I teach high school science, particularly Physical Science at a public high school in the state of Missouri. My students have little variations in culture with an enormous amount of diversity. “A really good teacher is someone who: knows that a student can teach, and a teacher can learn” (Tomlinson, 2014, p. 46).
“Multicultural education refers to any form of education or teaching that incorporates the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds” (Multicultural Education Definition., 2013). It is stated that teachers must be multicultural themselves to effectively and authentically empower ethnically diverse students. I am, by no means, multicultural. Courses through the University of the People are the medley of my multiculturalism range. However, a project I have used to include multiculturalism is a research project over a scientist of their choice.
Students choose a scientist, research the scientist, do a bibliography (contributions to science, country of birth, education, linguistics, traditions, customs, culture, etcetera), and then dress like their scientist for a day. The day they dress as their scientists they are required to give a presentation (accent and all; to the best of their ability) to the class and be able to answer questions (interesting facts about their scientist) when asked by other teachers.
Our History and English teachers, if given enough time, usually create a cross-curricular lesson to coincide with my scientist investigation project. Projects created in the past include a News Paper, where each student contributes an article on their scientists, a 3-D model that depicts the scientist’s contribution to science, slide shows, skits, and a Wanted Poster. Students embrace the assignment and look forward to it.
“Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan” (Weselby, 2018, para. 2). Differentiated classrooms accommodate students who learn in assorted ways and at various rates with mixed talents and interests (Tomlinson, 2014).
Differentiated instruction “allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes tailored to students’ learning needs for success” (Lehman, 2017, p. 113). A scheme I plan to use in the future to accommodate diversity is to create multilevel tasks; assignments and activities in three different levels, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. When a classroom combines cooperative learning, its climate encourages maximal learning (Anderman, & Anderman, 2009).
Watanabe-Crockett recommends the following examples for multilevel assignments: have a beginner student provide a visual summary, assign intermediate students an oral presentation, and have an advanced student write a two-page essay (2019). Furthermore, Cox recommends, “six main ways to structure tiered assignments: challenge level, complexity, outcome, process, product, or resources” (Cox, n.d. para. 4). It is the job of the teacher to determine the best approach.
The process itself is a differentiated approach where student groups use different methods to produce comparable results based upon their readiness (Cox, n.d.). Having students, work together in school can help them to understand their differences through cross-ethnic interactions. Studies with cooperative learning groups have found that children become more accepting of other’s differences and have a positive effect on students who are culturally different from others (Cox, n.d.). “The differentiated classroom is built around individuals, various small groups, and the class as a whole…while working toward a common and meaningful performance” (Tomlinson, 2014, p. 27).
Successful teachers acknowledge diversity among their students and incorporate their experiences into the classroom environment and learning (Anderman, & Anderman, 2009). Valuable teachers have a collection of tactics designed to meet the needs of all students. To develop a positive classroom environment and for optimal learning in diverse populations, our approaches need to accommodate both multicultural and diverse exercises to create an environment that offers students acceptance, affirmation, challenges, and support (Tomlinson, 2014).
