Multicultural Influence in the Classroom: Annotated bibliography

Introduction

The introduction of multicultural education into the regular curriculum has become a highly controversial topic. A majority of the people are for this ideology of multicultural education. However, some are against it. Despite all this, I think that multicultural education is an element that is of significance to the education system and society as a whole. Keeping in mind that multiculturalism is an inevitable element, it is only convenient to prepare the education system for cultural diversity in the future. In this literature review, I will review four different articles that relate to the issue of multiculturalism and analyze the main themes in the reports.

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Annotated Bibliography

Byram, M. (2014). Twenty-five years on-from cultural studies to intercultural citizenship. Language, culture and curriculum, 27(3), 209-225.

This article evaluates and analyses the development and progress of the multicultural aspect of the use of foreign language while teaching over the past 25 years. The article exploits on the observation, criticism, and perception from a group of researchers with whom the author worked with before. For the inspection, for main aspects are selected 'assessment and evaluation,' 'the value of cultural studies,' 'methodology,' and 'pedagogy and didactics.' The article contends that within the interceding time, the value of intercultural of the cultural dimension in teaching using foreign languages has been widely acknowledged in programme approaches and documents to the methods and principles of teaching. The representation with respect to the principles of teaching for multicultural knowledge is assorted, and the inquiries of assessment remain inadequately developed. This article concludes that the most significant aspect of advancement is in teacher guidance. However, there is still insufficient understanding among teachers regarding the importance of multicultural capabilities and its association with linguistic abilities.

Candau, J. (2016). What does culture do to our brains? The Theuth effect: cultural adversity and cultural felicity.

In this particular article, the author illustrates the different varieties of methods by which individuals in the society could use to access their knowledge on multicultural aspects, cultural viewpoints and the permanent alterations within the community as a result of multicultural incursion. The disquisition manifests the impact that the arriving multi-ethnic categories have placed in both the individuals and the current culture in entities such as integration of technology, educational improvement, literature, and everyday communications. The article exhibits the possibility of multiculturalism in the future as it predicts how the society would look like and feel in the year 2050 if the transposition in demographics persists. The writer anticipates a multiethnic and tremendously technological society which could only be possible if we learn to comprehend how to consent to changes and acknowledge multicultural incorporation. According to the writer, equipping ourselves with the knowledge of multiculturalism would prepare us for the future which will be mainly of multicultural societies.

De La Mare, D. M.(2014). Communicating for Diversity: using Teacher discussion Groups to Transform Multicultural Education. Social Studies, 105(3), 138-144.

This article serves as a critical element in the issue of multicultural education as it is a significant resource to use to comprehend the importance of having discussions about cultural differences in school. This article illustrates the advantages of introducing multi-cultured classrooms and how to achieve successful multicultural education by having the required discussions and adhering to the five simple requirements during discussion culture and multiculturism. Other than that, this article also provides suitable insights that are necessary to ensure that any classroom if effectively multicultured and that the topic of multiculturalism is well incorporated in the learning and education. Lastly, this article provides the knowledge on how to talk about multicultural and culture while teaching as it primarily provides one with the instructions that they can use to ass culture to the classroom in an educational, relevant and significant way.

Urban, E. L., & Palmer, L. B. (2014). International students as a resource for internationalization of higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(4), 305-324.

This paper examines the challenges of internationalization in education by placing methods of multiculturalism education. The author contends that in order to attract and retain students from diverse cultures, then the schools should focus on the needs and requirements of the students by developing an approach to multicultural education. This article presents new ways of engaging and teaching students with diverse cultural backgrounds. The article also explains about the do's and don'ts that educators should keep in mind while teaching a classroom whose students are from different cultures. The techniques on multicultural education that are suggested in this article can be used by educators to advance the growth of multicultural higher education. This altercation mainly uses the context of higher education and the effective and suitable approaches that educators could use in the situation of being in a classroom full of students from a variety of different cultural backgrounds.

Literature Review

Based on the four selected articles, it is evident that their primary goal is to address the issue of multiculturalism and how it can be solved with the presence of multicultural review. In this case, there are two main themes of emphasis: the role of education in multiculturalism, and attitudes toward multiculturalism.

