Issues in Multicultural Education - Essay Example

? Issues in Multicultural Education A ment about cultural diversity in the room There are several issues which are identified to impose strong affects on the modern day education system, among which, cultural diversity within the class room tends to attract immense significance. In this regard, lack of adequate teaching materials, deficient quality prospects of practiced school programs as well as lack of funds can be noted as the primary setbacks in offering effective education to a diverse group of students, which further gives rise to various local issues in this context. For instance, cultural diversity in the US public schools is growing at rapid pace in the present decade. As a result, the teachers are facing intense problem to deliver education facilities to a culturally diverse classroom. A common problem identified by teachers in this context is the successful understanding of the needs of the each diverse student and providing education assistance effectively. As argued by Fullan (1991), the teachers should be capable of understanding the uniqueness of each student and successfully control the diversities to improve the students both academically as well as behaviorally within a diverse classroom. (2) Who is involved? (A) As part of the problem? The problem of cultural diversity in the classroom is especially faced by students and teachers, which result in poor performance of the learners in their curriculum. Generally teachers and students face significant problems to convey the intended information to each other, which in turn causes significant miscommunication problems. Additionally, differences between the cultural backgrounds of the students and the teachers, also raises the proper identification of students’ values (Worrell, n.d.). (B) As part of the solution? The above identified issue related to diverse classroom education system should be solved with the application of effective strategies taken by the school authorities to train teachers with respect to dealing with a diverse classroom environment. Besides, the family members of the students should also be responsible in this context, by assisting their children to develop interests in learning as well as respective various cultures, which in turn may also develop their multicultural skills as well as personality (Mendoza, Levinger & Johnston, 2009). (3) What is the proposed solution? Identifying the Key Student Differences Each student in the classroom is unique in relation to their behavioral traits, learning capabilities and styles, feelings as well as responsiveness. These distinctive parameters for any specified child becomes more apparent in a diverse environment. Therefore, teachers should be capable to meet successfully with the ‘point of need’ of every child to provide efficient guidance as per their requirements (Worrell, n.d.). In this regard, lessening the teacher and student ratio within a classroom setting shall provide with greater opportunity to teachers in monitoring the needs of every student distinctively and more critically. Improve Co-Relation with the Students’ Families For the better understanding of the students’ societal and cultural background, the school authorities should increase communication with the students’ parents or legal guardians. This method undoubtedly would support the teachers to understand the background of the student and modify the teaching process accordingly (Worrell, n.d.). Introduce School-Wide “Cultural” Alliance Effective communication among the students of several cultures along with successful collaboration through cultural programs and activities shall assist teachers to meet the requirements of the both ends (London, Gurantz & Norman, 2011). Culturally Responsive Teaching Method To enhance cultural responsiveness throughout the teaching method, teachers should be research oriented for better understanding of the capabilities of each student. Teachers should be capable to identify the deficiencies and also the strengths in a child’s learning abilities and styles to assist them effectively (Sanderson, 2003). Ensure Each Student Can Recognize a Role Model One-to-one friendly relationship among the students is highly required to increase the understanding capability of each student. This method is required to reduce the rate of school dropouts, which in the US, is highly prevalent among students belonging to minority cultural backgrounds. Besides, this method will also facilitate in increasing the academic support among students (Lee & Burkam, 2003). (4) What will be needed to implement the solution? To implement the solutions recommended in the above section, the required resources will include adequate researched materials concentrating on the cultural diversity of classroom environment. In this regard, executing a survey as well as an interview process to obtain feedbacks from teaching professionals and also identify the perceptions of children as well as their guardians/parents shall prove beneficial. Besides, teachers from a diverse cultural background should be recruited in order to reduce the ratio of student and teachers (Worrell, n.d.). (5) What is the projected timeline to implement the solution? The projected timeline to complete the recommended solutions above has been illustrated in the table below. (6) What is the expected outcome? As expected, the solution recommended above will assist teachers to identify the diverse needs of their students more accurately. Also, the developed quality of school programs shall also reduce the communication and interpretive challenges of the students largely. References Fullan, M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Routledge. Lee, V. E., & Burkam, D. T. (2003). Dropping out of high school: The role of school organization and structure. American Educational Research Journal, 40(2), 353-393. London, R., Gurantz, O., & Norman, J. (2011). The effect of afterschool program participation on English language acquisition. The effect of afterschool program participation on English language acquisition, 1-29. Mendoza, J. A., Levinger, D. D., & Johnston, B. D. (2009). Pilot evaluation of a walking school bus program in a low-income, urban community. BMC public health, 1-7. Sanderson, D. R. (2003). Setting up a successful after school tutorial program: one district's journey. Elementary education department, 13-19. Worrell, J. L. (n.d.). Diversity in the inclusion classroom. Retrieved from http://www.wtamu.edu/webres/File/Journals/MCJ/Volume4/worrell.pdf Read More