Guidelines

We like to think of ourselves as tolerant, understanding, attuned to others around us. Those are positive qualities and important to teaching. We do not like to believe that we are inhospitable, judgmental or hostile.

The size of the chasm between reality and our hope of humane behavior is especially important to assess when we are teaching. Never is that sense of self and desire to appreciate and love others more important than when we are working with students with special needs. I am reluctant to share my own personal experiences of ineptitude, but I think it may serve a purpose.

I wanted to make a difference for others. I was in foster care for several years, and felt that my foster mother had made a remarkable change in my prospects for success through her acceptance and diligence. As a way of repaying some of that good fortune, I wanted to adopt children. I picked my future daughter up at the DES office and took her home for the first trial visit. She was an adorable youngster of seven with Down's. She had big blue eyes, a brown pixie cut, an infectious smile, and she was Caucasian. She was the third child I was adopting and the first one who looked rather like me.

By the third day, I noticed a disturbing difference in the way I spoke of her. I heard myself tell others, every time I introduced her, that I was adopting her. In the first two adoptions, I was adamant about not differentiating which was my birth child, yet this time I pointed it out. I suddenly realized that I did not want others to think I was this child's real mother. I was acting ashamed and feeling prejudice.

Most prejudice is subtle and masked. As we note in the development of self, it takes a long time for most of us to move outside of ourselves enough to realize that others do not feel as we feel - that someone really does love a different color, different food. We are so immersed in our own experiences, family life, rituals and pastimes that those who eat, dress, sleep or talk in a different way may be startling, even anxiety producing. People who have very different speech or behavior may upset us enough that we are aware of our disquiet and biases.

Tolerance is a special gift we give ourselves and others. We may have strong biases for or against those who are part of our common experiences without being clearly aware of our attitudes and feelings. When we recognize feelings, emotions, expectations, norms more clearly,

A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He [she] experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prisons by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature. - Albert Einstein

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. - H.W. Longfellow

Concepts in multicultural and bilingual education

Multicultural Ed Approach

Major components of a culture

Can you define these?

multicultural education

macroculture

microculture

native language emphasis

scaffolded instruction

reciprocal teaching

Sheltered English

Help individuals gain greater self understanding

Provide cultural and ethnic alternatives

Provide skills, attitudes and knowledge to function in ethnic culture and the mainstream

Reduce pain of discrimination and lessen disenfranchisement

Master essential content in desired arenas

world view

values

styles

language

heritage

dynamic system that changes continuously

You learn to love by loving . . . Begin as a mere apprentice and the very power of love will lead you on to become a master in the art. - Frances of Sales

Want a great site for recipes around the world? Berkley

Assessment - The BOLD

The Bilingual Oral Language Development Inventory for Elementary Students(BOLD)

This form can be used to record observations of a student's performance in the primary language and in English. A plus (+) should be recorded for each communicative behavior that is performed effectively; a minus (-) should be recorded for each communicative behavior in which a deficiency is noted.

Bilingual Oral Language Development

Child's Name	Birth date	Age:
First Language	Second Language	Age at 2L acquisition
Communicative Behavior	First Language	Second Language
1. Comments on own actions	1.	1.
2. Comments on others' actions	2.	2.
3. Describes experiences accurately	3.	3.
4. Describes events sequentially	4.	4.
5. Attends to the speaker	5.	5.
6. Follows directions	6.	6.
7. Initiates interactions	7.	7.
8. Takes turns during conversation	8.	8.
9. Maintains topic	9.	9.
10. Answers questions	10.	10.
11. Requests attention	11.	11.
12. Requests information	12.	12.
13. Requests actions	13.	13
14. Requests clarification	14.	14.
15. Expresses needs	15.	15.
16. Expresses feelings	16.	16.
17. Describes plans	17.	17.
18. Supports viewpoints	18.	18.
19. Describes solutions	19.	19.
20. Expresses imagination	20.	20.

Mattes, L.J. & Omark, D. R. (1984) Speech and language assessment for the bilingual handicapped. San Diego: College Hill. [This form may be reproduced for nonprofit educational use]. Full explanation also available in Wood text, p. 68.

Additional Assessments

Multicultural Self-report Inventory (Slade, J. C. and Conoley, C. W. (1989). Teaching Exceptional Children 22(1), p. 62.

Equity in Education assessment site

Woodcock-Munoz

Multiple links

As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her only child, so let everyone cultivate a boundlessly compassionate mind toward all being. - Buddha

Encouraging proficiency in a student's first language

Reflect the various cultural groups in the school district by providing signs in the main office and elsewhere that welcome people in the different languages of the community.

Encourage students to use their primary language around the school.

Provide opportunities for students from the same ethnic group to communicate with one another.

Recruit tutors who speak the primary language.

Provide books written in the various languages of students in the school and have them available in the library and in the classrooms.

Incorporate various languages in the greetings, notes home, work pages, newsletters of the district.

Provide multilingual signs throughout the school, in buses, etc.

Display objects and art of various cultures throughout the school.

