Is "muticulturalism" wrong?

In Nasvhille Scene's article, Pithissippi Burning: Race, White Nationalionalism and American Culture, columnist PJ Tobias explores white supremacist non-acceptance to a multi-racial U.S. society stating that many Americans are not far from the old mind sets prevalent in the days of Ella Flitzgerald and the pre-Civil Rights Movement. He cites two white supremacist books, The Brigade and the Turner Diaries, as handbooks in support of the advancement of this movement and that people like himself, those against it, do not have the support necessary to live in the "post-racial" society President Obama has promised.

In Why Multiculturalism is Wrong the author states that multiculturalism "limits freedom, its possibility, and possible futures" of native populations stating that it's basically just another name for "race." In the Challenge of Multiculturalism, author Samuel Taylor states the term is the "departure from the history America has always taught its children." He believes multiculturalism is another name for Affirmative Action and that it's against nationalism and assimilation. Multicultural groups are creating their own histories leaving white settlers out of U.S. history.

Mulitculturalism is a touchy subject. When I think about the word "multiculturalism," I think about the "have and have nots." In my experience, multiculturalism in educational settings means poverty and lack of available community resources provided to the school system for the students. I've also noticed how these words have changed. Lately, a lot of educational studies are putting that word out. In the late 1990s, when I completed my initial licensure the words being used were diversity and "classisms." The words might change, but the idea is the same: How do we as educators meet the needs of the lower socioeconomic and minority students?

I think the issue here is how do we address poverty, not multiculturalism. Poverty, lack of education, and opportunity result in works like The Brigade. These thoughts come usually from the uneducated classes. The year 1965 when the Civil Rights Act was finally enacted is not that long ago in our nation's history. We as educators need to work harder to eliminate those old ways of thinking. That type of behavior is learned, but can be unlearned. I agree that multiculturalism is an unnecessary term and promotes racial profiling.

By this definition, I probably teach in the most "multicultural" classroom of all the teachers I know. Since I teach ESL to adults, my students are from all over the world. They have different languages, cultures, traditions, and religions. As a teacher I keep in mind their cultural traditions and backgrounds. For example, my Asian students are not conversationalists by nature, most of my Arab women don't like standing in front of the classroom, my Italian students love to talk, they all have different religions, holiday schedules, etc. Multiculturalism is obviously an issue, but what we practice in my classroom is respect, acceptance, and a desire to learn. In my classroom, we practice multicultural theory in action.

However, I know that my classroom is the exception. I believe we need to stamp out words like multiculturalism and racism. I believe in the global plan for a post-racial society and am in support of any educational reform that will put more money into school systems in an effort to provide all students with equal resources.

Fieldwork: Problem Identification #2

I visited Ms. T's high/intermediate ESL class from 8:30-9:30 on Tuesday, September 21st. My goal for the day's observation was to target 2 problems in the ESL classroom in order to implement action research and case study.

TEACHING ISSUES

What identified problems related to teaching, lesson delivery, materials, and related strategies are present?

On this day there were 9 students present: 8 Hispanic and 1 Chinese.

Most of the problems I observed in Ms. T's classroom had little to do with methodolgy and teaching strategies, but with incomplete homework and failure to stay on task. The students today were not organized and did not follow instructions. Ms. T. regularly manages the room like an open forum and goes in between formal and informal instruction regularly throughout class. Today seemed to be "one of those days" where the students decided to take advantage of the informalities and do less work.

The class lasts approximately 1 hour, and Ms. T has a lot to cover. She begins the lesson working from the "Green Book," a science book published by National Geographic. The class works on Science first and then spends the rest of the hour on Reading. In the Science class, she incoporates ESL instruction by teaching types of sentences. During the Reading class, she teaches main idea and identifying climax for reading comprehension.

Two problems in delivery I observed were:

1) "Ms. T, how do you spell? Ms. T, how do you spell?" The students are constantly asking Ms. T how to spell words. The students did not appear to have immediate access to dictionaries.

2) I overheard the use of the word catched by the same student in 2 consecutive sentences directly spoken to the teacher. Ms. T did not correct the student to let her know that the proper form of to catch in the past tense is caught. Little correction of grammatical errors was noticed.

