Multicultural Education 1
Multicultural Education in Rural Maryland:
How Much More Tolerant Can We Get?
Christina Salmon
English 535: Language and Culture
Dr. Gibson
June 28, 2007
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Multicultural Education in Rural Maryland:
How Much More Tolerant Can We Get?
In order to best meet the needs of our diverse learners, all schools should have a
multicultural education system in place. All stakeholders in the school need to be committed to
helping our students become critical thinkers and productive members of society. In chapter ten
of her book, Language, Culture, and Teaching: Critical Perspectives for a New Century, Sonia
Nieto advises schools to demand more than just tolerance of diversity when implementing
multicultural education.
In “Affirmation, Solidarity, and Critique: Moving Beyond Tolerance in Multicultural
Education,” Nieto explains that educators often tout tolerance as the way to celebrate diversity in
their schools. She proposes that tolerance is actually the lowest level of diversity support, and
that if students never move beyond this level, they will never fully respect and affirm the
differences of others. Nieto notes four dynamic levels of multicultural support: tolerance,
acceptance, respect, and affirmation, solidarity, and critique. As schools progress through these
levels, they will truly celebrate diversity and meet students’ unique needs. Nieto depicts five
school scenarios involving each of the four levels, along with a view of a monocultural school.
I, too, believe that schools should strive for more than just tolerance; however, this will only
happen as long as all stakeholders involved agree to change and fully support diversity in all
aspects of education. The stakeholders in rural school settings are more resistant to change, and
they may not support the changes needed to move well beyond tolerance in these schools.
Unfortunately, monocultural schools are the common situations in most American school
systems today, according to Nieto. A monocultural education is one in which the entire school
environment, including curriculum, pedagogical strategies, and policies, are representative of the
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dominant culture. The ethnicity of the teachers is not representative of the students, and their
lessons do not reflect the students’ diversity. This school is “color-blind” to its students;
therefore, ignoring the differences that make them unique. The students are ability grouped, and
most top classes are comprised of European-American and Asian-American students. Teacher
expectations are not the same across the ability levels. ELLs are immersed in English-only
classrooms, and their native backgrounds are not considered to be an asset. This kind of school
does not celebrate diversity in any productive manner. Unfortunately, this school would
probably also be most resistant to change.
When reading about monocultural education, I was disheartened to see my own school in
its description. I teach in a rural elementary school in Wicomico County, where things have
always been done the same way. My current principal has recently taken over the position that
had been filled by the same person for fifteen years. Even as she made changes over the past
year, many parents questioned her actions, and these were only minor compared to what would
have to be changed in order to truly embrace diversity. In rural locations, such as the Eastern
Shore of Maryland, there are some individuals who have the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
mentality. There are teachers within my school who want to do the same thing that they have
always done in their classrooms. When moving to a higher level of diversity support, everyone
involved, from parents and students, to staff members, to the community, needs to be willing to
change their attitudes. If any one of those groups of people is not supportive of the change, then
perhaps tolerance is the only level they will ever be able to reach.
Nieto continues her beliefs of ideal multicultural schools by illustrating a school
operating at a tolerant level. She explains the difference between the denotation and connotation
of the word tolerance. Tolerance is a respected value to have and admire. However, the
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connotation of the word is negative in that it implies that differences are accepted, but not
embraced. Therefore, Nieto argues that schools should not stop at developing tolerance, and
instead, they should strive to reach the upper levels of multicultural education support. In the
scenario of a tolerant school, their curriculum is undergoing changes to reflect multiculturalism.
Diversity is recognized on a superficial level in students learning about prominent African
Americans, American Indians, and women. There is a multicultural teacher who reports to
classrooms within the school to teach diversity lessons. There are ESL classes to support
language learners, but these students are expected to learn English quickly in a subtractive
manner. Teachers are mostly unprepared to celebrate the diversity of the students beyond
acknowledging general differences. Interestingly, teachers at a tolerant level in Nieto’s scenario
are not aware of why certain students are more successful than others.
I believe that my school is slowly moving in the direction of tolerance, in that we are
superficially supporting diversity. Black History Month is recognized and students know that
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, but I am not sure that all students know what that dream
entailed. We have a new reading curriculum with stories that are representative of diverse
cultures from around the world. Our students read about many different cultures and traditions,
which is a start in an elementary school. Nieto’s description of a tolerant level school is
somewhat disheartening because there is so much more that could be done to embrace diversity
as seen in the higher levels.
The next level of support for diversity is acceptance. Nieto notes that this is the level in
which there is a greater movement towards true multicultural education. In an acceptance level
school, teachers represent many ethnic backgrounds, and they receive professional development
in diversity. The curriculum has been expanded to include literature from different countries,
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studies of important people with various backgrounds, and all students are encouraged to take
foreign language courses. Tracking is limited to the top levels of classes, and students’
schedules are flexible. ESOL students are tested before being placed in appropriate programs,
such as transitional bilingual education. Less proficient students are able to receive instruction in
their native language. Students are exited out of the ESL program into mainstream classrooms,
as they progress in English, no more than three years upon entering it.
