Issue Of Normalization - Multicultural Education

Running head: ISSUE OF NORMALIZATION - MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 1

Issue of Normalization - Multicultural Education

Student’s Name

Name of Institution

ISSUE OF NORMALIZATION - MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 2

Abstract

The normalization is a principle that implies making it available to every person with

disabilities the same conditions provided to other citizens. The term disability here implies

anything that could make a person feel inferior to others. The examples of such disabilities

include a physical disability, gender bias, racial discrimination, and ageism among other forms of

discrimination. A normalization principle aims at enabling these people to experience living

conditions, which are as close as possible to ordinary circumstances and the ways of life. Both

goals and services for these persons with disabilities must resemble those that would be socially

valued.

This principle of normalization brings us to the issues of multicultural education and

communication, in particular, the racial discrimination. Multicultural education is an issue that

has, in some time, become increasingly relevant in learning. This is something that every teacher

needs to deal with. As banks (1994, p.146) defines it, multicultural education is the systematic

conversion of schooling to embrace the needs and perceptions of many cultures and shape the

ways, in which students are educated. It is approximated that, by the year 2020, almost half of all

students in the American public schools will have been from a minority group. Therefore, it has

become very important that teachers from both rural and urban school districts consider applying

the cultures into their lesson plans to make their students’ understanding of the ever-diversifying

society better (Cifuentes & Ozel 2008, p.16). This paper will analyse several elements of

multicultural education, including the bilingual education, the diversity in the classroom, some

multicultural instruction materials, stereotypes, and the curriculum to integrate culture. It is

imperative for teachers to understand the effects of diversity in their classrooms and the

importance of integrating culture into their lessons.

ISSUE OF NORMALIZATION - MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 3

Introduction

Multicultural education is efficiently defined as a progressive approach for transforming

schooling that holistically analyses and addresses the current inadequacies, failings, and biased

practices into education. It is based on the ideals of social integrity, education equity, and a

commitment to facilitate learning experiences, in which all students attain their full potentials as

the socially aware beings, both nationally and internationally. Multicultural education recognizes

that schools are important to laying the foundation for a change of the society and the eradication

of oppression and prejudice. The underlying objective of multicultural education is to influence

on a social change (Barbara 2007, p.105). The pathway towards this goal incorporates three

elements of transformation including the transformation of self, the transformation of self as a

teacher, and the transformation of the society (Hanley 1999, p. 32).

A multicultural unit brings together people of diverse backgrounds. The school

environment should provide everyone with an equal opportunity to achieve their full academic

potential. The multiplicity should provide a unique learning experience for all students within the

institution. However, racism arises as a major issue in a varied cultural setup. Racism traverses

the society. It influences on the education system, adversely affecting the learning of diverse

students. Despite numerous attempts for all humankind to have an equal treatment, racism still

exists in most of education systems (Wolfensberger 2008, p.65). It is apparent that racism in the

education system is a major contributor in the dismal performance of learners from minority

groups. Racism influences on the academic performances of racially abused students (O'Brien

1997, p.19).

Background of Study

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Historically, the United States is a racially and ethnically diverse nation. Since Americans

represent a variety of cultures and have the variety of viewpoints, they share many cultural

traditions, values, and political ideals that strengthen them together as the nation. Children

develop their personal views and their identity at the initial stages of their schooling (Sleeter &

Grant 2011, p.421). Education ought to stress the importance of diversity and shun from

portraying one group as superior to the rest ones. The multicultural educational system not only

educates students in a classroom, but also enriches the teachers and the society, in general

(Stanford & Parkay 2007, p. 250).

In the American system of education, students mostly affected by racism are those from

minority groups and mostly of them are of the African and Asian origins. These students are

discriminated against by their fellow students and even their teachers in some cases. The policies

also do not address special needs of these minority groups. Racism as an issue needs an all-

inclusive approach in finding a solution. The resolution should also be all-inclusive involving the

learners from these underrepresented groups, fellow learners from majority groups, policy

makers at school, and instructors at school (Salili 2001, p.81).

In The Scope of Multicultural Education, Hanley (1999,p.30).highlights the goals of the

current multicultural education as: educating diverse young individuals with basic skills, as well

as creating a social change stimulated by awareness of various lifestyles and cultures. She further

states that, “Multicultural education is a response to the changing demographics of the United

States” (Hanley 1999, p.31). Schools are constantly becoming more and more diverse. It is

estimated that by the year 2020, almost fifty per cent of all students in the American learning

institutions will have been from minority groups (Hanley 1999, p.32). People from different

cultures have specific behaviours and interpretations, which derive from their values and

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assumptions. This essentially means that students from different cultures have varied behaviours,

something that educators need to have the knowledge of in order to provide a successful class.

