the existence of

your culture for one day, or one month out of the year. This is a Band-Aid in the sense

that a day or a month is certainly better than nothing, but it isnt an equalizer. It might

even simply cover injuries when what they really need is further attention or a

metaphorical skin graft that will seamlessly repair a wound that is too large to cover with

a few Band-Aids. This is the goal of multicultural classrooms. Without teaching in a way

that truly represents all of the students in a classroom, cultural equity cannot progress.

Schwieger, Gros, and Barberan (2010) make a compelling argument in their

writing that diversity within a classroom is not just necessary for teaching cultural

tolerance, which is perhaps inadequate according to Miller, but that it is actually

necessary for the highest level of learning to occur. These three authors were writing

from the perspective of three foreign teaching assistants in a United States university.

They likened the diversity of the classrooms they taught in to the Italian Renaissance, a

time of flourishing ideas that resulted from the discussions born of cultural intersection. It

was during such cultural collision that some of the best art in history was made, and that

some of the best ideas were thought of because in the absence of cultural uniformity, new

ideas were permissible (Schwieger, Gros, & Barberan).

With the necessity of culturally relevant pedagogy in mind, it is important to

discuss now the means by which this can be accomplished. Not to be immediately

disheartening, but there must be a disclaimer here that there is no one-size-fits-all

solution to the question of creating a multicultural classroom, or teaching culturally

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relevant pedagogy (Milner). Teachers must be mindful of their students and cater to their

needs, both academically and socially (Milner). Reading the sorts of anecdotes that

authors like Mary Cowhey write should inspire effective teaching, but cannot necessarily

be copied and pasted into any classroom for maximum success. For example, she relays a

time when she simply prompts a student to write about how they really feel about

anything. The short story this prompt elicited was about how the student was excited and

nervous to begin Little League, and hoped that she was not the only African American

girl on the team. This story prompted a whole class discussion on the intersections of

multiple identities: race, ethnicity, and religion, about melanin, confidence, and differing

abilities (Cowhey). There would be no way to plan exactly for that moment, but what a

teacher can do is facilitate their classroom with a mindset that permits and encourages

these moments to happen. This all hints at a much greater contributing factor that many

scholars and authors agree works effectively to create multicultural classrooms:

discussion. Honest discourse about difficult subjects, like those described by Cowhey.

The way that topics regarding culture are approached or not approached by a

teacher can have the biggest impact on the effectiveness of equally reaching all the

students is a culturally diverse classroom. This kind of discourse can occur at any age

level, but will look different across varying age groups. For example, starting at a young

age, through carefully selected picture books, children's social conscience and empathy

for others can be gradually awakened or developed by narratives that explore social

issues and human relationships (Budd). One study, carried out in New Zealand, used

personal storytelling as a means to foster cross-cultural relationships among a group of

classmates (Baskerville). The study measured qualitative improvements in the

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relationships of 24 Year 10 students (ages 13-14) representing six distinct ethnic

identities, as they underwent a process of sharing personal stories and reflecting and

journaling about the stories of their classmates. Story telling proved to be very effective

at drawing connections across ethnic divides students realized how much they had in

common and could relate to one another (Baskerville). It is equally important, according

to this study, that the students feel a personal connection to their teacher. Baskerville

(2011) writes, Current culturally responsive pedagogical research claims effective

teachers have a significant role when creating a safe, culturally inclusive learning

environment. In this instance, that also included the teachers humanizing themselves to

the students by vulnerably sharing about their own lives. This in turn helped the students

to open up more about the cultures that they existed within, and generated a larger

dialogue based on critical thought and understanding (Baskerville).

In addition to generating honest discourse about ethnicity and culture, as many

ways as possible should be found to integrate elements of the students culture into the

curriculum. As mentioned before, students will feel culturally invalidated if they dont

see themselves represented there. Milner says, educators who create culturally relevant

learning contexts are those who see students culture as an asset, not a detriment to their

success. Teachers actually use student culture in their curriculum planning and

implementation This sounds simple enough, but in practice there is a lot standing

between actual teaching practice and ideal teaching practice. In my opinion, this is likely

because when student culture is divorced from either the teachers current culture, or their

own conceptions of what education should look like, there is a conflict between how the

teacher perceives they should deliver content and the most effective and meaningful way
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to do so. Another possibility is that it is inconvenient for the teacher to reimagine old

lesson plans or to rework their curriculum in a way that meaningfully integrates

multicultural elements, and therefore they choose not to. These are barriers that can be

overcome through diligence on the part of teachers who, like Mary Cowhey, have the

best interest of the students in mind and continually advocate for them.

Despite somewhat slow historical trends towards cultural equity and acceptance in

American classrooms, through dialogue and intentional teaching, the educational

landscape of not just our country, but of the global community, can be transformed into

one that is truly multicultural.

Word Count: 1650

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Resources

Baskerville, D. (2011). Developing cohesion and building positive relationships through

storytelling in a culturally diverse New Zealand classroom. Teaching and Teacher

Education, 27(1), 107-115. doi: http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/

10.1016/j.tate.2010.07.007

Budd, Y. (2016). Using culturally diverse picture books in the classroom: Exploring

culture, language and identity. Practically Primary, 21(2), 7. Retrieved from

http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u

=lom_wmichu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA458564972&asid=df3edd73f386a4

06a9bc4ed22bae7671

Cowhey, M. (2006). Black ants and Buddhists: Thinking critically and teaching

differently in the primary grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Miller, H. M. (1997). Teaching and learning about cultural diversity. The Reading

Teacher, 51(3), 260-262. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.

library.wmich.edu/stable/20201896

Milner, H. R. (2011). Culturally relevant pedagogy in a diverse urban classroom. The

Urban Review, 43(1), 66-89. doi: 10.1007/s11256-009-0143-0

Schwieger, F., Gros, E. & Barberan, L. (2010) Lessons from the culturally diverse

classroom: Intellectual challenges and opportunities of teaching in the American

university. College Teaching, 58(4), 148-155.

doi: 10.1080/87567555.2010.484033