Over the few four decades, U.S. society has become increasingly diverse with regard to ethnicity, race, culture, and language. The same trend is true in U.S. school systems around the nation. It is extremely important that prospective teachers develop an understanding of how cultural pluralism is manifested in the world of school if they are to effectively teach and address the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and embrace diversity.
CULTURAL PLURALISM IN U.S. SCHOOL SYSTEMS
Today's schools enroll students from diverse populations and backgrounds. They comprise students who vary with respect to race, ethnicity, culture, language, social class, gender, religion, ability, and age. It is anticipated that, in the future, U.S. schools will become even more diverse due to increasing immigration rates and high birthrates among certain cultural groups.
Currently, Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and American Indian students represent 42% of the total U.S. student population. In some parts of the country, they are the largest number of students in attendance. This is true, for example, in California, New York, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New Mexico. Caucasian students, on the other hand, make up less than 1/4th of the U.S. student population in large metropolitan school districts but have greater representation in suburban or rural school districts. Furthermore, more than 10% among the U.S. student population are limited-English proficient and require special language services to acquire competencies in English.
U.S. schools also draw students who are from different socioeconomic backgrounds and have different ability levels. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 16% live in poverty and 15% have disabilities and receive special education services.
A variety of religious faiths are also represented in U.S. school systems nowadays besides Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism. Students, for example, who practice Islam have become more visible in the world of school.
Watch a video about the student diversity trends in U.S. public schools:
DEFINITION OF CULTURE, ETHNICITY, & RACE
What is culture? From the perspective of anthropology, culture represents what human beings learn from participation in a given society. It includes patterns for behavior and patterns of behavior. Patterns for behavior are mental phenomena. They are the meanings shared by the members of a given cultural group (i.e., their standards). Patterns of behavior, on the other hand, are observable phenomena. They are the ways in which the members of a given cultural group are supposed to act (i.e., their behaviors). Culture thus determines what is appropriate and what is expected of us. It shapes the way we think, feel, & behave.
What is ethnicity? The term refers to social groups who share the same country of origin, history, sense of identity, and cultural roots (e.g., language). These groups may include members of one or more racial groups.
What is race? It refers to a human population that is considered distinct on the basis of physical characteristics (e.g., skin color or hair type). It is important to note that race is predominantly a social construct as scientists have discovered that only 2 percent of our genes are responsible for visible differences such as skin color. Thus social groups play a very important role in defining the rules of race.
VISIBLE & INVISIBLE CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Culture is an inherent part of our social experiences. It becomes second nature to us. It is the lens through which we look at the world and make sense of our experiences. Some aspects of culture are visible (e.g., clothing and body language) and some aspects are invisible (e.g., values).
Culture is manifested in our values. For example, the ideas that we uphold about what is important, what is right or wrong, what is necessary or unnecessary, or what is beautiful or ugly.
Culture is manifested in our attitudes and feelings
Culture is manifested in the language that we use and the way that we express ourselves and communicate. It is also manifested in non-verbal communication, including our facial expressions and body language.
Culture is manifested in the traditions, holidays, and rituals that we observe, the foods that we eat, the music that we listen to, the arts that we appreciate, the attire that we wear.
ETHNOCENTRISM
Culture positively impacts people by giving them a sense of identity, belonging, and pride. On the negative side, culture can blur people's judgment and lead to ethnocentrism.
Ethnocentrism is a form of prejudice. People who are ethnocentric believe that the standards and values of their culture are superior to those of other cultures and should be used as frames of reference for gauging other cultures. Ethnocentric individuals look at the world through the lens of one perspective, that of their own culture, rather than trying to understand other cultural groups from the perspective of their members.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
People can unlearn ethnocentrism by consciously practicing a strategy called cultural relativism. Cultural relativism requires people to stop comparing other cultures with their own or passing judgments and to look at another culture from the point of view of those who practice it. It will be discussed extensively in the next section.
Watch a video about ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism:
THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN SCHOOL
The increase of linguistic and cultural diversity in U.S. schools has confronted teachers with new challenges. Over the past few decades, the greatest challenge for many teachers has been to deliver content and organize classroom activities for students with varying levels of English proficiency and/or cultural patterns that are drastically different from mainstream culture. This has compelled teachers to adjust the way that they teach in order to effectively educate and serve the needs of these students. Nowadays, many teachers teach multiculturally in order to empower their students for academic success. This approach has been recommended by many scholars in the field of education in an attempt to change the pattern of low school performance and high dropout rates among minority students. It is believed that by teaching multicultural perspectives and including students' cultural experiences into teaching, teachers can enrich their students' educational experiences, strengthen their self-esteem, and help them to be successful in school. It can also broaden both teachers' and students' understanding of other cultural groups, bring about greater acceptance, and minimize intercultural conflict.
In another respect, increasing diversity in U.S. schools also requires that more minority teachers be hired to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This would ensure that these students have teachers that they can identify and connect with. Currently, many teacher preparation programs around the nation are actively trying to recruit minority teachers.
Students who are limited-English proficient also require special language services. Since the 1960s, U.S. schools have implemented Bilingual Education or English-as-a-second-language instruction to help these students acquire English and learn academic content. Professional development has also been made available to teachers who have language minority students in their classroom while an increasing number of teacher preparation programs have started to offer courses on how to teach language minority students.