Educators need to consider the requirements of each of their students and to learn taking them

into consideration into every lesson plan they create (Banks 1994, p.146).

Currently, it is apparent that urban school districts experience diverse students more often

than rural institutions. In the recent survey, the top twenty-five largest school districts indicated

that minorities had taken up seventy-two per cent of schools’ overall population. This statistic

serves to highlight the next important issue - stereotyping. Stereotyping of urban school districts

is a very rampant factor. Racial profiling and discrimination appears among board members that

view assessment scores, as well as the society and even fellow learners. Hanley (1999, p.27)

notes that 84% of students in the grades six through twelve indicated that most young people

carried out a form of ethnic prejudice (Hanley 1999, p.29).

In addition to the students’ discrimination, stereotyping of minority students to perform

poorly at school is an aspect that puts a constraint on multicultural education itself and on the

achievement of these minority persons. In her article, Barbara (2007, p.104)highlights the fact

that only eight states out of all in the United States can report of their fraction of minority

students. They may excel in a standardized testing in the last fifteen years; a statement swich

significantly reinforces this appalling stereotype in the American schools (Barbara 2007, p.107).

The implementation of multicultural education into all institutions of learning, both rural and

urban, will be a step towards changing this prejudice.

Multicultural Education Hindrances

At no time in the American history, there has been a greater diversity in their population.

The students joining public, private and parochial school systems bring a wide diversity

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of culture, language, and talent than ever before. Preparing educators to work with this

multiplicity, creating syllabuses to correspond adequately to this profile, and influencing

on the social, economic, ideological and political conditions for a multicultural education

requires a transformation of practice and policy at many stages (Banks & Banks 2009,

p.31). It should be candidly noted that students with special needs are often faced with

some learning challenges. Thousands of learners are misidentified, while other still are

denied from special education services. The American communities are noticing and

paying attention to the mixed races and ethnic groups. Therefore, many issues and

concerns come along with a culturally diverse world bringing hindrances to the

implementation of multicultural education (Salili 2001, p.79).

One of hindrances to multicultural education is the teachers’ resistance to it; thus,

affecting the minority students. The negative attitudes that some educators care can be

looked at as a reason for a rise in the number of high school dropouts. Therefore, many

teachers often fear teaching or even building the positive relations with under privileged

or minority students. In the American society, there is an evidence that teachers use

stereotypes to label learners in the classroom, especially those who have some underlying

concerns needed to be addressed. The teachers’ resistance as well as negative attitudes

can affect the academic performance of students. Generally, everyone should receive the

best potential education, thus, ensuring their success in future (Stanford & Parkay 2007,

259).

Another hindrance is the fact that there certain stereotypes exist, which are hard to

do away with as they have been living for a long time. Some stereotypes are that African

Americans are less intelligent as compared to the whites and that Hispanics are

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underperformers. Teachers accepting these stereotypes as true usually tend to be unfair in

the class. For instance, if the educator believes in this stereotype that African Americans

are not bright, then they will have low expectations of such students, indirectly

supporting the stereotype. This indicates that the teacher’s expectation can determine

some changes in the student’s performance (Cifuentes & Ozel 2008, p.20).

Closing a Gap

One facet of education that is already seeking to close a gap between the minority and

majority students is called bilingual education. This is defined as a type of instruction that is

“designed to meet the learning requirements of students whose first language is not English

(Stanford & Parkay 2007, p. 262). Students in this system are convinced to develop into

bicultural students, who can be trained and function fittingly in two discrete linguistic groups.

The Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act in the late sixties and required that minority

students to be trained in English and in their national language. A language barrier has always

been a central factor that seriously damages multicultural education. This is the reason bilingual

programs have stirred great investigations and debates (Sleeter & Grant 2011, p.438).

An administrative support for multicultural education is also a critical factor towards

closing the gap. For a building to stand, the foundation has to be strong. This is the case with

multicultural education. It will only be successful if school administrators are committed to it.

Regardless of the commitment level, programs started under a guise of multiculturalism should

receive back up from administrators being responsible for the success of founded multicultural

initiatives. An important factor in any purported multicultural program is the curriculum

development (Cifuentes & Ozel 2008, p.18).

