Teaching Tolerance, Redefined

1. Teaching Tolerance,Redefined Cindy Hendrix Dr. Thomas McCambridge

2. Rationale: Why is “tolerance” alone insufficient? • Ever-increasing diversity of schools and society • No longer as many common social and cultural norms • Majority of teachers are white, female, and middle class • Majority of students are non-white, often lower SES

3. Role of Culture • Culture effects not only how people learn, but also how new information is interpreted • Culturally responsive teaching represents a first step toward addressing diversity

4. Culture and Schools • Increasing diversity of schools and society requires a better understanding of the role of culture • “Cultural Mismatches” often lead to misunderstandings (taking turns, etc)

5. Culture and Schools (cont’d) • Cultural mismatch between teachers and students detract from learning • Other conflicts in schools arise from such mismatches • Tolerance alone does not eliminate such misunderstandings • Teaching for “unity and diversity”

6. Background • Early in the 20th century, a primary goal of schools was to assimilate recent immigrants • Conflicts between ideals of American society and realities of life in urban areas • 1960s ethnic revitalization movement

7. Unity and Diversity • Proposed by James Banks • Need to move beyond accepting and celebrating differences • Rather than emphasize assimilation, recognize that students belong to many ethnic, social, and cultural groups

8. Unity and Diversity (cont’d) • We are all citizens of local, state, national, and global communities • 2002 Bellagio international conference on citizenship education: students in all nations need to be prepared to function within, as well as across, national borders

9. Unity and Diversity (cont’d) • People need to participate in civic life and feel that their voices are heard and their needs addressed • Otherwise, special interest groups dominate • Civic participation should consider local, state, national, and international good

10. Purpose of Education • One goal of education should be to "help students become thoughtful, caring, and reflective citizens in a multicultural world society" • "Students need to understand how life in their cultural communities and nations influences other nations and the cogent influence that international events have on their daily lives" - James Banks (2001)

11. Character Education • Character education should be woven throughout educational process with the goal of preparing students for a global world • Prospective teachers need to develop a broader understanding of the role of culture in education and society

12. Implications for Teacher Educators • Teacher educators may need to learn more about the role of culture in teaching and learning • Part of this will require an examination of the role of culture, ethnicity, and gender in their own lives

13. Implications for Teacher Educators (cont’d) • Consideration of the difference between the role of culture in the life of teacher-educator and that of students in pre-service teachers • For pre-service teachers who are not White and middle class, their perspective may be very different

14. Implications for Teacher Educators (cont’d) • Re-examination of educational philosophies • In Other Peoples Children, Lisa Delpit recounts differences in attitudes towards discipline and pedagogy between white teacher-educators and students (or teachers) of color

15. Implications for Teacher Educators (cont’d) • Teacher educators need to consider the role of cultural perspectives in learning in addition to brain-based research • Teacher education programs may inadvertently create “child-deficit” assumptions in pre-service teachers

16. Implications for Pre-service Teachers • Examine role of culture, ethnicity, and gender in their own lives • For white, female, middle class teachers this includes acknowledging cultural benefits they have benefited from • Many pre-service teachers have mono-cultural upbringings

17. Implications for Pre-service Teachers (cont’d) • Middle-class values are the dominant perspective in pre-service teachers • Even teachers from working-class backgrounds identify themselves as middle class – seen as necessary to achieve academic and social success

18. Implications for Pre-service Teachers (cont’d) • Pre-service teachers may need to reconcile personal beliefs with belief systems students bring to school

19. Conclusion • Purpose of education should be to prepare students for citizenship in our democracy as well as in global society • A participatory democracy in which all citizens have access is one way to build a lasting peace