Many of today's students also come from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. This may prevent these students from fully participating in and benefiting from their educational process. Furthermore, according to research, poor children are more likely to suffer developmental delays, to drop out of high school, and to become teenage parents. It is thus imperative that teachers find ways to break the barriers of poverty and reach these students in order to empower them for academic success.
Watch a video about the benefits of diversity:
Watch another video about the impact of cultural diversity in school:
STAGES OF CULTURAL ADAPTATION
With the passage of time and through contact with the majority group, the position of minorities (e.g., low-income groups, women, and immigrants) may become less delineated in U.S. society due to acculturation. Some minorities may even fully assimilate into U.S. society.
Acculturation is defined as the process of adopting some of the cultural patterns of the majority. Assimilation, on the other hand, is the process whereby minority groups relinquish their distinctive cultural patterns and adopt the majority culture or the majority group adopts some of the cultural patterns of minority groups. According to sociologist Milton Gordon, assimilation takes place in 7 stages.
In stage 1, an individual becomes acculturated (i.e., selectively adopts some of the majority values).
In stage 2, an individual develops relationships with members of the majority group (e.g., at work and during leisure time).
In stage 3, an individual marries a member of the majority group.
In stage 4, an individual loses their separate ethnic identity.
In stage 5, an individual enjoys equal opportunities and treatment as members of the majority group.
In stage 6, an individual does not experience prejudice or discrimination from the majority group.
In stage 7, an individual does not experience conflicts related to power or values with the majority group.
Stages 2 through 7 represent what is called structural assimilation.
In U.S. society, structural assimilation is not widespread as evidenced by the numerous cultural groups that exist within society. This is due to the fact that assimilation does not automatically take place as it is contingent on one's position in society, personal attitudes towards the majority culture, and acceptance by the majority group.
Nowadays, assimilation has also become a very controversial topic because it results in the loss of ethnic identity and is therefore viewed as an issue of human rights. Some people believe that all minorities should be completely assimilated. Others believe that minorities should be partially assimilated. Yet others believe in cultural pluralism. They believe that people should have the right to maintain their native culture and to choose not to assimilate.
OBJECTIVELY USING CULTURAL INFORMATION
Although members of the same cultural group typically share many cultural traits (e.g., language), there is also some degree of diversity within any given cultural group. For example, in the United States, there are differences in the way that people from the Northern and Southern part of the country communicate.
Teachers need to be conscious of the cultural differences that exist within the same cultural group in order to think and act in an objective manner and to avoid generalizing and stereotyping. Teachers need to practice cultural relativism.
What is cultural relativism? It is the idea that another culture is best understood from the point of view of its members. It is a tool for understanding other cultures & their customs from their perspective. To practice cultural relativism, you have to learn to separate your feelings towards a given custom from understanding what it means to those who practice it. That is what anthropologists do. When they study other cultures, they try to gain an insider's perspective and to separate any preconceived ideas and feelings that they may have from their observations.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF CULTURE, ETHNICITY, & RACE FOR TEACHING?
In today's increasingly diverse schools, it is imperative that teachers make every effort to teach multiculturally and create learning environments that support students' academic success. What does this mean?
First of all, teachers should respect the cultural differences that students bring to the classroom and view diversity as an asset. They should project the attitude that "in this classroom, we treat each other with respect and are proud of our rich, diverse backgrounds". Teachers should also make every effort possible to deliver content that reflects multicultural perspectives, to relate concepts to students' own cultural experiences, to use a variety of teaching and assessment methods and media in order to accommodate students' various learning styles and forms of intelligence. In addition, teachers should create many opportunities for students to collaborate on projects as this will help them to increase their cross-cultural awareness and to overcome some of the biases and prejudices that they have about different cultural groups. Teachers should also require students to read works by authors of different cultural backgrounds.
Implementing multicultural education and embracing diversity in the classroom is a necessary strategy if teachers are to truly serve the needs of today's multicultural students and offer all students equal educational opportunities. It is the means by which to effectively address diversity and equality in U.S. schools.
Watch a video on addressing the needs of diverse learners:
REFERENCES
Eileen Kugler. (2009). Eileen Kugler keynote: Diversity benefits all. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/pDmTAAnt7OI
Gollnick, D. & Chinn, P. (2021). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Jacob, E. & Jordan, C. (1993). Minority education: Anthropological perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Kuper, A. (2000). Culture: The anthropologist's account. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
National Science Foundation. (2017). What are the student diversity trends in American public schools? Retrieved from https://youtu.be/qszvfBB3c6A
ssquareclub. (2012). Diversity differences are essential. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/TniLDR5GJPQ
stevedecker1. (2007). Educational Insights - teaching for today with Steve Decker. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Gm2JoeXuAY0
ThoughtCo. (2018). Scientific and social definitions of race: Debunking the ideas behind this construct. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/scientific-vs-social-definition-of-race-2834954
Tim Shanahan, McGraw-Hill Education PreK-12. (2016). What are the realities an mpact of classroom diversity? Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ZSugIzS_B3I
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). The condition of education 2017. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017144.pdf
U.S. public school systems are culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse. It is important for future teachers to understand how culture and cultural differences impact students.
