The role of instructors in multicultural education
As instructors, we must foster "unity within diversity". We must be able
to assist all students in understanding and respecting the thoughts that
we share as the American identity. However, we must also assist students
in understanding and respecting our individual, cultural and community
identity. By establishing a common identity, we can create a country
built on unity and not upon our differences.
Instructors must approach multicultural education as an enthusiastic learner. They must listen to the stories told by students and their families and integrate these stories into the curriculum. They must educate themselves about the culture of their students through resources written by men and women from different ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and religious groups. By understanding the culture of their students, instructors will be able to bring cultural context into meaning by building new experiences upon prior experiences of students. More importantly, instructors need to have an open mind to learning about the individuality of each student to provide the optimal learning experiences for all students.
It is not only the responsibility of the instructor to provide a multicultural curriculum to students. It is also the responsibility of administrators to train instructors and to provide support to instructors in integrating a multicultural curriculum.
Instructors must approach multicultural education as an enthusiastic learner. They must listen to the stories told by students and their families and integrate these stories into the curriculum. They must educate themselves about the culture of their students through resources written by men and women from different ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and religious groups. By understanding the culture of their students, instructors will be able to bring cultural context into meaning by building new experiences upon prior experiences of students. More importantly, instructors need to have an open mind to learning about the individuality of each student to provide the optimal learning experiences for all students.
It is not only the responsibility of the instructor to provide a multicultural curriculum to students. It is also the responsibility of administrators to train instructors and to provide support to instructors in integrating a multicultural curriculum.
