As one the many challenges facing teachers in the 21st Century, diversity within the classroom can create

unique demands on the teachers of this generation. Classrooms are

experiencing the greatest influx of immigrant and minority students in this century. (Banks, 1997) This dynamic has created a mixture of cultures and national backgrounds; with as many as 100 different language groups represented. The extent of cultural diversity is unprecedented in public educations history. (Banks,1997). As classroom population become increasingly heterogeneous, teachers must adapt conventional approaches to teaching and acquire new knowledge, attitudes, and skills to be effective in multicultural classrooms. (Banks,1997). A multicultural classroom is a classroom in which all are accepted and all are welcome; all races, religions, and cultures. As social media and technology break down the barriers to communication, we are more and more a part of a global community. Students exposure to and interaction with other cultures will only increase in the future. And while there are still a few areas where classes do not have multicultural representation as of yet, educators should still include multiculturalism as a part of the classroom curriculum. A multicultural classroom helps prepare the student for participation in this global community and the real world. as educators, it is our responsibility to prepare students who are in the classroom to become a part of a global society and embrace and celebrate cultural differences. Perhaps the best way to teach students tolerance and respect is by practicing those tenants ourselves. According to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, teachers should strive to make all children feel welcomed, affirmed, respected and valued in school. Modeling the behavior for students sets the stage for their own learning. Communication and literacy are often the first and greatest challenges when working with diverse cultures. Communication is the gateway to understanding, both for the student and the teacher. The North Central Regional Education Laboratory states that knowing how to address the literacy needs of children of cultures that are different from the teacher's culture. . The report goes on to say that in order to reach all students educators need to understand how students' patterns of communication and various dialects affect their classroom learning. They also need to know how second-language learning affects literacy acquisition. Although standard

academic English is the language of instruction in most public schools, it is not always the language of the children in the classroom. Many second-language learners from a wide array of languages have difficulty meeting the academic standards of the classroom, understanding the instruction, and engaging in active learning when the language of instruction is only English (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory 2000). Teachers can and should develop their own understanding of cultures and literacy and connect or link commonalities and teaching strategies or research in order to meet the needs of their students. A large body of research supports the use of ESL instructional strategies in mainstream classrooms. Becoming well-versed in these strategies ensures meeting student needs. Two elements that can have an important impact of success in a diverse classroom are a caring teacher and a focus on differences in communication, both within a culture, and across cultures. Teachers often begin cross-cultural communication with activities that allow students to make connections with their home cultures and build connections to school culture. In the early elementary grades, students often voice their connections through storytelling. The use of multicultural children's literature is one of the most powerful ways for schools to honor students' culture and foster cross-cultural understanding. Teachers also can use multicultural literature depicting children's worlds as a means to bridge home and school cultures (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory 2000). To accomplish the ability to resolve cultural conflicts among ethnic, cultural and/or linguistic groups, it is important to recognize the cultural diversity in the class. This can help students to understand proper behavior and interaction with the diverse cultures. For example in some eastern countries, it is unacceptable to shake another persons hand because the hand is viewed as dirty. If a teacher or student is unaware of this cultural difference, they might view the reluctance to shake hands as being rude. There is also a prevalence of cultural bias that, at first glance, does not seem to be negative. Often students who come from Asian cultural backgrounds, such as Chinese or Japanese are discriminated against in a non-derogatory way. For example, it is extremely common to hear the comment that oh, they are Chinese; they are really great with electronics or math. Even though this statement does not sound negative, it is still culturally biased and teachers need to be prepared to address these issues as they arise. However, as we all know, not all discrimination is

as benign as this example. Augustine Garcia (1989) notes that our inner cities and areas of high density immigration, (California, Florida), are experiencing the intimidation and irrational violence of Neo-Nazi skinheads and racial gangs. Children from dysfunctional families are particularly susceptible to peer pressure to adopt a racist posture. It is the responsibility of the educator to recognize and remove these prejudices from the classroom. Another aspect of diversity is not necessarily cultural, but is closely related to tolerance and celebration of diversity in whatever form it takes.. Sylvia Rockwell states in Tough to Reach Tough to Teach, that it is important to accept children's differing abilities, temperaments, and personal strengths and weaknesses. Something of vital importance to every educator should be to see each student as an individual. Treating every student as important and of value should be inherent to the practice of every teacher. This value should not be measured against or based on another student. By accepting each and every students strengths and weaknesses, it becomes possible to build a sound foundation for the student from which he or she can grow. An educator must acknowledge that the multicultural student, as with every student, has a great amount to offer to the classroom. Within a multicultural classroom, an effective teaching strategy is for the teacher to incorporate student focused, active learning activities that are designed to help the students interact with each other as well as to teach students about different cultures. This type of instruction helps the students learn to work in groups, use a thinking process, and learn different information. The example classroom setting I will use will be made up of a group of 18 students. The diversity of this class is as follows: three Hispanics of Spanish (Spain) heritage; four African Americans of Jamaican heritage; five Caucasian, of American/Irish/English heritage; three students of Indian heritage, (India); and three students of Greek heritage. This class has the opportunity to be extremely enriched due to the diversity of the heritages represented. The learning activity will be creating a class bulletin board display. This will be a cooperative learning lesson for the students as they will complete the bulletin board in small groups with each group responsible for one of the cultures/countrys represented in the class demographics. Each student will have the opportunity to share something about his or her heritage.

The attached lesson plan (Appendix 2) has the students completing activities to help them discover their own heritage, exploring immigration to America and the history of immigration and will culminate in a Diversity Day & Heritage Food Festival. My first goal would be to enlist the aid and cooperation of the parents of the students. by informing them of the project and inviting them to participate in the Diversity Day and Heritage Food Festival . I have included a sample text for the letter as Appendix 1. Ideally, this lesson will take place over a three week period culminating in the week before the winter holiday in December. In conclusion, learning about cultures can be fun and help students to become more knowledgeable about their own and other cultures. If a teacher understands her students and shows them the large cultural world around them without using any bias or racism, opportunities abound for growing tolerance and understanding. . The golden rule of judge not least ye be judged should be applied by the teacher at all times. And the teacher should teach this rule to the students. A teacher should be willing to learn all she can about the cultures in her classroom and use this knowledge to create an environment of tolerance and acceptance.

References

Banks, J. A. (1997). Teaching strategies for ethnic studies (6th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Foundations/Intro to Teaching. (1995 -2009). Retrieved January 07, 2012, from Pearson Publishing, Inc at http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ab/ab_videoanno_1/education/av_player.html?AVSetId=INFO_00 4_149 Naik, P. (n.d.) Behaviorism as a Theory of Personality: A Critical Look retrieved on January 07, 2012, from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/naik.html North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (2000). Addressing Literacy Needs in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li400.htm Rockwell, S. (1993). Tough to Reach Tough to Teach. The Council for Exceptional Children.

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