RELIGON & MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Religon & Multicultural Education

Abstrct

Today's classrooms are more diverse than ever before. In order to reach these students, educators must be aware of the issues facing their various cultural, racial, ethnic, and language groups. Focusing on the pertinent issues in multicultural education, this new edition raises these critical issues and facilitates meaningful discussion. It has been completely updated with the latest developments in the field to provide the educator with all the tools necessary to become effective practitioners.

Religon and multicultural education

Introduction

By creating an understanding of culture, we can produce a culturally enriched society for the future; much needed for a diverse society. If people understand each other better, people tend to establish better relationships. Armstrong, Henson, and Savage stated in Teaching Today (2001) that there is a problem "becoming critical in this country; while the vast majority of teachers continue to be drawn from the white middle class, the learners in the nations classrooms reflect more racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity with each passing year" (p.100).

Discussion

In order to include every student in our classes, we must be familiar with our students and their view of the world around them. We should strive to help empower the many different cultures of our society. To achieve this, teachers should communicate regularly with parents, understand what is important in our students' lives, and be involved in the communities in which we serve. We must be open-minded and willing to modify our strategies as different needs arise. In our state, teachers are required to follow standards modeled by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC).

The ten principles of the INTASC standards include such concepts as: the teacher creates learning experiences that make subject matter meaningful to students, the teacher understands how students learn and develop and provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development, the teacher creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners, and the teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support the students' learning and well being. By following these guidelines and striving to learn and educate others about the different people and cultures around them, a teacher should be more effective in incorporating multicultural education into the classroom.

When the teacher's expectations of the student and the parents' expectation of the student are not the same, great conflict can arise. It is believed that when this occurs, the student does not feel a part of the school, resulting in a higher dropout rate for students who are not a part of the dominant culture. Research continually shows that these students have a higher dropout rate that the white middle class. According to Armstrong, Henson, and Savage (2001) "there should not be a difference in dropout rate associated with race, ethnicity, or gender". (p.105-106). Pratt (1998) reported in a study that 16 to 24 year olds who had not graduated from high school were: 29.4% Latinos, 13.0% African American, and ...