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TEXT I

Building Blocks: The First Steps of Creating a Multicultural Classroom

Discovering diversity takes creativity, extra effort, diligence, and courage on the teacher's part. A

multicultural classroom must thrive on these differences and use them as a foundation for growth and

development. Differences command work, resolution, openness, and understanding. Teachers who

address these differences and add them to the curriculum will succeed in creating a multicultural

5 classroom that will advance the educational goals of all students.

(...) Teachers in multicultural classrooms must be open to their students and put forth the effort

needed to get to know their students inside and outside of class. If a teacher is hesitant about being

open, the class will reciprocate and the students will become estranged from one another and the

teacher. In order to be open, teachers must be interested in their students, fearless, willing to try new

10 and different things, sure of themselves in order to avoid taking things personally, and non-

judgmental of his or her students (Canning 196). Also, openness is not making assumptions and being

prepared for the unexpected (Canning 199). (...)Many cultures have many different mores and

folkways. Teachers must be open to what the students are doing and find out why they do what they

do. This openness will create communication in the class, which will ultimately develop into a

15 classroom that is learning, understanding, and culturally fluent.

In addition to openness, teachers must know the learning patterns of the students in their class.

Teachers must understand the learning patterns of the students who grew up in a culture other than

their own. Teachers who open themselves up to cultural difference will effectively handle culture

clash while teachers who assume that student A is rude and student B is dumb will close

20 communication in the classroom and destroy any hope of having a multicultural classroom. The best

way to handle culture clash is to be open, knowledgeable, and not be afraid to talk about the cultural

differences in class no matter what discipline the teacher is teaching (Jones 12). An open teacher will

create an open class and an open class will have open lines of communication that will create a positive

and beneficial learning environment for everyone.

25 (...) Gloria Boutte and Christine McCormick suggest six basic principles for teachers to use when

evaluating their culturally diverse classroom, these are, "1) building multicultural programs, 2)

showing appreciation of differences, 3) avoiding stereotypes, 4) acknowledging differences in

children, 5) discovering the diversity within the classroom, 6) avoiding pseudomulticulturalism"

(140). Showing appreciation of differences is very important because a teacher who does not show

30 appreciation of all the differences in their class will not get the chance to attempt any of the other five

principles. Teachers need to pay attention to their verbal and nonverbal language when he or she

responds to students who speak differently. For example, if a child reads, "Dere go the sto-man", the

teacher should avoid interrupting the student to provide the correct English version. Instead, the

teacher should thank the student for reading and then model the correct English version when she or

35 he speaks. However, the most important thing to remember about all classrooms is the premise that

every child is unique. All children are different and beautiful in their own way, no one student should

feel excluded from the class.

(...) Creating multicultural classrooms is a growing priority for all teachers and administrators. This

includes restructuring classroom evaluation and punishment techniques, but, more importantly, it

40 includes embracing difference and opening up the classroom for communication.

Larri Fish of Siena College