Cultural Diversity and Working with Students Who Have Visual
Impairments
Assumptions Regarding Multiculturalism
1.It is increasingly important for political, social, educational and economic reasons
to recognize the US is a culturally diverse society.
2.Multicultural education is for all students.
3.Multicultural education is synonymous with effective teaching.
4.Teaching is a cross-cultural encounter.
5.The educational system has not served all students equally well.
6. Multicultural education is (should be) synonymous with educational innovation
and reform.
7. Next to parents (primary caregivers) teachers are the single most important
factor in the lives of children.
8.Classroom interaction between teachers and students constitutes the major part
of the educational process for most students. Taken from Banks(1988) page 43.
Multicultural education is a progressive approach for transforming education that
holistically critiques and addresses current shortcomings, failings, and
discriminatory practices in education. It is grounded in ideals of social justice,
education equity, and a dedication to facilitating educational experiences in which
all students reach their full potential as learners and as socially aware and active
beings, locally, nationally, and globally. Multicultural education acknowledges that
schools are essential to laying the foundation for the transformation of society and
the elimination of oppression and injustice.
by Paul Gorski (2000)
SO WHAT
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Is Social Justice important to our population of students?
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How does multiculturalism impact you and your practice?
Aspects of Multiculturalism
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Ethnicity
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Social class
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Gender
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Geographical background
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Language background
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Age
•
Religion
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Others??
How do you interact – How may you impacted...
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Teaching style
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Biases
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Prejudices
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Predispositions
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Expectations
All leading up to…Stereotyping and Stigmatizing
Stereotyping
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Assuming that every member of a minority group has the same
characteristics, thought patterns, likes and dislikes, etc.
Stigma
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Negative attitudes and consequences applied by a majority group to a
minority group.
•
May be based upon observed behavior of a single member of the minority
group.
•
Most likely based on teaching (both overt and implied) by other members of
the majority group.
Why is it so important that you as a TVI or COMS understand and respect
cultural diversity?
•
By 2010, close to 42% of all school children in the US will come from
culturally diverse homes.
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Almost half of all the students in Texas come from culturally diverse homes.
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Because it makes you more effective
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Because almost everything you do will involve other people (either students
or adults)
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Cultural contexts are critical for understanding patterns of child
development. Until the last several years, almost all research in this area was
done from a WASP male perspective.
•
People often BECOME members of the visually impaired minority. They must
then deal with their own stereotypes and stigmas.
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Because it’s the right and ethical thing to do.
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Pity, overprotection, coddling by the TVI, Rehabilitation Specialist, or the
COMS is NOT helpful or beneficial for the student.
There are several issues:
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How to work with culturally diverse families.
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How to teach VI students about cultural diversity.
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How to honor each VI students’ own cultural background and use that to
ensure that instruction is efficient.
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VI students as a cultural minority – the “blind” community.
•
Social skills and an accurate understanding of cultural diversity.
Cultural Competence
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In order to address any of these issues, we must have Cultural Competence
“respect for difference, eagerness to learn, and a willingness to accept that
there are many ways of viewing the world” (Hanson, 1998):
Cultural Competence
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Know ourselves
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Know our prejudices and biases
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Monitor our attitudes
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Develop cultural sensitivity
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Lead by example
What is culture?
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“…ways of perceiving, believing evaluating and behaving.” Hunt and Marshall,
1999.
•
“Members of the same culture share basic beliefs about reality, take certain
‘facts’ for granted, accept common standards of behavior, and cherish similar
values.” Cartledge, 1996
Macro-culture
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“…the core or universal culture of the country.”
•
Western cultures place high emphasis on:
individualism
industriousness
ambition
competitiveness
self reliance and
independence.
•
These traits may not be honored throughout other cultures
Micro-cultures
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Subcultures within the macro-culture
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May be based on:
Ethnicity
Socioeconomic status
Religion
Gender
Geographical region
Sexual orientation
Disability
Etc.
The importance of language to culture
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Language binds people together
•
Language patterns and habits define what is “proper” (“speaking” in the
South)
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Language regarding a cultural group can convey honor or disrespect (person
first speech)
Assimilation and Acculturation
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Assimilation – becoming totally immersed in the macro-culture
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Acculturation – adopting the outward appearance of the macro-culture while
still maintaining some of the tenets of the original micro-culture
Ask yourself- Do you think one of these is correct?
Working with culturally diverse families
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Independent versus interdependent societies
African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American cultures tend to be more
interdependent.
Western European cultures tend to be more independent.
Urban societies tend towards independence; rural ones toward interdependence.
•
The sanctity of the family’s position in the child’s life
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Different cultures have different parenting styles
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Locus of control – if it is internal then the family is likely to work to push the
child to “improve”; if it is external, then the family may not believe that it is
possible or even important for the child to overcome the disability.
•
Issues surrounding parental guilt
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Issues surrounding “protecting” the child from the environment.
Goals:
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Ability to communicate with the family
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Relate to the family
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Identify the information that parents need
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Integrate our educational and social interventions with the participation
preferences of the family (Sontag & Schacht, 1994)
So how do we help our students be more culturally sensitive?
TEACH SOCIAL SKILLS
Steps to teaching social skills:
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Present the skill and help the student to understand why it’s important.
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Modeling
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Role play
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Feedback (including self-evaluation)
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Application in a variety of situations
(generalization)