What problems or issues related to teaching - in general - did you observe?

The most obvious problem in regards to teaching was that out of the 9 students, only 6 of them had completed their homework. This is a problem because due to the small size of the class, it is difficult to proceed with the day's lesson. Ms. T dedicated the last 20 minutes of the 60 minute class period to finish homework. This time also extended into the student break.

What concerns emerged with regard to grouping, interactions, etc.?

The problems in this classroom are very different from my own, so it was an interesting experience. I am used to college aged students -- middle school is a whole different cow. In this classroom, students are constantly and openly speaking out loud and disrupting class. Sometimes they raise their hands, sometimes they don't. At one point of the class, Ms. T said, "You are all talking about nothing that has to do with the story."

Ms. T said it best herself, "It's so easy in this small room to distract eachother."

Also, the Hispanic students all interact with each other and the teacher; however, the one Chinese girl interacted with no one. Her work was complete, but the whole class period she said not one word in class and was not encouraged to participate.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (SLA)

What did you observe that worked well in promoting SLA?

Ms. T introduced the first part of the class by reviewing Types of Sentences. First, she reviewed the 4 types of sentences: 1) statement; 2) question; 3) exclamation; 4) command. She routinely incorporates inductive reasoning to promote higher level thinking and to demonstrate understanding in her teaching.

She wrote the following sentence on the board: "Greg Marshall made the first critter cam in 1987." She then asked the students what type of sentence this was. The students correctly responded: statement. Teacher asked, "Why is this a statement?" Students responded. She proceeded with the next sentence: "Show me a picture of a critter cam." "Command," the students responded. Again, she asked why, and they responded.

Next, she asked the students to turn the statement into question sentences using question words. "Who is Greg Marshall? What is the critter cam? etc."

Ms. T promotes SLA through identifying sentences and creating new sentences in the English language. She does this by engaging and actively providing structure for student interaction and questioning in order to fully understand proper sentence structure.

What type of interactions took place that encouraged SLA?

The teacher and the students interacted actively throughout the lesson. At the lessons conclusion, Ms. T asked, "Which of the question sentences were easiest to pick out?" The students gave their answers. They are also not afraid to ask questions. "Hey, what about Why?" one student said. "Yeah, what about Why?" Ms. T responded. She then went in to why.

This classroom is an extremely active community of learners.

What materials were best suited for the specific SLA learners in this setting?

Students in this class like visuals. I observed Ms. T's lessons really take off when she utilized the board and asked questions. They also like to be questioned. "If I use the question word "when,' what can I take out of this sentence to put when in there?" Visualization and challenge are the best proponents for achievement and understanding in this classroom. They really enjoy responding to real and unreal conditions.

ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

What information do you need (as an ESL professional) to better meet the needs of L2 learners in this environment?

As an ESL teacher, I think it's important to be aware of student cultural backgrounds and the learning styles from their countries. I recognize that teachers must more consciously be diligent in observing and meeting the needs of the minority.

How was culture integrated into teaching and learning?

Culture is integrated in this classroom by incorporating an open forum and inductive method of instruction. This seems to be what the students like best. They seem to hate periods of individual work and make efforts to resist such time slots for instruction. For example, when the group is working aloud on content they interact and discuss relevant materials. In independent work, they go off task. "Hey! Tomorrow is picture day!." Ms. T has her hands full.

What issues or concerns related to culture, multiple perspectives, and linguistic diversity emerged?

One concern was the lack of participation from the Chinese student. In my own teaching, I have noticed that culturally, my Chinese students are not normally outspoken participants in class. They repeatedly need encouragement in their speaking and personal invitations to participate. In this particular class, the student was quiet; however, in a previous observation, the same student was invited to a differnt class in order to help out a new student who was non-proficient. It is hard to gauge how Ms. T meets the needs of this student from a one hour observation.

The other students are outspoken conversationalists culturally.

FINAL THOUGHT:

I don't really think that classroom management is a problem here, but I think the problems in regards to incomplete work and instruction could be better addressed simply by writing homework on the board. This would save Ms. T a lot of hassel. Also, I really think there should be more dictionaries in the classroom more readily available for student use. Finally, when errors in structure occur they should be corrected. Overall, however, this is a great class!