Theme 1: The role of education in multiculturalism.

From the above-annotated bibliographies, the theme of the role of education in multiculturalism and the role that school has in the development and influence of people about the acknowledgment of cultural diversity. From the articles, an emphasis is made on how multiculturalism influences how teachers approach it in school. As seen in the 'What does culture do to our brains? The Theuth effect: cultural adversity and cultural felicity' article, there are certain delivery methods that these educators should use while teaching a multicultural classroom. The delivery approach should address and acknowledge different learning styles that could accommodate all the students from all the diverse cultures. Using this delivery approach, educators are forced to use a variety of instructional methods, and dialogue in order for each student to be comfortable. First, these educators find out what the students know about a certain topic if they want to learn it, and also asks them to participate. This different delivery approach prevents people from being bias towards certain cultures that are different from theirs (Candau, 2016).Education is the best method that could be utilized to influence the element of multiculturalism based on the fact that educators are on neutral grounds. The educators should, therefore, use an approach that covers all viewpoints of the students. The content presented in class should include all the different cultures within the class, it should not only be focused on a culture that has a majority of the students. Educators also learn to tell history from the perspective of different culture as this makes the students more comfortable because they feel included. Educators should also address the issue of cultural diversity by acknowledging the different language capabilities among students and providing extra support to students whose first language is not necessarily English. In the 'Twenty-five years on-from cultural studies to intercultural citizenship. Language, culture and curriculum' bibliography, it is stated that teaching using foreign languages has been widely acknowledged in programme approaches and documents to the methods and principles of teaching (Byram, 2014)

Theme 2: Attitudes toward multiculturalism.

Attitudes toward multiculturalism is a significant aspect of multicultural education. It is important for individuals to be in favor of inclusiveness in the matter of cultural diversity. While the awareness and recognition of several cultures sharing the same environment is generally collected to multiculturalism, a majority of people still have different perceptions of the idea. The reason for these different perceptions is as a result of the disappointment which is brought by the separation between the concept of multiculturalism and applied reality. Educators should focus on content that is inclusive of all the present different cultures in the classroom. They should also make sure that the information presented on multicultural backgrounds is accurate and not biased. Educators should also make use a teaching approach that avoids tokenism in class whereby the minority cultures are under-represented. There should also be special units that focus on the education of specific cultures that need special attention. This teaching approach should also discuss and discourage the presence of discrimination in the education system and in the classroom because the presence of this discrimination is exactly why multicultural education needs to be incorporated into the curriculum to shed light on the benefits of multiculturalism. A society that is educated on multiculturalism is less likely to segregate and marginalize people from minority cultures. (De La Mare, 2014).

This theme is also represented in the 'International students as a resource for internationalization of higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education' article. The article encourages that educators use a variety of learning and teaching instruments while addressing a culturally diverse classroom. This approach of using different teaching instruments rules out the possibility of bias content that would favor certain cultures over others. This approach should also be used by educators because the use of different learning tools widens the topic of multiculturalism by addressing the stereotypes associated with this topic. (Urban & Palmer 2014).

Conclusions and Applications

To conclude this, all of these articles were purposed to focus how multiculturalism influences how teachers approach it in the classroom. As seen from the above discussion, there are a number of approaches to multicultural education that have been suggested such as the use of different learning tools and the use of inclusive content. From this analysis, it is evident that using different approaches in a classroom with diverse cultures have a positive impact on the students as they get to understand multiculturalism from a different viewpoint. Multicultural education could be applied in schools using a variety of methods. Students should be encouraged to be proud of their cultural background. In this case, educators have the responsibility of creating a definite emphasis on the cultural differences between students and learners. In addition to that, while administering multicultural education, the educators are required to know their individual bias. To adequately comprehend the presence of multiculturalism within their classes, educators need first fully to understand their values, cultural backgrounds, and preferences. Therefore, these educators will be able to understand the different cultures within the class and know how to assimilate cultural diversity.

References

Byram, M. (2014). Twenty-five years on-from cultural studies to intercultural citizenship. Language, culture and curriculum, 27(3), 209-225.

Candau, J. (2016). What does culture do to our brains? The Theuth effect: cul...