Understanding Culture and
Multiculturalism
RULES FOR DISCUSSION
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Treat others as you would like to be treated
Classroom discussions are confidential
Mutual respect for each other must be tolerated
Attacks on another person are not permitted
We can agree to disagree
Everyone must speak from their own
experiences
Try to refer to one another by name
Commonly used terms
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Culture
Ethnicity
Race
CULTURE
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A totality of learned behaviors in the context of a
social system (Slonim, 1991)
Includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capacities and habits
acquired by individuals as members of society
The characteristics of that individual’s society or
some subgroup within that society
We live it and may cause some distress when
we are out of our culture.
Attributes include familial, linguistic, religious,
spiritual, aesthetic, socioeconomic, educational,
dietary, gender etc.
Culture-explicit and implicit
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Explicit aspects of culture-language,
dress, food habits, religion, aesthetic
conventions-taught deliberately and
learned (tip of iceberg)
Implicit aspects of culture-equally
important; habits often invisible to ustimeliness, what is proper or improper
RACE
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A socially determined category that is related to
physical characteristics in a complex way
(Banks & Banks).
Not a stable category; has changed over time
Used often in US as if there is total agreement
about definition ( school forms, Birth/death
certificates etc)
Has been defined socially, biologically and
geographically
RACE-PHYSICAL
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Physical and inborn characteristics
Skin color, body build or facial features
Unlike culture-race cannot be changed or
learned or acquired after birth
Other terms used-Negroid, Caucasoid and
Mongoloid
RACE-GEOGRAPHICALLY
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Determined by the region of the world and
country
African, American Indian, Asian,
Australian, European, Indian, Melanesian,
and Polynesian
RACE-UNITED STATES
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Should not be reviewed solely but important to
note
Individuals are asked to state race on forms
Society places emphasis on race and some
individuals may claim that their race affects the
quality of their life experiences
( Some African American and Latino American
men may feel some harassment due to their
race)
RACE-Why is it difficult to
discuss?
May be considered taboo to discuss
(especially in mixed settings)
 There may be denial on personal
prejudice, racism, failing to acknowledge
its impact on the individual’s life
 Not easily defined or understood
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Ethnicity
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An individual’s sense of identification and
provides a sense of belonging to a reference
group [derived from five major racial categoriesAfrican American, Native American, Asian
American, Latino American, European
American] (Slonim, 1991)
African-Caribbean , Jewish American, Mexican
American, Puerto Rican, Italian American,
Muslim, Cherokee, Navajo
More on Ethnicity
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Persons can be at different stages of the
ethic awareness
Ethnic group is a cultural group with a
sense of peoplehood, shared history,
common ancestry, and common set of
political and economic interests
MULTICULTURALISM
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A WORLD VIEW THAT REJECTS THE GLOBAL
CENTRALITY OF ANY SINGLE CULTURE OR
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
A PRINCIPLE, AN APPROACH, OR A SET OF
RULES OF CONDUCT THAT GUIDES THE
INTERACTIONS AND INFLUENCES THE
PERCEPTIONS, BELIEFS, ATTITUDES, AND
BEHAVIORS OF PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE
CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS
Multicultural Education-IT IS
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An idea
An education reform movement
A process
Multicultural Education
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A multifaceted, organizational, change-oriented strategy
aimed at seven goals
1. Educational equity
2. Empowerment of students, parents, and teachers
3. Development of society that values cultural pluralism
4. Understanding and harmony in classroom, school and
community
5. Maintenance and expansion of freedom and
democracy
6.knowledge of cultural and ethnic groups
7.develop all staff , parents and students with
multicultural perspective
Cultural Pluralism
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The notion that groups should be allowed
and even encouraged to hold on to what
gives them their unique identities while
maintaining their membership in the larger
social framework.
It does not advocate separatism but
promote diversity - not a melting pot but a
salad bowl concept-unity with uniqueness!
Multicultural Education-A little
history
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Grew out of the civil rights movement of the
1960s which was grounded in the democratic
ideas of freedom, justice and equality
Extends the values and beliefs inherent in a
democracy- the promotion of human rights and
privileges, the sharing power and equal
participation in all social contexts
Communication and Culture
Playing by the Rules
Educational Setting
Schools have a culture that has
values, beliefs and norms that
are related to school success
School Culture
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Rigid schedules
Analytical reasoning
Individual achievement
Competition
Definition of disability according to laws
Certain learning styles (visual and
auditory)
Possible home cultures
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Flexible schedules
Intuitive reasoning
Achievement through cooperation
Definition of disability by physical
characteristics, intuition, other family
members with disability.
Different learning styles
Language and Communication
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“language and culture are so inextricably
intertwined that it is often difficult to consider one
without the other” (Padron & Knight, 1990)
It includes:
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Phonology (rhythm, tempo pitch)
When to speak and what is left unspoken
Questioning
Dialects, accents
Language and Communication
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Students whose spoken and written language
does not match the requirements of mainstream
language experience academic difficulties due to
differences in language capabilities.
May cause overrepresentation of students in
Special Education due to language differencesespecially students who speak English as a
second language .
Nonverbal Communication
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65% of all communication is related to nonverbal
communication
Proxemics (interpersonal space)
Kinesics (body language)
Haptics (frequency of touching)
Paralanguage (voice, tone, pitch and rhythm)
Inexperience teachers often overreact to
nonverbal cultural manifestation by imposing
rules and prohibitions
Teaching Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse (CLD)
Students
Addressing Learning Styles is
affective way of instructing CLD
student
Example:Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligences
Field dependent learners vs
field independent learners
Field independent learners
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Focus on parts instead of whole
Focus on things
Prefer learning by watching and listening
Prefer learning individually
Can learn without the need for hands-on
activities
Field dependent learners
Respond to things in terms of the whole instead of
isolated parts
Prefer learning in groups
Focus on people rather than things
Prefer learning by doing
More proficient in nonverbal communication
Prefer kinesthetic, active, hands-on instructional
activities
Does not focus on competition
“All students have an incredible
capacity for developing the ability
to use multiple learning styles in
much the same way that multiple
language competency can be
accomplished” (Hillard, 1992)