ED 518

Multicultural Education

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Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

Unit-three Focus: The learner and identity
The concepts and ideas that undergird this unit are: identity (minority or immigration experiences, race-consciousness and color-blindness); personal agency (personal practical knowledge).

To critically participate in one’s education, a person needs to be aware of his identity and how it is socially constructed through the discourses available in his society or community. A person who is unaware of how society positions her can be led to buy in ideologies such as color-blindness and other concepts that basically leave her with no agency or the ability to make decisions and act upon the world through the influence of her self-efficacy.

By “knowledge” in the phrase “personal practical knowledge” means that body of convictions, conscious or unconscious, which have arisen from experience, intimate, social and traditional, and which are expressed in a person’s actions. The “personal practical knowledge” is the knowledge that we use in the classrooms and elsewhere whether we are aware of it or not. As future teachers we need to interrogate this knowledge and understand how it may impact our teaching contexts.

In the same way, teachers need to think about issues such as: What happens to learners from diverse cultural groups when they are formulated, popularized and perpetuated as “disadvantaged” or “at-risk”? Students and teachers must be knowledgeable about the conceptions of various ethnic and racial groups within society and be aware how these conceptions are constructed. Additionally, teachers should know the basic assumptions and purposes in the construction of this knowledge.

Readings:
1. Positional identities adapted from Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner and Cain (1998) Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
2. The colorblind perspective in school: causes and consequences in. In Banks, J. A. Banks C. A. M. Multicultural education : issues and perspectives / edited by

Questions:
1. Reflecting on the chapter adapted from Holland et al. How would you describe your own positional identity?
2. Please describe your ‘personal practical knowledge.’ Our personal practical knowledge is embedded in our values/ideas that we have acquired in our lives’ journeys. For example, In reviewing this assignment, a past student observed that she valued ‘going to school’ and ‘acquiring knowledge.’ She actually assumed all families held this value and therefore it was a shock when she realized ‘going to school’ and ‘acquiring knowledge’ were not valued in her husband’s family. Think about your values and how these values have shaped your identity. You have opinions and attitudes towards people who are like you and different from you. One of the purposes of a teacher education program is to address teacher candidates' dispositions about K12 students from different backgrounds; how will you help these students attain their potential in your classroom? How will your personal practical knowledge facilitate this responsibility?