EMP603 Education Major Project A TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2 2. Background: Roles and context 2 3. A problem of practice / A need for change / An educational issue 3 4. Aims of the project 3 5. Guiding questions 4 6. Conclusion 4 7. References 5 1. Introduction Teachers have been confronted with new obstacles as classrooms become more multicultural. Students attending a multicultural classroom were typically at a disadvantage since they need to learn how to manage western personalities, cultures, and languages (Abacioglu et al., 2019). As a result, teachers are tasked with guiding students throughout this uncharted environment in order to achieve success. Because the cultures of students and teachers influences teaching practices in the classroom, there is indeed a strong link between education and culture. From my own personal experience teaching in a secondary school, I have come to recognize a major issue that diverse cultural and linguistics of various students within a single class poses a major challenge for teachers in classroom teaching. This investigative report focuses on this challenge and analyzes the underpinning factors that help me to construct the aim of this project and further develop plans for a change and inform my educational practice in the future. 2. Background: Roles and context From my previous teaching experience, teaching in a secondary school, I came across teaching culturally diverse students studying a subject together in a single classroom. The experience of teaching them was phenomenal. However, over time, I came to understand and realize that every student has its own way of learning which is highly influenced by their culture and ethnicity. Multicultural classrooms are defined by a heterogeneity of race, religion, mother tongue, and cultural heritage, according to Van Tartwijk et al. (2009, p. 453). According to Rothstein-Fisch and Trumbull (2008), every culture influences how people absorb and perceive. How individuals arrange their reality cognitively using linguistic as well as other symbol systems is one of these ways of knowing, or more technically epistemology (Rothstein-Fisch & Trumbull, 2008, p. 3). These also encompass peoples approaches to learning and problem solving, how they construct information, and how they pass it along from generation to generation (Rothstein-Fisch & Trumbull, 2008, p. 3). All students have a different learning style with which they are comfortable. It can be either visual, tactical, group learning or auditory learning. Moreover, these learning styles are mainly formed due to distinct cognitive styles of the students (Benediktsson, & Ragnarsdottir, 2019). Numerous scholars in their research and studies have stressed the necessity of recognising students learning preferences in multicultural classrooms (Banks, 2013; Samovar et al., 2012). In particular, Walker-Tileston & Darling (2008) state that context speaks to the students culture. Individually or in groups, how do they learn best? What cultural mindset do they bring, and what style of classroom will best reflect that culture? What part of their culture does socialization play? (p. 9). Furthermore, according to Gay (2002), teachers lack of comprehension of all these cultural variables is largely due to their absence of appropriate communication channels: What they think they know about the area is typically based on superficial or incorrect information supplied through popular culture, mass media, and critics (p. 107). It has also been noticed that the ethnically diverse students are shy of participating in class activities which hampers their learning process and eventually results in low academic achievement. The study by Alsubaie (2015) reported that because a students educational attainment could be minimal or unsatisfactory because their cultures educational systems contrast from their current classroom culture. This research also demonstrates how certain cultures value lateral relationships over straightforwardness, openness, or bluntness. This could be attributed to the substantial differences across cultures in communicating or interpersonal relationships because students in multicultural classrooms have a specific approach of nonverbal interaction. These disparities have a detrimental effect on students academic performance. If students and teachers in a multicultural classroom exhibit distinct nonverbal communication patterns, they will be unable to comprehend and convey themselves clearly and precisely to one another; as a result, students might not be able to perform well academically (Bohm et al., 2002). 3. A problem of practice / A need for change / An educational issue After understanding the main issue of teachers teaching in culturally diverse classrooms, it becomes important for the teacher to develop intercultural competence to cater to the needs of all the students within a class. I believe that the programmes of teacher training is crucial since it equips teachers for engaging in the classrooms, particularly in multicultural settings (Valeriu, 2017). Teachers, on the other hand, have a lack of knowledge regarding the students ethnicities, backgrounds, communication patterns, and learning methodologies, which hampers the classroom teaching and other learning activities (Karacabey, Ozdere & Bozkus,
2019). I accept that there are important aspects or characteristics of culture which teachers in multicultural classrooms should be aware of. Teachers must use experiential research to understand better about diverse cultures and the students perspectives in order to build culturally adequate learning and teaching in the multicultural classroom (Iwai, 2019). Furthermore, thinking that each student in a multicultural classroom can succeed irrespective of ethnicity and language skills, and also activities which involve the exchange of knowledge, perspectives, and beliefs between both the teacher and the student in the classroom, may indeed assist students accomplish academic success. This is an educational issue which is in need of a change. 4. Aims of the project The above sections of this report clearly identifies that culture impacts the learning process and teachers teaching methods within a classroom. As a secondary school teacher, I have experienced the same and it questions my teaching practices. I want to improve my educational practices within the classroom that benefits all the students irrespective of culture. My overall goal is to enhance the learning outcomes of all students by developing my educational practices and enhance teaching methods that align with the different learning styles of the students (Karacabey, Ozdere & Bozkus, 2019). In this regard, the aim of the project is to identify competencies and skills that contemporary teachers can develop to teach multicultural classes. What learning strategies or activities should the teacher employ in class that effectively involves all the students and promotes their learning? 5. Guiding questions The underlying guiding questions for this investigative report that helped developed the aims are as follows: Are my teaching practices in the classroom effective for all students in the class?Does the instructional or study material take into consideration the different cultures of the students?Does a teachers cultural background affect the learning of the students that takes place in a classroom setting?Do the perceptions of ethnicity of both teachers and students play an important role in the multicultural classroom?Is the instructional or learning material provided by the schools enough or should the teachers diversify their teaching approach?Does communication and trust matter in the multicultural classroom? 6. Conclusion A comprehensive awareness of a vast spectrum of professional educational challenges, particularly practical considerations including such pedagogical growth and learning via monitoring in the classrooms, is essential to become a competent secondary school teacher. To properly achieve the objective of cumulative learning in a multicultural classroom, unique learning approaches, practise, and knowledge are required. Teachers that integrate teaching practices alike outside and inside the classrooms have quite a greater potential of increasing student performance and reducing the adverse consequences seen in multicultural classrooms. It is therefore the need of this investigative report to dwell deeper into this issue to generate positive learning and growth. 7. References Abacioglu, C. S., Isvoranu, A. M., Verkuyten, M., Thijs, J., & Epskamp, S. (2019). Exploring multicultural classroom dynamics: A network analysis. Journal of school psychology, 74, 90-105. Alsubaie, M. A. (2015). Examples of current issues in the multicultural classroom. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(10), 86-89. Banks, J. A. (2013). The construction and historical development of multicultural education, 19622012. Theory into practice, 52(sup1), 73-82. Benediktsson, A. I., & Ragnarsdottir, H. (2019). Communication and Group Work in the Multicultural Classroom: Immigrant Students Experiences. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(2), 453-465. Bohm, A., Davis, D., Meares, D., & Pearce, D. (2002). Global student mobility 2025: Forecasts of the global demand for international higher education. IDP Education Australia. Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-116. Iwai, Y. (2019, January). Culturally responsive teaching in a global era: Using the genres of multicultural literature. In The Educational Forum (Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 13-27). Routledge. Karacabey, M. F., Ozdere, M., & Bozkus, K. (2019). 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