July 12, 2004
A Second Round.
Let's Get to Know One Another.
Welcome, intrepid teacher candidates, to your class homepage for CIED 5052: Seminar in Multicultural Issues. This page is the starting point for information and sharing about our summer class.
I would like to thank you for your perseverance during the first week with two different instructors, especially since it followed a holiday. I would also like to thank Dr. Lefever-Davis and Dr. Smith for pitching in with some excellent assignments to begin our short semester.
We will start the second week with another round of introductions so that I can get to know you a little. I am especially curious about your choice to become a teacher, and I would like to find out about your personal experiences with multicultural issues.
On Monday, I will give you a personal history of my own. I have been an educator all my life with the exception of one year in Helena, Arkansas, when I worked as a bank teller. Mine has been a rewarding career — and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with you during the next four weeks.
Clarity.
We Begin
with a Medidation
Based on Definitions.
Let us meditate upon the prefix "multi." We begin in a traditional way with a reference to a dictionary.
The root word for "multi" is Latin, multus, meaning many, much. It comes to modern English via Old French and Middle English, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed.
Modern English includes, again according to American Heritage, the definitions of multiple, more than one, and more than two. Four columns of compound words are listed, beginning with "multicellular" and ending with "multivoltine".
Two definitions are given for "multicultural:"
1) "of, relating to, or including several cultures" and
2) "of or relating to a social or educational theory that encourages interest in many cultures within a society rather than in only a mainstream culture" (1154).
"Theory" and "Mainstream"
Two key words I note for your consideration are "theory" and "mainstream." When does a theory became a standard practice? Let's consider the definition of theory, which offers six possibilities. A theory can be a set of principles, a branch of science, a set of theorems, abstract reasoning, a belief, and an assumption. Where does Multicultural Education fit into these definitions?
I flipped back to the "Ms" to seek clarity. "Mainstream" has a single global definition for the noun and adjective: "the prevailing current of thought, influence, or activity" and "representing the prevalent attitudes, values, and practices of a society or group" (1055). However, the transitive verb offers two possibilities: "to integrate (a student with special needs) into regular school classes" and "to incorporate into a prevailing group" (1055).
What do you think?
So, here we are in midsummer of 2004 with a dictionary definition and very little clarity about the "theory" of multicultural. Our work has begun.
*This is the next step toward THE One World Language.
Step Sixteen: *Lesson plan in the frying pan.
Planet Gnosis is ruled by Freddie A. Bowles, a professional educator and fellow at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. An independent entity in the CornDancer consortium of planets, Planet Gnosis is dedicated to the exploration of education and teaching. CornDancer is a developmental website for the mind and spirit maintained by webmistress Freddie A. Bowles of the Planet Earth. Submissions are invited.
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