Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

Multiculturalism in Education
Heather Lamping
Ivy Tech Community College

Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

Abstract
This paper is about including multiculturalism into all classrooms. It tells the importance
of teachers being taught before entering the classroom about multicultural education and how it
is soon going to be a requirement. The nation is becoming a multicultural nation and as teacher
we need to know to teach students of all diverse cultures. It also gives examples of different
ways that multicultural education can be incorporated into the classroom with projects and
celebrations. This paper also mentions that many younger students so not quite understand that
everyone is different. They dont understand why someones skin is a different color or why
someone is wearing way different clothes than they are. Teachers have to be taught how to teach
students this information and teach them how to accept these kinds of things. Many students will
not get the chance to learn these kinds of things at home, so they have to be taught in the
classroom.

Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

Many teachers seem to have trouble with teaching students that are not from the same
culture as them, or are from the same country as them. As the United States keeps growing,
people from other cultures keep arriving and more children are being placed into American
schools. Us as future teachers need to learn how to be able to incorporate multiculturism into our
curriculum so that we can make all our students feel comfortable and welcomed into the
classroom. The United States is starting to become a nation of many cultures and we need to
learn to accept it and grow with it, or someone that has grown with it will take our future jobs. As
a future educator I have many questions about how will I incorporate this in my classroom? Am I
going to be able to teach these students of other cultures? How will knowing about
multiculturism make me grow as a teacher? How will I learn to teach these kids from different
cultures?
Growing up in schools we all know that most kids do not quite understand that everyone
is different and dont understand why that kids skin is a different color from theirs, or why
another kid wears different types of clothes than them? According to Foster (2003), One of
Reich's most central, and effective, criticisms of the manner in which mainstream contemporary
liberal theory treats education is its failure to address the special problem children pose with
respect to autonomy. Reich is the guy that wrote Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in
American Education, he writes a book that debates about multicultural education.
Foster also states (2003), Reich concludes that the kind of balance between liberalism
and multiculturalism exemplified in theories such as Kymlicka's and Raz's results in a
flawed liberal theory of education, for children who are denied the opportunity to develop
autonomy are never going to be able to exercise it in a meaningful way.

Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

Basically if students are never given the chance to learn and be accepting to other cultures they
will never want to, or never are going to be able to. We as the teachers need to make sure that
students are taught that everyone is different and that we must accept each and every one.
It is not a requirement in every college that future teachers take a class in multicultural
education. How are teachers supposed to be prepared to teach all students if they have no idea
how to teach a student that is nothing like them, or know nothing about their cultures and
beliefs? Shouldnt all teachers be required to take a class that will help them learn more about
multiculturism and how to teach all different types of students?
According to Cruz-Janzen (2004), Teachers are not being adequately prepared, before or
after entering the profession, to work effectively with the increasingly diverse student
population they encounter in public P/K-12th schools. Experienced administrators and
teachers consistently express a need for teachers who are better prepared to work with a
"diverse student mix" in urban settings.
If more students were required to take these kinds of classes before they entered the classroom,
we would have fewer problems with diverse students being left out and forgotten in the
classroom.
There are many ways that I would like to incorporate multicultural education into my
classroom. I would require that my students have one big project a year that revolves around
diverse cultures. My students would be required to do a power point about a diverse culture
besides their own culture. They are to create the power point and must include certain
information and on the day that they present they are to bring in my food item from that culture. I
understand that money is tight in many families, so if the students could not afford the food

Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

themselves I personally would buy the item, but they had to tell me what the item is. That way
they are still learning, but not having money is not affecting their grade. This project allows the
students to learn about diverse cultures and to learn to be accepting to others besides their own.
Another way to incorporate multicultural education into my classroom would be to celebrate
different holidays that are celebrated in those different cultures. We could make art projects for
that holiday and food that they have at the holiday. We listen to Christmas music during
Christmas, so we could listen to their music that they listen to for that holiday for celebration.
This helps the students to learn and understand that there are many different things going on
around us that they do not know. By using these things in my classroom I am also helping me
grow as a teacher. I am learning along with the students about these cultures and how they work.
I may not have a student in my classroom as that time from a certain culture, but I will be
learning about their culture and understand them better if I was to get them in my classroom
sometime in the future.
In conclusion multiculturism is a main priority that needs to be known by all teachers.
Schools are not going to be able to function soon if we do not get teachers to understand that
they have to incorporate all students, not just the majority. If teachers do not get the chance to
learn about multicultural learning, how are they expected to teach their students the right now?
How are the students expected to learn from someone that doesnt teach them the way they need
to learn? Students will never learn that people from diverse cultures are just like them, but may
look different and dress differently. We as teachers have to be able to provide this education to
them, because many will not get the chance to learn this stuff at home. Students cannot function
in the real world if they only know about their own culture. This nation is starting to become a
multicultural nation due to it growing fast.

Running head: MULTICULTURISM IN EDUCATION

References
Cruz-Janzen, M., & Taylor, M. (2004). HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING: WHY
INTRODUCTORY TEACHER EDUCATION COURSES SHOULD DEAL WITH
MULTICULTURALISM. Multicultural Education, 12(1), 16-23. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/216523054?accountid=41079
Foster, S. S., & Howe, K. R. (2003). Bridging liberalism and multiculturalism in american
education. Contemporary Sociology,32(3), 382-383. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/233624247?accountid=41079