1. Cultural Influences on Context:
The Educational Setting

2. The Link Between Culture and Education
Gaining insight into cultures by studying its approach to education
School goals as they relate to the functions of the dominant society
Education and the informal knowledge of a culture
Cultural Diversity in Education
A culture’s system of formal and informal education seeks to meet the perceived needs of its society.

3. The Condition of Education, 2008
Public School enrollment is rising
Diversity of the student body is increasing
How are these changes influencing our youth?
In what ways can the diversity that exists in our educational institutions shape our culture?

4. What and How Cultures Teach
Schools are the primary source for perpetuation of culture in society
The formal education process is tied to the values and characteristics of that culture
If these statements are true, who is defining culture in society and why?
Knowing how teaching occurs in a culture:
Provides knowledge about the nature of the culture
Helps you understand relationships among students and between students and teachers
Helps you understand the importance that culture places on education

5. Learning the Character of a culture through taught subject matter
Examples
China: collectivist, competitive
Japan: uniformity, group oriented, memorization-based
Post-Soviet Russia: rigorous, market-based
Spain: formative skills, national spirit, complementary skills
How would we define American schools in the example above?

6. Multicultural Education
The goal is to prepare students to become functioning, productive members of society.
Challenges
Rapidly changing society
Inequality in social benefits due to race, gender, etc.
Potential clash between home and school cultures
Aims
Teach cultural practices of others without misrepresentation
Teaching one’s own cultural practices without showing other’s views in a negative light

7. Cultural and Learning Cultural Learning Preferences
The way in which individuals like to receive and process information
Field Independence vs. Field Sensitivity
Cooperation vs. Competition
Trial and Error vs. “Watch, Then Do”
Tolerance vs. Intolerance for Ambiguity
Mastery
Understanding
Self Expressive
Interpersonal

8. Culturally Responsive Teaching is...
Validating
Using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them (Gay, 2000)
Comprehensive
Teachers realize not only the importance of academic achievement, but also the maintaining of cultural identity and heritage (Gay, 2000)
Multidimensional
Multidimensional culturally responsive teaching involves many things: curriculum content, learning context, classroom climate, student-teacher relationships, instructional techniques, and performance assessments (Gay, 2000)
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, & Practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

9. Culturally Responsive Teaching is… Cont...
Empowering
Empowerment can be described as academic competence, self-efficacy, and initiative (Gay, 2000)
Transformative
Respecting the cultures and experiences of various groups and using these as resources for teaching and learning (Gay, 2000)
Emancipatory
Guides students in understanding that no single version of "truth" is total and permanent (Gay, 2000)
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, & Practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

10. Cultural and Learning Relational Styles for Learning
The manner in which people relate to one another
Dependency/Independence
Participation/Passivity
Impulsivity/Reflectivity

11. Cultural and Learning Cultural Motivation Styles
Reasons to engage learning
Intrinsic – internal drive to succeed
Extrinsic – stimulated by external reward
Learning on Demand – set curriculum
Learning when Interested – only learn what is useful and interesting

12. Language Diversity in Multicultural Education
Challenges
Language diversity in the classroom adds pressure to the educational process
In 2006, 20% of all 5 to 17-year-olds did not speak English at home (p. 345)
English is a second language for nearly 10% of the US population (p.345)
“This lack of communal language in American classrooms is problematic, because language diversity confounds the educational process” (p. 345)

13. Language and Identity
How do we teach assimilation without “stepping on the toes” of a student’s identity?
Can we move students into a new educational culture without them feeling they are turning their back on their own culture?

14. Difficulties for English Language Learners
Having to learn the nuance of the language in addition to the subject matter
Academic Insufficiency
The stage at which students enter US schools differs
Assimilating to an educational system with different philosophies and objectives
With the challenges of multicultural education being so great, are teachers equipped to handle the problems?

15. Competency Among Teachers
With the challenges of multicultural education being so great, are teachers equipped to handle the problems?
The text lists ways that teachers can become multiculturally competent, but are we asking too much of educators?
What responsibilities lie with the educational institute versus the individual being taught?
How helpful would DMIS evaluation be to teachers in multicultural environments?

16. Redefining the Classroom
Make Classrooms more welcoming to all cultures
Focus on the areas that students have in common
Set realistic goals based on individual students
Adopt the philosophy of a differentiated classroom
Use appropriate communication strategies
Immediacy & Empathy

17. Common Ground in Multicultural Classrooms
From Matthew Lynch, Ed.D. Author of The Call to Teach and editor of The Edvocate
Careful Observations: multicultural education cannot be taught in a textbook. It must be developed by each educator based on a particular student group
Learning Style Guidance: help students discover their academic strengths by helping them discover their own learning style
Pride in Heritage: look for ways to emphasize the differences between students in a positive light
Lynch, Matthew (January 9, 2014). The Call To Teach: Multicultural Education. The Huffington Post, Retrieved from