1.

What is Multicultural Education? "Multicultural education is a field of study and an emerging discipline whose major aim is to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social-class, and cultural groups. One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society and to interact, negotiate, and communicate with peoples from diverse groups in order to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good." "Multicultural education not only draws content, concepts, paradigms, and theories from specialized interdisciplinary fields such as ethnic studies and women studies (and from history and the social and behavioral sciences), it also interrogates, challenges, and reinterprets content, concepts, and paradigms from the established disciplines. Multicultural education applies content from these fields and disciplines to pedagogy and curriculum development in educational settings. Consequently, we may define multicultural education as a field of study designed to increase educational equity for all students that incorporates, for this purpose, content, concepts, principles, theories, and paradigms from history, the social and behavioral sciences, and particularly from ethnic studies and women studies." Multicultural education is an idea, an approach to school reform, and a movement for equity, social justice, and democracy. Specialists within multicultural education emphasize different components and cultural groups. However, a significant degree of consensus exists within the field regarding its major principles, concepts, and goals. A major goal ofmulticultural education is to restructure schools so that all students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function in an ethnically and racially diverse nation and world. Multicultural education seeks to ensure educational equity for members of diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic groups, and to facilitate their participation as critical and reflective citizens in an inclusive national civic culture. Multicultural education tries to provide students with educational experiences that enable them to maintain commitments to their community cultures as well as acquire the knowledge, skills, and cultural capital needed to function in the national civic culture and community. Multicultural theorists view academic knowledge and skills as necessary but not sufficient for functioning in a diverse nation and world. They regard skills in democratic living and the ability to function effectively within and across diverse groups as essential goals of schooling.

2.

What is the major goal of Multicultural Education? The major goal of Multicultural Education is to transform the school so that the male and female students, exceptional learners, as well as students coming from diverse cultural, social-class, racial and ethnic groups will experience an equal opportunity to learn in school. One of the primary and persistent reasons for the movement to include cultural pluralism in school programs is to correct what advocates call "sins of omission and commission." First, we must provide students with information about the history and contributions of ethnic groups who traditionally have been excluded from instructional materials and curricula; and second, we must replace the distorted and biased images of those groups that were included in the curricula with more accurate and significant information. These goals continue to be major concerns of multicultural education, because many students still know too little about the history, heritage, culture, languages, and contributions of groups of diverse society in their own country. OTHER GOALS:

Personal Development The psychological underpinnings of multicultural education explain its emphasis on developing greater self-understanding, positive self-concepts, and pride in one's ethnic identity. Emphasizing these areas is part of multicultural education's goal of contributing to the personal development of students, which contends that a better sense of self contributes to the overall intellectual, academic, and social achievement of students. Students who feel good about themselves are likely to be more open and receptive to interaction with others and to respect their cultures and identities. This argument is further justified by claims made about the reciprocal relationship between self-concept, academic achievement, ethnicity, culture, and individual identity.

Many students have internalized the negative and distorted conceptions of their own and other ethnic groups, a process that has been promoted in larger society. Students from groups of color may be convinced that their heritages have little of value to offer, while those from dominant groups may have inflated notions about their significance. Developing a better understanding of their own and other ethic groups and cultural experiences can correct these distortions. Multicultural education also helps educators to fulfill the goals of maximizing human potential, meeting individual needs, and teaching the whole child by enhancing feelings of personal worth, confidence, and competence. It creates a psychosocial state of readiness in individuals and learning environments, which has a positive effect upon academic efforts and task mastery.

Attitudes and Value Clarification Multicultural education promotes the core values that stem from the principles of human dignity, justice, equality, freedom, self-determination, and democracy. The intent is to teach youths to respect and embrace ethnic pluralism, to realize that cultural differences are not synonymous with deficiencies or inferiorities, and to recognize that diversity is an integral part of the human condition. Clarifying ethnic attitudes and values is designed to help students understand that some conflict of values is unavoidable in ethnically and racially pluralistic societies; that conflict does not have to be corrosive and divisive, when managed well it can be a catalyst for social progress; that there is strength in ethnic and cultural pluralism; that ethnic allegiance and national loyalty are not irreconcilable; and that cooperation and coalition among ethnic groups are not dependent upon having identical beliefs, values, and behaviors. Analyzing and clarifying ethnic attitudes and values are key steps in the process of unleashing the creative potential of individuals for self-renewal and of society for continuous growth and development.

