Name of Module: UNDERSTANDING
DIVERSE CULTURES
Learning
How to Value and Include Multicultural Experiences in the Classroom
Topic/s: Why are other cultures/countries important to U.S.?
Which cultures have had the greatest affects/impacts on the following areas: music, language, dress, food, and the environment.
What cultures have I been influenced by the most and why?
Course: DIVERSE CULTURES
Designed by: M. Washington
A.
Roberts
Duration: 10 Weeks
Course Description: This course emphasizes a unique way for middle school teachers to create a learning community of diverse cultural experiences and understanding through utilization of Adventure Education, Arts Integration and Inquiry Based Learning. The course will also include cultural issues and how they impact the middle school student in his/her school. Topics will include: an overview of curriculum and instructional strategies, meeting the needs of a culturally diverse community at large, (parents, geographic community, and school community) to foster an expanded view of their world and the renewed respect for other cultures and experiences.
Description of Learners: This module is designed for 20-25 pre-service students whose focus is middle level education in a social studies area.
Goals/Objectives (choose/optional)
Students will be able to:
1. Communicate and analyze historical and geographical information
.
2. Students will research the history and impact of Òhip hopÓ as a culture that has impacted young people across the world.
3. Appreciate their own other others cultures history and traditions.
4. Students will develop an indepth understanding of how the U.S. impacts other cultures/countries, through physical as well as human action both positively and negatively.
5. Students will understand how varying teaching strategies and methodologies impact students of different cultures.
6. Students will be able to determine if unexpected behaviors reflect a student's culture
7. Students will learn how to build a classroom environment which discourages racial put-downs or put-downs of others' language usage and abilities
8. Students will learn how to use interpreters for second language speakers (e.g., parents, community members)
9. Students will learn how to use a variety of instructional and assessment strategies to accommodate students' cultural learning preferences and backgrounds
10. Students will learn how to develop students' collaborative and co-operative skills through group work, problem-solving discussions, and consensus activities
Instructional Strategies:
Adventure Education
á Multicultural Games features 75 games from 43 countries or cultures on 6 continents. This practical reference is an excellent source for building an interdisciplinary and multicultural curriculum. It can also help educators meet NCLB national content standards for multicultural awareness at the middle school level. Multicultural Games provides ideas and strategies that will help your students develop an awareness of and appreciation for other cultures while enjoying physical activity. Christy Lane
Arts Integration
Dramatization w/appropriate cultural dress
Activities
Dances of different cultures
Activities
Sharing of cultural foods
Activities
Poster Sessions/Presentations
Activities
Resources
On-line components:
www.tolerance.org (articles - White Teachers at the Crossroads; Everyone Has an Accent, Healing Waters),
pippinpub.com/puretext.asp;
edchange.org/multicultural;
vannet.k12.wa.us/mceweb/multicultural and /multilingual.
Literary Components:
Hands on Cultural Books (Yvonne Merrill)
Writing across the Curriculum in Secondary Classrooms: Teaching from a Diverse Perspective -- Harriet Arzu Scarborough (Editor); Paperback
Asian Students' Classroom Communication Patterns in U.S. Universities : An Emic Perspective -- Jun Liu (Author); Hardcover
Creating
a multicultural perspective in your classroom -- Unknown Binding
Video Components:
Multicultural Folk Dance (Christy Lane) Includes dance from Israel; Hawaii, Serbia; U.S.; Germany; Ghana; Romania; China and Mexico)
Sculpting the Truth (African American) Elizabeth Catlett
The Glory of Expression (African American) Jacob Lawrence
The Invisible Man (African American) Benny Andrews
Approach of Dawn (Guatemalan)
Mexican Popular Customs
Mexican Youth Today
Mexican Family Celebrations
Next Step/s:
1. Each student will research a country and its culture/s
2. Each student will research the impact of the culture that they have chosen, and its impact on the United States.
3. Each student will research the impact that the United States has had on ÒtheirÓ culture
Proposed Outcomes
1. A keen understanding of how we as a nation have been influenced by other cultures, both positively and negatively.
2. A thorough knowledge of the responsibility/accountability that we (Americans) have on other cultures/countries, both positively and negatively.
3. Understanding Òintent vs. impactÓ based upon the activities and research achieved through this course, as well as a full group discussion based upon their cultural findings, that focus on the following issues:
á
Questioning order Ð developing an awareness
of the effects of hierarchical ranking in language
á
ÒLookismÓ Ð attitudes and strategies that
impact discrimination based on appearance.
á
Treating people in a parallel manner Ð create
an awareness of how groups and individuals can be elevated or disempowered by
treating them in different ways.
á
Respecting age Ð identification of attitudes,
biases or preconceived notions about the temperament, ability and other
characteristics of older adults, and how this attitude varies within different
cultures.
á
Comparing instead of contrasting Ð
identifying similarities between groups of people.
á
Challenging your assumptions Ð reviewing
assumptions inherent in visual and written messages based upon a ÒculturalÓ
viewpoint.