On teaching GRAMMAR....

I LOVE teaching grammar, and I am completely opposed to people who believe it is unnecessary to teach grammar in the classroom. There are two methods behind teaching grammar: prescriptive and descriptive. Descriptive grammar "describes" the language as it is acutally used, whereas prescriptive grammar explains how people "think" it should be used. I have often been prey to the inquisition of intuitive students who obsess about the rules of presciptive grammar. "But teacher, you said no sentence never end in preposition? Your direction say: Describe something you are good at? Teacher, you lie." Oh, what's a teacher to do?

When I started teaching ESL, I really didn't know much more beyond the prescriptive. Honestly, I didn't know there was such a thing as the descriptive. I didn't think much about it because I just "spoke" English, I quit thinking about grammar in 6th grade. I thought, "I speak, spoke, have spoken, and will continue to speak it well. Teaching this will be easy." Wrong. The first thing an ESL teacher needs to know is: What is descriptive and prescriptive grammar, and how he/she is going to explain the variations in it when a student asks the type of question I just described?

I also think that there are two types of Standard English: American Standard English and British Standard English, but I think that wherever you are -- Standard English is business English. It is what you hear on the news (spoken -- including dialect), and it is how we read it in newspapers, books, and magazines. Those who argue that the standard cannot be defined, I think are those who just choose not to learn the formal rules of English grammar. I only differentiate between the English and British because the two vary in word choice and in the prescriptive rules. For example, in the U.S., we no longer have to know the rule for "whom." We just say, use "who," however, not in England. They use "whom" -- always, even in rock-n-roll.

Studying grammar gives the speaker control of how he/she shapes words and provides an understanding of how language works. Here are some examples of why I think it is important to know gramar: First, I will use my husband as an example. It is pretty funny (or sad), but he has absolutely no concept of the rules of grammar. We both grew up as bilinguals with a different L1 language; however, we went to two different schools. My school focused on teaching grammar, and his did not. He is 36-years-old and has absolutely no idea how to use the past participle. "I should have came." Modals? Forget it. For the longest time, he thought that "should have" was actually "should of." Crazy!

Next, the active and passive voice -- people should know why we use them and how to use each one. We use it to emphasize the subject, especially in news reporting. Think how differently the focus of the the articles would be if the subjects were different: Five Canadians blew up the Eifel Tower, or The Eifel Tower was blown up by five Canadians. It is important to understand why these sentences are structured this way.

I teach at ELS Language Centers here at MTSU. There are pluses and minuses working for a coporation. One of the pluses is that they are dedicated to the teaching of grammar. ELS uses the direct method approach, and students study academic English 6 hours a day Monday - Friday. My favorite class to teach is Structure and Speaking (SSP). No matter what level the student, he/she always takes SSP for 2 hours a day. The objective for all SSP classes is mastery of grammar. Language acquisition is demonstrated through utilization of spoken and written grammar.

I use both inductive and deductive method in my teaching. I always begin the class by demonstrating the grammar point and following it by some type of listening or visual exercise. For example, if I am teaching the past progressive, I might have them listen to the Tennessee Waltz. "I was dancing with my darlin' ... " After that, I focus on the grammar point through direct instruction. I write and demonstrate some examples and explain the method behind it. I then ask students to individually use of the grammar by providing them with some type of prompt. I normally don't have them raise hands. I just pick on them, and they know this. Therefore, they are usually keeping up. When I am confident they have good command of the grammar point, I finish the lesson with some type of group work. I like to use role play, and the students seem to enjoy it, too.

I think it's really important to teach grammar when teaching ESL. I know that sometimes the rules seem too overwhelming and confusing to the students, especially when they're ready to start talking. Often times, grammar seems like a big road block for them and busts their confidence when they get it wrong; however, with persistence and dedication, they always overcome it. Grammar is essential for proficiency and fluency. Otherwise, their language just becomes fossilized, and they will forever be making the same mistakes.

