The first time I heard about multiculturalism in education was eight years ago when I visited a school attended children from various parts of the world.
Since then I have been thinking about what constitutes a proper and balanced education for foreign children attending schools in Malta. What can we offer them and what can they offer us? What is the aim of multicultural education? Is it another moral issue worth raising or merely another education buzzword?
The aim of multicultural education is to ensure equal opportunities for all students and to help empower young people to make the world a better place both individually and collectively (Bigelow, 1993). As a leading multicultural theorist, Banks (1993), explains "multicultural education ...is not an ethnic- or gender-specific movement. It is a movement designed to empower all students to become knowledgeable, caring and active citizens in a deeply troubled and ethnically polarised nation and world".
In his thesis titled A comparative study of classroom climate factors between monocultural and multicultural Maltese classrooms - some implication for school managers, Vassallo (2006) contends that the increasing diversity in Maltese classrooms urges educators to cultivate interest in the dynamics which constitute a multicultural c1ass. He asserts that a lack of multicultural competence can increase difficulties that teachers and managers face to promote a positive classroom climate that is conducive to high quality learning.
He also stresses that managers in schools have a responsibility to study and understand the ways in which we understand our pupils and all that happens around them. The ultimate goal of multicultural education is to contribute progressively and pro-actively to the transformation of society and to the application and maintenance of social justice and equity.
Focus on curriculum
The pro-active translation of the curriculum and classroom literature are the areas over which teachers have the most direct control. Curriculum needs to be adapted to embrace multicultural education along its various levels. There are basically four levels at which this can be done.
Level l: Contributions
Focus on holidays, heroes, food and other discreet cultural elements (e.g.: Martin Luther King's birthday, Islamic new year, Christmas).
Level 2: Additive
Add a unit course on a particular ethnic or religious group without any change to the basic curriculum. For example the teacher may add a unit on Arab culture to the social studies course at grade 6 level.
Level 3: Transformative
Infuse various perspectives, frames of reference, and content material from various groups which would help develop a student's understanding of the Maltese culture and language as we know it today.
Level 4: Decision-making and social action
This would include elements of the transformative approach (level 3) but also encourages students to contribute and make decisions related to the concept, issue or problem they studied in the unit. The ultimate goal would be to help students develop a vision of a better society and to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to bring about constructive social change. It is at this level that students not merely identify social problems but move on to a higher order of thinking process.
Multicultural education should be based on a problem solving approach, using inequity in society as the core problem.
The curriculum should pose the big 'why' questions: Why is there racism? Why is there sexism? What are the roots of social conflict? In practical situations the four levels outlined above do intermix and progression is not clear.
Questions and answers
Teachers are always looking for ways to teach their students more effectively especially when their classes include students with diverse backgrounds. However, they are also wary of techniques that create more work for them without producing clear benefits for their students.
Here are some questions that teachers often ask before they implement multicultural strategies in their classes:
Why do we have to add something to an already overburdened curriculum? I am already trying to teach too much! Teaching about culture would not add something new. We already teach about culture everyday in whatever we teach or exclude from teaching.
Classroom example 1
Children's books in most primary school classes that I have visited feature white-skinned children. Only very few books show African, Arab, Asian or South American children.
Classroom example 2
The teacher reads The three little pigs to the classes. Through dramatic story-telling children learn that the 'huff and puff' would blow down the straw and wood houses but brick houses stood firm. This would reinforce the idea that straw houses are worthless while brick houses are more desirable. The story needs to be reviewed from different angles explaining that straw and wood houses are preferable in different climates.
Won't multicultural education simply divide the school along racial and ethnic lines?
In Roots and Wings (York, 1993) and White Teacher (Paley, 1992) the authors describe the importance of talking openly about differences rather than ignoring them. York points out that phrases such as 'we are all the same' and 'you are just like' deny the differences between people.
How can I know about all cultures?
You need not become an expert on all cultures. Talk to students and their families. Explain that you want to learn more about their culture so that you can have the best possible communication with them. Visit places of worship and read fiction and poetry from all cultures.
When approaching students and their families keep two things in mind: firstly, culture is not uniform; secondly, some students, especially adolescents, may not want to be singled out as 'experts' on their cultures and nationalities.
When a school considers changes to the existing curriculum the following are the categories to be reviewed:
Language
Is there a policy regarding the use and development of native languages?
What is the prevailing attitude towards students' native languages?
Are students provided native language instruction in the core subjects so that they learn the same grade-appropriate concepts as their Maltese-speaking peers and develop their native language proficiency while they become proficient in English?
Discipline
Is the percentage of minority students suspended or kept after school higher when compared to that of the overall school student population?
Community
How does the local community perceive the school? What kind of outreach programmes are there to help determine these perceptions? Does the curriculum connect to issues in the local community?
Assessment and teaching
Are the assessment tools culturally and linguistically sensitive and unbiased?
Are various methods of assessment used, such as performance-based and portfolio evaluation?
Staffing
Does the school staff reflect the cultural diversity of its students?
Are there staff members who can speak the native languages of the students and their families?
Families
How much does the staff know about the children's lives outside of school? Do they ever visit the families' homes?
When do families receive a call from school staff? Only when there is a problem?
Are there programmes to involve families in school activities?
Curriculum
Does cultural pluralism permeate the curriculum or is it the same old recycled curriculum?
Is the curriculum rigorous and challenging to all students? Are there high academic expectations for all students?
Does the curriculum portray culture not as a static identity but as a dynamic characteristic which is shaped by school, political and economic conditions?
Does the curriculum include people of various cultural and class backgrounds?
Does the curriculum help students learn how to understand experiences and perspectives other than their own (e.g. through role play, penfriends, interior monologues, poems, internet chats, or other activities).
Instructional materials and school library
Do text books and literature reflect the cultures of the students in the school?
How are women portrayed in the textbooks?
How are the students' native countries portrayed in the textbooks and literature?
Who selects the textbooks?
Classroom practice
Are co-operative learning and whole language used?
Is there equitable participation in classroom discussions?
Does the practice of question and answer sessions encourage or discourage participation by minority students?
Does the classroom serve as a model a democratic and equitable environment as much as possible?
Are students streamed within a grade level based on supposed differences in abilities?
In summary, multicultural education strives for equity regardless of race, gender, culture or national origin. Students' lives are shaped by both school and society. To be successful multicultural education requires both the effort to create equitable schools as well as the involvement of teachers and students to create a more equitable society.
As educator Bigelow (1993) states, "students are given the opportunity to flex their utopian imaginations, and further, the opportunity to try to make their dreams real".