Multicultural Social Competence It is imperative that students learn how to interact with and understand people who are ethnically, racially, and culturally different from themselves. Our world is becoming increasingly more diverse, compact, and interdependent. Yet, for most students, the formative years of their lives are spent in ethnically and culturally isolated or encapsulated enclaves. This existence does not adequately prepare them to function effectively in ethnically different environments and multicultural settings. Attempts at cross cultural interactions are often stymied by negative attitudes, values, and expectations; cultural blunders; and by trying to impose rules of social etiquette from one cultural system onto another. The results are often heightened interracial and interethnic group frustrations, anxiety, fears, failures, and hostilities. Multicultural education can ease these tensions by teaching skills in cross cultural communication, interpersonal relations, perspective taking, contextual analysis, understanding alternative points of view and frames of reference, and analyzing how cultural conditions affect values, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, expectations, and behaviors. It also can help students learn how to understand cultural differences without making hasty and arbitrary value judgments about their intrinsic worth. Attaining these goals can be expedited by providing wide varieties of opportunities for students to practice their cultural competence and to interact with different ethnic peoples, experiences, and situations.

Basic Skill Proficiency A major goal of multicultural education is to facilitate the teaching and learning of basic literacy skills of ethnically different students. Multicultural education can improve mastery of reading, writing, and mathematical skills; subject matter content; and intellectual process skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and conflict resolution by providing content and techniques that are more meaningful to the lives and frames of reference of ethnically different students. Using ethnic materials, experiences, and examples as the contexts for teaching, practicing, and demonstrating mastery of academic and subject matter skills increases the appeal of the tools of instruction, heightens the practical relevance of the skills to be learned, and improves students' time on task. This combination of conditions leads to

greater focused efforts, task persistence, skill mastery, and academic achievement. Another aspect of multicultural education that contributes directly to the attainment of higher levels of basic skills achievement is matching teaching and learning styles. Disjuncture in how different students learn in their cultural communities and how they are expected to learn in school cause much time and attention to be devoted to resolving these conflicts instead of concentrating on academic tasks. Teaching students as they are accustomed to learning minimizes these conflicts and channels more energy and effort directly into the academic tasks to be accomplished. Thus, culturally contextualized teaching for making the educational process more effective for ethnically diverse students is a fundamental principle of multicultural education. The kinds of social climates that exist in classrooms also affect students' performances on academic tasks. This influence is particularly true for ethnic groups that consider social relationships and informal settings imperative to the learning process. When teachers respond to these needs by including ethnic symbols, images, and information in the classroom decorations, curriculum content, and interpersonal interactions, ethnic students feel validated, at ease, and have greater affiliation with the school. These feelings of personal affirmation and comfort create the backdrop of personal connectedness that is essential to students' taking ownership in learning, which, in turn, leads to more sustained attention, effort, time on task, and improved task mastery and academic achievement.

Educational Equity and Excellence This goal of multicultural equity is closely related to the goal of basic skill mastery, but is much broader and more philosophical. In order to determine what constitutes comparability of learning opportunities, educators must thoroughly understand how culture shapes learning styles, teaching behaviors, and educational decisions. They must then develop a variety of means to accomplish common learning outcomes that reflect the preferences and styles of a wide variety of groups and individuals. By giving all students more choices about how they will learn, choices that are compatible with their cultural styles, none will be unduly advantaged or disadvantaged at the procedural levels of learning. These choices will lead to closer parallelism (e.g., equity) in opportunities to learn and more comparability in students' achieving the maximum of their own intellectual capabilities (e.g., excellence). Other aspects of this goal include teaching accurate information about society; developing a sense of social consciousness, moral courage, and commitment to equality; and acquiring skills in political activism for reforming society to make it more humane, sympathetic toward cultural pluralism, morally just, and egalitarian. Therefore, the multicultural goal of achieving educational equity and excellence encompasses cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills, as well as the principles of democracy.