Multicultural Education

Prior to reading Paul Gorski's The Challenge of Defining "Multicultural Education," I thought that to define my own working definition of multicultural education would be easy, but then I realized that my initial definition was elementary at best. Naively, I would have defined it in the following: multicultural education is accepting, promoting, and understanding diverse populations throughout the world, most effectively expressed by school systems providing a right to equal education for all. However, after reading the links pertaining to multicultural education, I realize that it's much more complex.

Gorski states that the underlying challenge in defining multicultural education is that teachers and institutions rarely share a common view on multicultural education. More commonly, definitions are defined and practices are implemented institutionally to fit individual contexts and disciplines. He states that some see it as a shift in curriculum, others as a reference to teaching styles and testing practices, while others view it as method for social transformation in order to "explore and criticize the oppressive foundations of the world around us and how education serves to maintain the status quo -- foundations such as white supremacy , global socioeconomic conditions, and exploitation." No wonder it is so confusing and impossible to define.

Multicultural education is a current trend in creating educational policy and setting standards for curriculum in education. The foundations of the American education system and its institutions were built in response for a need for change from society. Multicultural education is a response from society for a need for change.

I've recently heard many people say that the U.S. is more diverse than ever. Our population might be growing, but is it really more diverse? I think that's a funny statement since the nation itself was built on an Open Door Immigration Policy. The Statue of Liberty has been holding its torch for the "hungry, tired, and poor"since the late 1800s. In the early 1900s and again in the late 1940s after WWII, waves of immigrants came to this nation in search of opportunity, freedom, and the American Dream. We ranted, raved, and branded ourselves a "melting pot." During that time, immigrants were encouraged to give up their cultural traditions and languages in order to take part in creating a single American identity and share a common national pride.

During that time, special programs in education to address these new immigrant populations did not exist to the level they do today. ESL instruction was not provided for most, and they learned English on the streets through immersion. Many became frustrated and dropped out.

Today, the American education system prides itself on a right to an equal education for all of its people. I think this is where multicultural education comes in. We are less commonly using words like "melting pot," but instead use"kaleidescope." In order to provide equal opportunities, more programs have been instituted and developed to make sure that this right is guaranteed.

The trouble is that this definition can be realistically defined depending on where you live and what the needs of the local society are. For example, when I lived in Chicago, I noticed more and more bilingual schools were being built in order to address the needs for the growing Hispanic population. New teacher applicants in many schools were required to speak Spanish for employment. Here multiculturalism might be defined differently. In other places, educational practice is about exposure and knowledge to new cultures from around the world. More and more IB schools are being built focusing on globalization.

So, the challenges teachers are facing as they strive to implement multicultural practices in their classroom are many. They must consider the needs of the local society, the students, and the school. How can they as individuals meet the needs of their students to provide them with an equal opportunity to education in respect to their linguistic, cultural, and societal needs?

I teach ESL at ELS Language Centers here on the campus of MTSU, so I address multiculturalism in my classroom everyday. For all of my students, the objective is the same: academic english proficiency. I have a diverse group of students. Most of my students come from Brazil, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Germany. They come from different types of education systems, have different cultures, traditions, religions, languages, etc., but we get along, and we all learn from eachother. We learn about eachother's countries and cultures, we learn how to make conclusions based on interaction, not from what we see on tv., we learn about different religions, and we make new friends. We are all different, but we are a community of one. I think that's what multicultural education is more properly defined.

Classroom Observation 9/14

On Tuesday, September 14th, I conducted my first field observation of Ms. T's ESL class at Oakland Middle School. I had visited there briefly last week to introduce myself, and I was eager to roll up my sleeves and to really get started. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting my mentor and was excited to observe a different ESL classroom from my own at ELS. I brought along with me: my field journal, a voice recorder, and camera to take note of all the things that I would see, hear, and learn.

TEACHING

What was the purpose of the lesson?

CLASS: High/Intermediate ESL Reading and Writing Class.

The purpose of todays's lesson focused on the following objectives:

• Reading comprehension
• Making predictions
• Chronological Order (time sequence)
• Vocabulary (synonyms)
• Writing: Journal writing (critical thinking)

How was the lesson structured -- methodology, appropriateness, materials for second language learners, adapations?

