Cultural Diversity in New York City Classrooms

1. Selecting Efficient Instructional Techniques for Culturally Diverse Classrooms Cultural Diversity in New York City Classrooms • Svetlana Khvatikova and Marva Rudder • Education 7201: Seminar in Applied Theory and Research I • Fall 2011

2. Table of Contents • Introduction • Statement of the Problem (slide 3) • Supporting Theorists (slide 4) • Pros (Slide 5) • Cons (Slide 6) • Statement of the Hypothesis (Slide 7) • References (Slide 8)

3. Statement of the Problem • New York City is one of the most diverse cities.  All five boroughs are filled with children from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The need for teachers to relate to student’s cultural backgrounds is important.  Several studies have shown, that student’s culture plays a crucial role in the way they learn and view the world. These studies have shown that the lack of multicultural knowledge isolates students from society thereby affecting their learning and social skills. The lack of cultural aspects in the classroom lead to a drop in students’ success rates in the classroom, due to students not being able to connect with the information being taught.  One of the solutions to this growing problem is to implement more multicultural studies into the curriculum.

4. Supporting Theorists • Lev Vygotsky : • Affirms that learning does not take place in cognitive isolation, but within the context of activities and social interaction likely informed by the day-to- day contingencies of culture. • Suggests school learning is largely informed by the interaction between the conceptual domains of the home and the school. • States that regardless of cultural background, the most effective school learning occurs when learning assumptions in the home or “spontaneous” conceptual domain, are meaningfully connected to the assumptions encountered in the school, the “schooled” conceptual domain. (Meacham 2001)

5. Culturally relevant pedagogy has been defined as a means to use students’ cultures and strengths to bridge school achievement (Boutte & Hill, 2006), to validate students’ life experiences by utilizing their cultures and histories as teaching resources (Boyle-Baise, 2005), and to recognize students’ home cultures, promote collaboration among peers, hold high standards, and connect home life with school experiences (Neuman, 1999). Siwatu (2007) even stipulated that there is general agreement among culturally responsive pedagogues insofar as how the theory is used in facilitating learning, structuring classroom management, providing multiple opportunities to demonstrate knowledge, and helping students to maintain their own culture while navigating in the mainstream culture. (Young 2010;Chisholm 1994; Montgomery 2010; Ladson-Billings 1995; Silva , Langhout 2011;Morrison, Robbins, Rose 2008). Pros

6. How Multicultural Classroom Instruction is Undermining Our Children's Ability to Read, Write, and Reason, multiculturalism is quite the norm in America's elementary schools. Some of the major reading textbooks used in elementary schools around the country has found a deadening and counterproductive multiculturalism whose consequences are racial resentment and multicultural illiteracy. It seems entirely possible that declines in reading test scores in the early 1990s, particularly among black children, were a direct result of the condescension, relentless moralizing, and pedagogical inefficacy that informs these texts. (Hymowitz, Kay 1999;Morgan 2010;Zhang 2001; Schultz 2010). Cons

7. Statement of the Hypothesis • To improve multicultural awareness at PS XX in Brooklyn by enlightening and educating twenty first grade students over a four week period. The assessment will involve measuring student’s responses to assignments without their cultural information and conducting similar assignments by incorporating cultural aspects into them. This will include conducting a pretest and post-test to measure the student’s success rates and overall understanding of the material.  • To improve multicultural awareness at PS XX in Brooklyn by enlightening and educating twenty first grade students over a four week period. The assessment will involve measuring student’s responses to assignments without their cultural information and conducting similar assignments by incorporating cultural aspects into them. Students will achieve better results after their personal cultural aspects are added into the material.

8. References • Chisholm, I. M. (1994). Preparing Teachers for Multicultural Classrooms. The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students, 48-56. • Kay, H. (1999). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/docview/222061706/fulltext/1324B892CDB768F7A24/2?accountid=7286 • Kristan A. Morrison, H. H. (2008). Operationalizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Synthesis of Classroom-Based Research. Equity and Excellence in Education, 433-452. • Landson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy . American Educational Research Journal , 465-491. • Langhout, J. M. (2011). Cultivating Agents of Change in Children. Theory and Research in Social Education, 61-91. • Meacham, S. J. (2001). Vygotsky and the Blues: Re-Reading Cultural Connections and Conceptual Development. Theory Into Practice, 190-196. • Montgomery, C. (n.d.). Caught Between Regulations and Meaning: Fifth Grade Students and their Teachers Respond to Multicultural Children's Literature. • Morgan, H. (2010). Teaching Styles Can Make a Big Difference. Educational Horizons, 114-20. • Schultz, S. (2010). Judging a Book by it's Cover. ERIC. • Young, E. (2010). Challenges to Conceptualizing and Actualizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Journal of Teaching Education, 248-60. • Zhang, J. (2001). Cultural Diversity in Instructional Design. International Journal of Instructional Media , 299-307.