Personal Empowerment for Social Reform The ultimate goal of multicultural education is to begin a process of change in schools that will ultimately extend to society. This goal will be accomplished by cultivating in students attitudes, values, habits, and skills so that they can become social change agents who are committed to reforming society in order to eradicate ethnic and racial disparities in opportunities and are willing to act upon this commitment. To do so, they need to improve their knowledge of ethnic issues as well as develop decision making abilities, social action skills, leadership capabilities, a sense of political efficacy, and a moral commitment to human dignity and equality. That is, they not only need to understand and appreciate why ethnicity and cultural pluralism, but also how to translate this knowledge into decisions and actions related to key sociopolitical issues, events, concerns, and situations. This goal and related skill development are designed to make society more genuinely egalitarian and more accepting of cultural pluralism. They also are intended to ensure that ethnic and cultural groups

that traditionally have been victimized and excluded will become full fledged participants at all levels of society, with all of the attendant rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Multicultural education contributes directly to developing skills for democratic citizenship in the global village. This function of multiculturalism is what Banks meant by his proposal to use a social action approach to multicultural education, which teaches students how to become social critics, political activists, change agents, and competent leaders in a culturally pluralistic and ethnically diverse society and world. It is also similar to Grant's conception of multicultural education for social reconstruction. This approach focuses on oppression and social structure inequalities, with the intention of creating a society that better empowers and serves the needs and interests of all groups of people. It builds personal empowerment in students by establishing relevance between school learning and social living, providing practice in applying knowledge and taking action to direct their own lives, and demonstrating the power of knowledge, collaborative efforts, and political action in effecting social change.

3.

How can a teacher accommodate cultural differences and commonalities? Cite at least five (5) specific strategies. A teacher does not have to go abroad to be able to encounter diversity in the classroom. The issue of cultural majority-minority in the classroom has posed a challenge to teachers. Where the girls are more than the boys, the natives are more than those immigrants, the rich are less than the poor and many other divides greatly influence how the teacher would accommodate differences and commonalities. Added to this, is the fact that sometimes the teachers come from a culture that is different from where students belong. The teachers themselves are unaware of the cultural norms that exist in the diverse culture, which often times interfere with the teaching and learning. Therefore it is very important for a prospective teacher to be knowledgeable about differences in cultures, religion, ethnicity and even language of your students. Their values and experiences may be entirely different from our own. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Learn as much about and become as sensitive to aware of racial, ethnic, cultural and gender groups other than the own. Never make assumptions about an individual based on their perception of that individuals race, ethnicity, culture or gender. Look into your own conscious and subconscious biases about the people who are different from yourselves in race, ethnicity, culture, gender or socioeconomic status. Get to know each student as a unique individual: Walk in the footsteps of all your students. Plan your activities within a multicultural framework while making your classroom a safe and secure haven for all the students.

4.

What are the basic assumptions in multiculturalism that enhance teacher development? Multiculturalism has broadened and deepened our traditional curriculum. It has underscored fundamental concepts which before were given less importance. The basic assumptions are: ^ No two learners are exactly the same. ^ Children in all classrooms are heterogenous. ^ Strategies that work with one learner may not work with the other. ^ Students background and experiences should be considered when teaching. ^ Community members from various ethnic groups can assist teachers in facing issues of ethnic differences and similarities.

5.

What is a teacher exchange program? How can this help in the development of a teacher? Teacher Exchange Program provides opportunities for teachers to participate in direct exchanges of positions with colleagues from other countries for a semester or academic year. By living and working in the cultures of their host countries, Fulbright teachers gain an understanding and appreciation of the similarities and differences in national cultures and education systems. Fulbright teachers enrich their schools and

communities with a new awareness of other cultures and of events occurring in different parts of the world, providing students and citizens with new perspectives about the world in which they live. 6. What are the existing teacher exchange programs nowadays? Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) The Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) is the United States largest cultural exchange program for teachers and schools. It is dedicated to transforming lives through international exchange of teachers. VIF offers highly qualified teachers from around the world serving as teachers and cultural ambassadors in the United States.

Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program The Fulbright program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Program became part of the Fulbright-Hays Act (the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act) which was signed by President Kennedy in 1961. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government designed to increase mutual understanding of the people of the United States and people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides participantschosen for their academic merit and leadership potentialwith the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program provides opportunities for teachers to participate in direct exchanges of positions with colleagues from other countries for a semester or academic year. By living and working in the cultures of their host countries, Fulbright teachers gain an understanding and appreciation of the similarities and differences in national cultures and education systems. Fulbright teachers enrich their schools and communities with a new awareness of other cultures and of events occurring in different parts of the world, providing students and citizens with new perspectives about the world in which they live. Fulbright exchanges result in continuing relationships between schools, some of which establish their own student and faculty exchanges and Internet links. In other instances, exchanges benefit local communities by providing them with international resources that are not otherwise available. International collaborations such as these foster enduring relationships and continuously provide students with opportunities to increase their subject knowledge and understand its relevance in the greater context of the world. Participating teachers develop and share their expertise with colleagues abroad, and schools gain from the experience of having an international resource in their communities. Full-time U.S. teachers are eligible to apply for a year-long or semester-long direct exchange of teaching positions with a counterpart in another country teaching the same subject(s) at the same level. Fulbright program staff in the U.S. and abroad match U.S. and overseas candidates in the spring of each year. Fulbright staffs then propose matched-exchanges that each candidate and each school administration must approve before the program takes place.

Inter-African Teacher Exchanges The objectives of this program are to provide opportunity for African teachers to learn from teaching environment in other African countries and also aimed to extend experiences and widen the horizon of African teachers by encouraging exchange visits to countries outside Africa as well. Furthermore, the program is envisioned to create cultural awareness and tolerance of developments in different African education environments. Canadian Educators Exchange The Canadian Education Exchange Foundation is a non-profit foundation which handles both student and educator exchanges. International educational exchanges offer educators and their students an opportunity to broaden their understanding of one anothers cultures, customs, and languages. Exchanges are rewarding, but there are some factors needed for consideration.

Global Teachers Millenium Awards Although this program is limited only to participating countries, it is important to learn that the Global Teacher Exchange program contributes to the quality of teachers worldwide.

7.

What are the roles of technology in achieving the goal of learning for understanding? 1. Technology provides support to the solution of meaningful problems. Finding answers to complex problems brought to the classrooms is one important functions of technology. Unlike authentic problems or problems that occur in the real world some problems brought to the classrooms can be simulated and created with graphics, video and animation. Technology acts as Cognitive Support. The use of technology provides cognitive support to learners. It assumes interactions with others who are knowledgeable who can coach, guide and give reminders in the accomplishment of various tasks. Multimedia databases on CD-ROMs, videodisc, or the Worldwide Web provide important information source for students who are doing the research. Electronic references are easy to search and they provide information very quickly. Technology can help learners visualize processes and relationships that are invisible or difficult to understand. Students may create charts, maps, and other graphic representations which they can generate through simulation.

2.

3.

Technology promotes collaboration as well as independent learning. The concept of network can be traced back to technology. Interconnectedness in networking through technology supports collaboration. Technology provides avenues for discussion and communication among learners. If computers are networked within the room, building or larger geographic areas, students can send and receive information.

8.

What are the existing technology programs for teachers nowadays? Stand-alone Programs. Some programs are available as stand-alone software, videodisc or CD-ROM media. Some titles include The Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series, Little Planet Literacy Series, Ribbit and the Magic Hats. Others are available in the internet. There are others which you check from producers which are simulations and micro world types which range on topics and issues like AIDS, substance abuse and many others. Programs Available on the Internet. There are several programs which are available on the Internet from where the school can choose a site. Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) teaches students to think of web information as evidence and evaluate it critically with regard to authorship, credibility, and relevance. Information Databases. Many forms of print-based materials are now available in electronic form. The entire set of the National Geographic magazine is now in CD-ROM. Encarta and Grollier provide access to vast information.

9.

Why is it important to set performance indicator? It is important to set performance indicator to guarantee the ability to cope with the rapid demand for use of technology in the Global Classrooms.

10. Cite some performance indicator in using technology in teaching.

Technology operations and concepts. Teachers should demonstrate an understanding of sound technology operations and concepts. They should: a. Demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology. b. Demonstrate continuous growth in technology knowledge and skills to keep abreast of current and emerging technologies. Planning and designing learning environments and experiences. Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teaching, learning, and the curriculum. Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Assessment and Evaluation Productivity and Professional Practice Social, Ethnical, Legal, and human Issues

Nebre, Shieryl B. BEED 2-2 Mrs. De Vera