Create study units that incorporate a student's primary language.

Encourage students to write articles, poetry, etc. in the primary language and incorporate them in school publications.

Invite the minority community to become more involved in school meetings, policies, as an active presence in the school. - from Wellington, 1988

We always affirm with conditions. I affirm the world on condition that it gets to be the way Santa Claus told me it ought to be. But affirming it the way it is -- that's the hard thing! -Joseph Campbell

Reviewing our own actions and intentions isn't easy, but it is crucial work.

In the early 1990's attention was paid to gender discrimination in the schools. Teachers responded initially, that they treated girls and boys the same. In fact, in most classrooms the treatment of youngsters was not equal in any way. We found that teachers called on boys more, listened to their answers longer and corrected their responses less than girls. We also found that a boy of color received less positive reinforcement than a Caucasian boy, and that a girl of color received the least attention and support of anyone in the classroom. Teachers often had to see taped evidence of their own behavior to believe the findings.

Until the late 1970s, classroom research meant watching the teacher rather than the interactions and behaviors of students. Even the effective schools movement scrutinized the teacher rather than students. When we began to watch interactions between students and teachers, we saw many instances where teachers initiated discipline problems by the ways they behaved. In your observations, have you seen teachers react differently to a child who is well dressed? a child with tattoos? a kid who does not bathe? a youth with a different ethnic background? Most of the time, we are so busy proclaiming that we treat all children the same that we are not able to recognize our own biases.

Our jokes often speak aloud the biases we keep hidden. Do you tell ethnic jokes -- blond jokes, quadriplegic jokes? Fat girl jokes? How about red neck, lawyer, mother-in-law stories?

Great literature reminds us that we must understand who we are and how we behave in order to be cognizant of others. Of course, this journey to self and others is a paradox, for it is in being with others that we understand self, and it is in fully understanding self that we are empowered to move beyond curiosity or initial fear of others to empathy and compassion.

This next section provides several exercises to facilitate self assessment of tolerance or bias. Some of them will be useful tools you can adapt in your work with students.

1. Identify a group you dislike or distrust (need help? flag burners, welfare recipients, reactionary rednecks, politicians, rapists, homeless, self-righteous, a religious sect, skin heads, taggers, gang members, kids who shoot kids, lawyers, teachers, doctors)

2. Genuinely try to see each group you named as they might see themselves. ( List adjectives)

3. If it is a group bound by a belief system, list some of the reasons they may have taken their stances. If it is an ethnic group with a common set of actions, try to find what their culture or language might do to set up the behaviors. Example: Navajo children are taught to be respectful by not making eye contact; the Spanish language is set up so that things happen rather than blaming people for accidents - milk spills.

4. Look for a continuum of beliefs in a group and identify with it. (Need help? religious affiliations, the NRA, Republicans, Animal Rights Groups, Green Peace, Democrats, Gay Rights Activists, Pro Choice groups, Pro Life groups)

5. What would you have to change in your life if you felt as this group feels?

8. How would you begin the process of developing acceptance for this group of people?

Bring tolerance closer to home. What is it that your spouse, child, roommate, sister, father does that you just can't stand? Try going through steps 4-9 with respect to this set of behaviors. [25 points]

Bring tolerance closer to the school. What is it that students do that drives you crazy? Try going through steps 4-9 with respect to this set of behaviors. [25 points]

Is there one kind of student you don't want in your classroom? How about a youngster who can't hear? How about one who is nonresponsive? Are you worried about a child who has seizures? Are you intolerant of a kid who can't or won't sit still? What can you do to see the child you describe, from their point of view or as the parent see him or her? [25 points]

This is a great time to set some personal goals. Upon completion you may send a note stating that you set goals, or share them with the instructor. E-mail Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu

Let's begin with web based materials you may want to review. This site http://www.humanities has SIX activity sets to sharpen awareness of Hispanic and American influences and intermingling at border communities. Two are directly related to this module:

Now, locate two other web sites that present methods or materials for enhancing emotional intelligence, foster understanding and tolerance of others, or provide tools and skills for working with students who have limited English Proficiency. Share your "finds" in WebCT. [25 points]

Interested in a class? NAU has a graduate level BME course on the web. Click here to investigate course offerings.

1. Write an autobiography that is a history of your hair. Include influences from family, culture, peers, media, self comfort. If available, include pictures in a timeline, showing changes. [50 points]

2. Make a string of paper dolls. On each doll, draw or place a hat that represents the influence of one of the groups to which you belong. You may use some of the group distinctions listed below, or make your own. [25 points] Describe or list the characteristics that contributed to your hat designs. [25 points]

Kozol, J. (1988). Rachel and her children: Homeless families in America. NY: Crown Publishers.

Kozol, J. (1995). Amazing grace: The lives of children and the conscience of a nation. NY: Crown.

Mankiller, W., & Wallis, M. (1993). Mankiller: A chief and her people. NY: St. Martin's Press.

Nichols, J. (1974). The Milagro beanfield war. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Tolerance

Are human beings tolerant as a rule?