Student population: 7 Hispanics and 1 Chinese

MATERIALS:

• The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
• Student journals

METHODOLOGY and APPROPRIATENESS:

Ms. T has a very unique method of instruction in her ESL classroom. She begins the lesson formally and moves from a formal to informal structure throughout. Immediately after the students get settled, she begins to read aloud a chapter from the novel The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. (She asked me prior to beginning the lesson if I enjoyed reading, and if so, if I liked juvenile literature. She had a tone of excitement in her voice, so I knew that whatever this book was about -- she liked it.)

The students had read the current chapter for homework the previous night, so they followed along as Ms. T read aloud. She used an emphatic tone while reading and kept the students on track by asking questions while she read. She also walked around the room -- staying in close contact with the students to make sure that they were listening and on task.

She has a dynamic presence in the classroom, and the students find her engaging. At one point, I noticed that out of the 8 students, only 3 had their books open and were actively following. I wondered why she didn't demand that the other students who were not following open their books to join in? I know in my own classroom I would have. I reflected a little bit on my own teaching style here and realized that I have such a formal nature in my own instruction. (This situation would have severely irritated me, and I would have demanded participation.) However, as I continued to observe, I realized her methodology. In the back of the room, sat a hispanic boy, who to me, looked like he was clearly not paying attention. She approached his desk and asked him a question in regards to the reading selection. "What season is it?" asked Ms. T. I was sure he would get it wrong. "Winter," he said. In this situation, she was assessing two things: student listening and reading comprehension skills. It didn't matter that the boy's book wasn't open. It didn't have to be for him to meet her objectives.

As soon as the read aloud segment ended, a student-centered response session proceeded. and the focus moved on to time sequencing and reading for main ideas. Students were assigned to write 7 main events from the story in their writing journals. She also included some foreshadowing and asked them what they thought might happen next. They answered orally and reviewed their answers as a group.

The class concluded with a vocabulary exercise. Ms. T wrote the focus words on the board and asked the students to come up individually to the white board to write synonyms for each word. If the students were unsure, their textbooks included the vocabulary word along with the definition of each word and a picture for visualization and guide.

All of the objectives for this class were successfully met.

ADAPTATIONS FOR ELLs

Adaptations in learning for the ELL students were noted in the following 2 ways: textbook and spelling exceptions.

New vocabulary includes pictures within the text to help students visualize new words for word building.

When the students were invited to share the synonyms for word building, one of the students responded, "Ms. T, you know I can't spell." Ms. T replied, "You know that's okay for now." For this lesson the objective was word acquisition, not spelling. She adressed the importance of spelling, but let the students know that what they were trying to learn now were new words.

How did the second language learners react and interact?

The students interacted very well as a group, with the teacher, and independently. They clearly listen to Ms. T's instructions and highly respect her as their teacher. For example, at one point of the lesson, the students became excited (like 12 year olds do) and started conversing with eachother about something off topic. (Wednesday is supposed to be a half day, so they were very concerned about where they'd be eating lunch since dismissal is at 11:15.) Ms. T gave instructions to get them back on track with the phrase, "Eyeballs on me, so I know that you're listening." At this point, I found myself in a silent monologue revisiting the days when I taught middle school Social Studies. What a nightmare. "Not gonna work," I thought. However, Ms. T triumphed. All of the students immediately stopped what they were doing and their "eyeballs" were on her. They began their journal writing projects and worked very quietly in their "thinking time."

COMMUNITY

What evidence of "community" in terms of the second language did you observe?

Ms. T's morning high/intermediate classroom is a dynamic community. It is clear that for many students, this room is their niche --the place where they feel most relaxed when the mainstream English world seems stressful or overwhelming.

The ESL students are excited when they walk into Ms. T's classroom. I noticed immediately that Ms. T keeps up with the reading interests of the students and is a big advocate for literacy at home and in the classroom. A new series of books, which the students referred to as "The Bones" books apparently seem to be popular amongst middle schoolers these days. Today, Ms. T had brought in a crisp new collection to share with her students. These kids were definitely excited, and they shared that excitement with the group. "LOOK! Ms. T's got the Bones books!" The students interacted intimately with eachother and shared a real sense of belonging.