One of the most interesting ideas in the acceptance level school is the notion of a salad
bowl, rather than a melting pot, to represent the cultural capital that students bring to school. If
teachers can use their students’ cultural motifs in their instruction, then students will begin to see
the benefits of diversity. Fortunately, the changes between a tolerant level school and an
acceptance level school would not be very difficult to implement. The bulletin boards that depict
diverse students of the week or holidays celebrated around the world would be easy to create, yet
meaningful for all students. The curriculum guides in schools are already constantly being
revised, and new material covering diverse leaders, events, and literature can be added
appropriately. The costs of adding the new material may be a drawback. However, the
differences between ESOL classes operating under a tolerant level and an acceptance level are
important and necessary in order to meet their needs. Students should be able to use their native
language in schools if it helps them to learn concepts easier, which they can do in an acceptance
level school. Learning English is difficult enough without adding the complications of having to
learn curriculum standards in English as well. When Native Americans were forced to be
educated in their nonnative language of English during the twentieth century, their literacy rates
dramatically dropped. Using their native language would also help students in maintaining it.
One drawback to accommodating students with instruction in their native language would be
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finding more bilingual teachers and speakers of several different languages. Another drawback
would be gathering materials in different languages. However, the largest obstacle would be
convincing all members of schools and communities to even allow this to happen. There are
some educators and many non-educators who feel that English-only instruction should be the
only permissible instruction in schools. Obviously, these are people who have never experienced
what ESOL students are dealing with in their schools everyday right now. Again, convincing all
stakeholders in education to change their thoughts, particularly those in a rural area, is a difficult
endeavor, and it continues to be an obstacle for multicultural education.
The third level of multicultural education support is respect. Diversity in this scenario is
highly regarded, and it drives the school experience. In a respect level school, hallways are
decorated with student accomplishments in all areas and activities, including a Spanish Spelling
Bee. Professional development is a necessary component used to inform teachers of best
practices in their areas. Teachers develop and revise curriculums often, and diverse materials are
selected to be part of them. Students in this ideal situation are able to discuss social injustices
throughout history in their classes, and students of all ability levels work together. In this
scenario, ELLs are not limited to just three years in an ESOL program. These students are able
to take part in a maintenance bilingual program that allows instruction in their native language
throughout all of their schooling. I believe this is an effective program because it allows students
more time to develop CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) language. This would
enable students to be more successful on standardized assessments because they would have
access to the academic language of the tests. Native English speakers are also eligible to take
part in the program as well, an interesting approach to bilingual education. This would reinforce
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Peal and Lambert’s research in the 1960’s, which found that bilingual children outperform
monolingual children.
The acceptance level school is an ideal school scenario, much like the highest level of
diversity support, which is affirmation, solidarity, and critique. In this school, classrooms are
very diverse because there is no tracking, special education, or traditional bilingual programs.
All students work together, regardless of their background or ability. The whole school is
multilingual, and every student studies a second language. Many classes are even instructed in
two languages. All literature is viewed with a critical eye, and students are learning about all
topics, even those that would be considered taboo in other schools. This school would also have
a government system in place with elected students, faculty, parents, and the community
involved in all decision-making. The critical thinking of the students truly reflects the goals and
results of multicultural education. According to James Banks, multicultural education’s main
goal is to help students become critical thinkers and develop their decision-making skills.
Many of the aspects of the two upper levels of diversity support are very ideal and
utopian. However, many of the ideals of these schools are what make them unrealistic scenarios.
Many schools today would be extremely uncomfortable discussing the taboo topics that are
freely critiqued at these two levels of diversity support in schools. The issue of hiring enough
bilingual teachers would be costly and difficult. Obtaining diverse resources would also be a
costly expense. The amount of diversity in these schools is incredible, yet in this part of
Maryland, I believe that many parents and community members would feel uncomfortable in the
settings of these schools. They are very untraditional, and many people who live in rural areas
like their traditions. It will take a lot of time and concerted effort before these schools and
members of the school systems would be willing to approach these levels of diversity support.
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The ideas that Nieto has proposed are admirable, and all schools should continue to
become more diverse in all areas. Educators should try to move their students beyond tolerance.
However, this will take time and willingness of everyone involved in the educational system.
Small changes should be made in order to make everyone more comfortable while moving
towards and beyond tolerance, particularly those schools in rural settings. I believe that Nieto’s
highest-level support schools are very lofty goals, and perhaps implausible for rural areas. If all
educational stakeholders and their communities are not supportive of the changes, then even
acceptance may be a difficult goal to reach. While schools are becoming more diverse, parents
should be involved in understanding the process and its importance. When everyone is willing to
change and grow in diversity, then schools will become more tolerant and move towards the
higher levels of support. It will take a lot of time, effort, and willingness, but even tolerance is a
huge step beyond a monocultural school, especially in rural areas.