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The multicultural curriculum should be adopted for several reasons. It provides the

alternative viewpoints relatively to the information previously taught in nearly all educational

systems. It provides racial minorities with a sense of being comprehensive in the history, science

and so forth. And, lastly, it reduces stereotypes, prejudice, and racism in America as well as the

rest of the world. A major demographic transformation is on the scope of American schools.

Learning institutions have been determined too long by the values, attitudes, beliefs, and value

systems of one race. The future of the universe demands a positive change for everyone (Banks,

1994).

Further, selecting materials for this particular form of education is a critical aspect of

success. Stanford and Parkey (2007, p.259) have noted that, there are some certain guiding

principles to consider while preparing educational materials for multicultural education. Firstly,

it is important that the materials precisely portray the attitudes, perspectives, and feelings of

cultural groups, which students will be able to commiserate with and understand (Stanford &

Parkay 2007, p.273). Some other important factors to be considered include getting materials that

have strong racial protagonists, which every student can identify with, universal conflicts and

suitable illustrations, and that are being historically correct. Teachers should avert any material

that is racially biased or contains any racial clichés, phrases or concepts. Kingsley states that it is

essential to get the training in the multicultural activities and materials, so as to accurately

choose the best actions for the one’s classroom (Hanley 1999, p.29).

These materials should now be implemented into a planned curriculum based around

racial and historical ideas. This can be the most challenging part for the instructor in today’s

schools. Observed in Hanley’s piece, it is imperative to remember that dishing tacos at the class

gathering or talking about Kwanza rituals at a public holiday celebration is not sufficient for the

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classes filled with multicultural students (1999,p.33). Furthermore, Hanley points out that,

“Multicultural education is more than holidays and food, it requires critical thinking with

attention paid to complexity” (Hanley 1999, p.35). Keeping this in mind, the integration of

content is a grand way of creating a meaningful curriculum. The content integration involves

including materials, values and concepts from various cultures. By using the materials mentioned

beforehand along with the basic knowledge of lesson planning, a grand curriculum can be

produced. This curriculum will not only be beneficial to minority students, but also to the

average students in the schoolroom. An example of study that takes the account of all students is

ethno-mathematics. In this study, the mathematical thinking is combined with cultural ideas, an

ideal way for all students to understand the mathematics’ concepts better (O'Brien 1997, p.27).

Conclusion

As revealed throughout this paper, the level of significance that teaching diverse students

has reached is clear. Without the applicable knowledge of varied cultures, educators are denying

their students a rewarding education. The meaning of multicultural learning implies that learners

have become more socially conscious and are reducing unawareness of cultural facts. The way

that students are cultured ought to change the guarantee that this will happen. It is evident that

schools have also become increasingly diverse with time, heightening the need for multicultural

education in all learning institutions. This paper has clearly illustrated the way to thrash

stereotypes, as well as to implement bilingual education and racially diverse materials into the

class curriculum. Educators need to consider integrating multicultural education into their classes

in order to teach the class of racially diverse learners in the today’s world. The way out to the

issue of racism in the class involves an intricate approach to the matter. The solution should

decisively address an issue without compromising the schools’ education standards. It should not

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be viewed as giving the minority students an advantage over the others. Generally, students

should be encouraged to interact freely.

References

Banks, J. (1994). An introduction to multicultural education. Educational Resources

Indformation Center, p.146.

Banks, J. & Banks, C. M. (2009). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives. New York:

John Wiley & Sons, pp.15-36

Barbara, T. (2007). Leadership academy focuses on reaching diverse learners. Reading Today

7, pp104-107

Cifuentes, L. & Ozel, S. (2008). Resources for attending to the needs of multicultural learners.

American Association for School Librarians, pp 14-21.

Hanley, M. S. (1999). The scope of multicultural education. Seattle: New Horizon Learning, pp.

15-46

O'Brien, J. (1997). The principle of normalization: A foundation for effective services.

National Association on Intellectual Disability.pp. 9-33

Salili, F. (2001). Multicultural education: Issues, policies, and practices. IAP.pp. 76-88

Sleeter, C. & Grant, C. (2011). An analysis of multicultural education in the United States.

Harvard Educational Review, pp. 421-445.

Stanford, H. & Parkay, F. (2007). Teaching diverse learners. Becoming a Teacher. Boston:

Person Education Inc. P. 245 - 279.

Wolfensberger, W. (2008). The principle of normalization in human services. National Institute

on Mental Retardation.pp.63-69

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