I also observed that in the ESL classroom, they comfortably were able to ask questions about school events and random miscellany they might have missed or didn't understand in the morning announcements, such as: lunch for tomorrow, early dismissal, etc. The students in Ms. T's classroom don't feel aprehensive at all in asking her to clarify information.

What is required to become a member of this classroom or learning environment -- consider language, literacy, content instruction, materials, etc.?

The requirements to join this classroom are simple: need for ESL instruction. Each student plays their own role in the community. I observed some students as leaders, others participating simply because everyone else was, and it seemed like the thing to do. However, the thing I noted most was: THESE STUDENTS WERE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING AND ACTIVE IN THE SLA PROCESS.

Another thing I noticed was the presence of cultural acceptance. The one Chinese student, who culturally by nature is known to be a quiet participant in class, is respected by the teacher and the students. The hispanic students who are culturally conversationalists are respected and taught in accordance to their strong points. At one point of the class, one of the hispanic students was interested in borrowing a book from the classroom. Ms T said, "Wait! I am saving that book for one of my students in the next class who speaks Chinese, and I think that this book would be really good for him. I want him to be interested in reading." The student said, "Oh, ok. I'll pick something else. Maybe he'll like that one."

In order to be a successful participant in this community, the main requirement is a desire to improve and to succeed; however, not only wanting it for yourself, but your fellow classmates, as well.

ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

What events occurred during your observation - formal interactions and informal interactions?

There were many events of both formal and informal interaction that occurred during my observation. Below are a few instances of note:

INFORMAL

Students keep their journals for safe-keeping in the ESL classroom. At the onset of the lesson, Ms T. quickly passed them out to students and said, " Does everybody have their junk?" I thought this was interesting. Again, it made me rethink my own teaching formalities and lack of the latter. By using street talk and other vocabulary at the student level, the teacher was connecting with the students and engaging on a personal level. She then quickly changed into formal teaching and officially began the lesson. Throughout the lesson, this would happen many times. Ms. T changes from informal to formal with ease.

During the student question response, Ms T would ask questions and students would call out the answers without raising their hands. For example, in one instance the teacher said, "What do you think is going to happen, now?" Students jovialy shouted out answers, and it was not a problem. They were all engaged in the lesson.

FORMAL

During independent journal writing time, Ms T said, "Oh, I have to take attendance!" One student replied, "Why, Ms T? You know we're all here." She again replied, "I know, but the office needs it for their records." This was representation of teacher duty to maintain records - an administrative duty in the classroom.

I also noted classroom procedure. Students who lacked supplies such as pencils or erasers knew the protocol. When necessary, each student in need politely raised his/her hand to make the request even if group classroom conversation was in progress.

What can an observer see if he/she entered the classroom at this particular time?

An observer entering this room during this class period would see a classroom in ACTION. The teacher, Ms. T, is the dominant presence and guide, but it is an interactive place. Students interact with the teacher and with the eachother. There is an excitement and enthusiasm for learning in the air. Learning is fun. As an observer, I wanted to participate.

There is also an evident stress on the advocacy for literacy. This is shown in the classroom decor. Bookshelves overflow with books. The word "READ" is displayed on the walls, and the quotation "Reading is an adventure that never ends," hangs for students to see and to imagine the possibilities. Ms. T has made the lesson today an adventure, for sure. Her emphatic tone in the read aloud and enthusiasm behind her questions, helped the students embark in the Magician's Elephant's journey.

Another thing to note is the "newness" of the classroom. Oakland Middle School just opened in August, 2010. This is its first year it is operating as an academic instution. The floors are shiny and clean, and the smell of fresh paint is still in the air.

What evidence of "acceptance and welcome" would a second language learner see?

Ms. T's ESL classroom is a comfortable and welcoming environment, but it is not the room that makes it so, but the teacher. Each student is welcomed into her classroom and it is shown from their demeanor and active participation that they feel comfortable and safe there. The golden tones in the room help to make it warm, but there appears to be a true love of reading present and an acceptance of language and diversity.