Introduction
An educator always finds himself or herself in dilemma, especially where the students of his or her class comprises different ethnic groups and races. The way educators are trained to impart knowledge to students and the materials used in teaching are designed in a way to make effective the learning process of the students. However, there are certain challenges that both the students and educators face in the learning contexts. Some of these challenges require that the educators understand the nature and diversity of students in his or her class.
Variables that help in working in a multicultural environment
Instructional approaches matter
As much as the curriculum changes are meant to make learning evenhanded, the way educators deal with students should also be tailored in a way that makes teaching to involve all the students; this becomes effective when it is accompanied by changes that make teaching and pedagogy more equitable to all the students regardless of their backgrounds (Billings, undated). It is argued that educators must ensure pedagogy through adjusting the mode of teaching to enhance academic accomplishments amongst students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The question of cultural diversity must be considered by the educators during assessment and teaching periods. In the process of giving instructions, as an educator, one must seek to tailor the teaching materials in a way that no student will feel prejudiced based on culture or race. For instance, in giving examples, the teacher should not always use a particular race or ethnic for negative illustration; he or she should also use the race or ethnic group in positive illustrations. But then, if the educators senses the use of an individual ethnic or racial group in an illustration that may cause pain to some of the students it is just right for the teacher to exclude from his or her teaching materials all the ethnic and racial cultures represented in his or her classroom (Billings, undated). He or she should instead identify another race or tribe not in his class; this will less likely make any of the students feel inferior to others. It is also important for educators to learn how to react to students differently given tolerating their unique social life and interactions.
Beliefs about students matter
The beliefs of educators about the students have much academic implications; there are some cases where the educators may hold a belief that students’ academic problems emanate from outside the classroom. An educator should not only concentrate on teaching alone, but must believe that the students can perform better regardless of culture, race or ethnicity (Billings, undated). The colored students are supposed to be rated the same with their white fellows, in fact research has not found out that colored students do not perform better under white educators or white students perform badly under colored teachers. With the right materials and curriculum which takes into account all the cultural and racial factors all the students, irrespective of their backgrounds, have the ability to perform better. The educators should not perceive students’ weaknesses based on racial or cultural deficiencies.
Multicultural training
A good number of educators are not very conversant with multicultural education and they do not know the approach of using it in a multicultural class setting. Educators need to know different cultures and races. This is especially important where the educators are involved with students from different ethnic, cultural, and racial background. An educator with multicultural knowledge can handle students at personal level. Sometimes a multicultural class may constitute students of different cultures; but cultural background at times may impact on the way a student learns and performs academically, with the knowledge of such backgrounds an educator can point out students’ weaknesses or challenges and therefore help them (Walsh, 1996). For instance, in the past slaves were mostly the colored people, this may make a colored student to stick to a perception that colored people are meant to be slaves. If this perception is ignored such a student may not be serious with his or her academic work. The educator with such a racial and cultural knowledge can help and dispel the perception from the student.
Knowing something about each student’s cultural background makes students to have faith and trust in their teacher. If an educator is only knowledgeable on only one culture which definitely must be his or hers, then students with different backgrounds are likely to feel sidelined when it comes to getting teacher’s attention at personal level. Being able to handle the students with attention to their multicultural orientations, the students feel equally treated and therefore, they embrace collectivism amongst themselves (Walsh, 1996). This also increases learning collaboration among the students. Undergoing multicultural training will enable educators to be acquainted with humanity of students and also appreciate that the students come to their classes with immense experience of life. Educators who have knowledge of cultural diversity and can handle students on that basis have the capability of facilitating the students to learn about themselves about others and make them appreciate their diversities.
Conclusion
In a multicultural diverse class the educators must be able to understand their students at personal level. The educators should be aware of the fact that there are some variables they should get to understand to make effective their interaction with students in a learning environment. The materials used for teaching in class must be prepared in search a way that it involves all the natural background of every student. The materials must avoid any form of cultural biasness. The educators who want their students to succeed must also have positive perceptions about the students’ academic potentials. The educators should avoid associating performance to culture or race and instead treat each student according to his or her unique learning speed.
Educators should undergo multicultural training before getting into practice to be aware of the cultural variation amongst the students. They learn how to handle students without creating amongst them a perception of cultural discrimination. The educators also know how to facilitate communication in class, encourage students to learn about themselves about students from other cultures (Walsh, 1996). The educators with cultural knowledge can appreciate the cultural dimensions of students in class and understand the students’ cultural accounts and disposition hence comprehend how these have influenced the way the students react to educational issues based on multicultural factors together with social change. Multicultural pedagogy assists the educators to handle students in a manner that makes them feel not left out in class; all students will see themselves as belonging together. This cannot be easily achieved by educators who lack sufficient knowledge on cultural dynamism of students in a class.
Reference
Billings, L.G. (N.d). Crossing over to Canaan: the journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms. Janice VanCleave Science for Fun Series.
Walsh, E.C. (1996). Education reform and social change: Multicultural voices, struggles, and visions. New York: Routledge