Multicultural Education
The UT Elementary School is committed to diversity and multicultural education. Working with a student population that is now 72% Hispanic, 21% African American, 7% Anglo and other, in addition to being 65% economically disadvantaged, the school is charged with bridging a cultural divide. UT Elementary developed policies that honor and appreciate the ethnic diversity in our community. We recognize the value of respect and connection with people who have different religious beliefs or practices. We understand that our entire school community benefits by reaching out to our community members and learning from them.
Throughout the year our students learn about and participate in various cultural activities and events, including Red/White/Blue Day, Diez y Seis, Rosh Hashanah, Thanksgiving, Circle of Light (a holiday celebration honoring Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Ramandan and Diwali), Las Posadas, Martin Luther King Day, Black History Month, Lincoln’s Birthday, Passover, Easter, and Cinco de Mayo.
In the spring, the students participate in “Career Day,” learning about diverse occupations such as doctors, firefighters, and community activists.
Background
The Cultural Diversity committee began planning in 2004, incorporating members from the school, the university, and the community. The diversity committee was made up of two classroom teachers, the principal, three parents, and three professors. The parents represented each ethnicity present in the school. The three professors represented three different Schools and Departments at the university: Child Development, Religious Studies and History, and Educational Psychology. The discussion focused on our need to have a school-wide holiday policy.
After continued discussion and a review of the survey results, the decision was made to move forward with curriculum writing by teachers using a curriculum framework designed and presented by educator John Samara. Its design is grid-like with a top row of cells containing Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Skills (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis) and a side column of cells containing themes decided upon by the teachers that range from general to conceptual information. It was recommended that for this particular design we should base our grade level plans on the seasons with an effort to incorporate various cultural traditions surrounding themes such as growth for spring, recreation practices for summer, light for winter, and harvest for autumn. The top holidays that parents indicated that they would like their children to learn about and/or celebrate at UTES would each be incorporated into the lesson plans. Once again it was stressed that an authentic telling of the history of ethnic groups in a developmentally appropriate way be key to curriculum design.
Resources
The committee was given a variety of resources in its work to develop a holiday policy and diversity curriculum. One key researcher in this field is Julie Bisson, who is the author of Celebrate! An Anti-Bias Guide to Enjoying Holidays (1997). Cultural diversity curriculum and the celebrating of holidays are often ill-planned in schools. Bisson warns that by focusing primarily or solely on holidays to teach different cultures runs the risk of several serious problems such as “trivializing a cultural group by implying that the only important thing about the group is a holiday and that the people in the group only dress up, sing, dance and eat special foods.” She also cautions that “promoting misinformation about a cultural group by disconnecting the meaning of the holiday from the context of their daily life; misusing symbols or activities of a culture;” and “stereotyping by implying that all members of a group celebrate in the exact same way” are detrimental to students’ understanding of world cultures.
Bisson outlines an extensive list of the benefits of a holiday curriculum. They include:
- the demonstration that different beliefs are good
- respect for diversity
- validation of family experiences and uniqueness of each child
- the connection between children’s lives at home and school
- enrichment of a child’s experience, instilling values
- the allowance for thoughtful dialogue between staff and families
- a fun way to celebrate positive things.
Bisson also stresses that the components of any primary program must be culturally relevant for all children and families. Children should find elements of their classroom that look, smell, and feel familiar to them every day. Holiday activities that are connecting, empowering, and validating, reflect what is and how it is celebrated at home.
Source: Bisson, J. (1997). Celebrate! An anti-bias guide to enjoying holidays in early childhood programs. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
