Multicultural Perspectives in Kindergarten

Teaching with a multicultural perspective encourages appreciation and understanding of other cultures as well as one's own. Teaching with this perspective promotes the child's sense of the uniqueness of his own culture as a positive characteristic and enables the child to accept the uniqueness of the cultures of others.

                                                                                                              (Gomez, 2017)

We are in the middle of the year 2017. The 21st Century is a very globalized and thus, a very interconnected world. This can be seen all over, including in our schools. Therefore, just like "one size" can not fit all in regards to teaching styles, we can not assume that one specific cultural perspective would and can be the best way to educate our students. They are our future, and in our future, the world is only going to get more and more interconnected. Therefore, multicultural perspectives are needed in the classroom.

As with most education, teaching this critical concept of multicultural perspectives needs to start at a young age. As a Kindergarten teacher, that means that I should be in the forefront of this. As Rey A. Gomez says, "Early childhood educators can influence the development of positive attitudes in young children by learning about and promoting the various cultures represented among the children they teach." To do this then, I need to consider some very important issues (from Teach Now):

How lessons in your subject field can reflect the diversity of your community, region, country, or world.

My lessons in Kindergarten can reflect the diversity in the world by simply showing my students the world itself! For example, when teaching the alphabet, this lesson can be expanded to discuss the writing systems of various cultures around the world. A friend of mine uses sporting events (like the Olympics) to teach his students about the different countries that they see on their television screens. But best of all, on Show-and-Tell days, students can bring and share with the class items that demonstrate their culture. Thus making the learning of different countries/regions (the world itself) a more personal experience.

A rationale for why it is important to introduce students to multicultural content and multiple perspectives in the curriculum.

As the quote at the beginning of this post says, one extremely important reason to introduce multicultural content and perspectives in the curriculum is to help a child see the importance of his/her own culture, as well as, to help the child accept the uniqueness of other cultures. But most importantly,

"multicultural education is predicated on the principle of educational equity for all students, regardless of culture, and it strives to remove barriers to educational opportunities and success for students from different cultural backgrounds." 
                                                                          ("Multicultural Education Definition", 2017)

How will you know that students are developing cultural competence in your classroom?

The best way to know if my students are developing cultural competence is simply by observing their classroom norms. Being kindergarteners, they haven't yet mastered (and/or learned) to hide their discriminatory ways. By observing and taking notes of situations/scenes that I see happen in class, I can tell if my students are growing in their understanding of accepting others for who they are. The best way to make sure they are on this path, though, is by setting the example. As their teacher, I need to set the norms in the classroom about what is and what is not accepted. They can then use this to guide them.

References

Gomez, R. (2017). Teaching with a Multicultural Perspective. ERIC Digest.. Ericdigests.org. Retrieved 18 June 2017, from https://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/perspective.htm

Multicultural Education Definition. (2017). The Glossary of Education Reform. Retrieved 18 June 2017, from http://edglossary.org/multicultural-education/

Differentiating for/and Anticipating Student Needs

Common Core State Standards: Kindergarten

English Language Arts Standards: Reading Foundational Skills: Kindergarten

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.D

Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Differentiation

Each student has an individual style of learning. Not all students in a classroom learn a subject in the same way or share the same level of ability. Differentiated instruction is a method of designing and delivering instruction to best reach each student.

(Weselby, 2017)

Differentiating one’s lessons, as stated in the quote above by Cathy Weselby, is made in order to help the teacher better help her/his students. Every student is different. Some of these differences are:

• Disabilities or lack of
• ELL learners or native speakers
• Students’ individual learning styles/profile
• Students’ individual interests
• Different levels of readiness

Therefore, in order to try and meet the needs of these students, teachers need to modify their lesson plans. Weselby goes on to say that there are four areas where teachers can differentiate their instruction:

1. Content: is comprised of the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students need to learn based on the curriculum (McCarthy, 2014).
2. Process: is how students make sense of the content. They need time to reflect and digest the learning activities before moving on to the next segment of a lesson (McCarthy, 2014).
3. Product: is what the student creates at the end of the lesson to demonstrate the mastery of the content (Weselby, 2017).
4. Learning Environment: conditions for optimal learning include both physical and psychological elements (Weselby, 2017).

I will now give some examples in each category for four students that require differentiated instruction. These strategies are meant for kindergartners on the path to mastering the standard stated at the beginning of this blog: the Alphabet.

Student One: ADHD

Content: Follow up directions individually to this student. Break down larger tasks into smaller tasks (Do NOT do uppercase and lowercase letters at the same time).

Process: Use of multi-sensory activities and audio/visual materials. Jigsaw puzzles.

Product: Student allowed to do more hands-on projects (make an Alphabet Book).

Learning Environment: Do not sit them near windows or doorways. Sit them in an area of the classroom where there will be minimal external stimuli.

Student Two: Deaf-Blindness

Content: Large print of all handouts and large print of all work on the whiteboard. More doing, less lecturing.

Process: More hands-on (sensory learning) and less writing (build letters with Legos). Audio books.

Product: Student allowed more choices: choose to do speaking assignments (ex: “Please describe an uppercase and lowercase Q); choose to use body language (ex: “With your arms, please show what an uppercase T looks like”).

Learning Environment: Sit at the front of the class. All wall displays are also printed out with large print on them.

Student Three: Low Level Readiness

Content: Use lots of modeling. Graphic organizers.

Process: Add more teacher assistance. Reflection on what they have learned so far (the letter of the day).

Product: Student does not need to spell out words on their Alphabet Book.

Learning Environment: Student sits near the teacher.

Student Four: High Level Readiness

Content: Teach more advanced concepts about the alphabet (some letters have multiple sounds attached to them).

Process: Less teacher assistance. Student works individually.

Product: Student needs to spell out words on her/his Alphabet Book. Student given the choice to create her/his own project.

Learning Environment: Student has her/his own personal folder full of extra activities to do if s/he finishes the current activity quickly.

Flowcharts: To help guide my decision making.

References

McCarthy, J. (2014, July 23). 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do. Edutopia. Retrieved 5 June 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy

Strategies for Students with ADHD l Education.com (2014, October 3). Education.com Retrieved 5 June 2017, from https://www.education.com/reference/article/add-adhd-strategies-tips/

Weselby, C. (2017, February 15). What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of Strategies. Education.cu-portland.edu. Retrieved 5 June 2017, from http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/examples-of-differentiated-instruction/