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Strategies to Incorporate Multicultural Perspectives:

-   Make the community feel as if they are a part of the school community and involve them in coming to the school as guest speakers and sponsors of school events. Have the community members that come from diverse backgrounds come to speak to the children and share their experiences on topics that connect with a particular lesson.

-   As an educator, get to really know your students and their families and make sure that your lessons are culturally relevant and adjust or adapt your teaching methods to resonate with your students’ background/cultures.

-   Integrate diverse learning materials into your classroom, no matter what grade you teach. For example, if you are teaching pre-kindergarten students, you have dolls in your home center of all colors and races, include books in your curriculum from all cultures, play the same-same-different game in circle up time and talk about how your family celebrates holidays and birthdays, etc.

-   Assign age/grade appropriate projects that require the students to explore other cultures – what is popular in this culture, how do they celebrate, what do they eat, etc. Then have them share their findings with the class to get them used to presenting to a group at an early stage of life.

Multicultural Examples:

Literature – In older grades books like “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hossenini could be used in a lesson to see an Afghan perspective, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker can be used to show and or teach about an African American woman’s experiences, “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros tells of a Latina experience in Chicago. Whatever book you choose for a lesson make sure it promotes empathy for all cultures.

Case Studies – Some case study ideas to incorporate into lessons could be to study the challenges that recent refugee families face when seeking citizenship and adapting to a new life in a new country, Analyze the impact that language barriers have on children in a public-school setting.

Historical Events – Multicultural events in history that stand out that could be used in a history or social studies lesson could be The Irish Potato Famin, The Mexican Revolution, and The Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States.

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Methods that acknowledge cultural backgrounds in teaching:

-  Start your school year off right and make it a priority to take the time to get to know your students and their cultural backgrounds. What traditions do they have in their family, what is the spoken language in their home, do their grandparents live with them, what is a common meal that would be served in their house for dinner, etc. Taking the time to do this in the beginning of the first semester then gives you adequate time to adjust any lesson plans as well as tailor your instruction accordingly.

-  When planning a lesson, include a variety of viewpoints and experiences from all cultures into your curriculum. Include literature, art, music and historical events. Make sure the lesson is culturally relevant and use examples related to the lesson that resonate with the student’s cultural backgrounds, making this more meaningful for the students.

-  Create a classroom environment where all students feel welcome and comfortable expressing themselves authentically with their classmates. Use the same-same-different or ask-and-share approach and encourage the students to share and compare experiences and stories related to their culture. This allows the students to make connections with friends from a different background than them as well as connect their personal lives to the learning content.

-  Use different learning styles and cultural norms when planning a lesson. Incorporate visual aids, hands-on activities, storytelling and small group or partner activities that all cater to a variety of learning preferences. When working in a group or with a partner, assign the students with projects and activities where students work together, encouraging them to use cross-cultural dialogue, work  and learn together.

Strategies:

-  Be flexible by being prepared to change the way you describe a concept. Students all learn at a different pace and style, so what works for some may not work for others.

-  Provide choices in the classroom and offer the students a variety of ways to learn. Some students learn better visually, some prefer a hands-on way of learning.

-  Encourage students to collaborate and think together and work together – let them learn from one another.

-  Be an approachable teacher. Let your students know you love and care about them and are there to help anyway you can so they can do their best and thrive.

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Creating an inclusive classroom that respects and celebrates cultural differences:

-   On day one establish classroom rules that emphasize that everyone will treat one another with respect and will listen and value others viewpoints. Model and teach the students how to be open to feedback in group discussions by respectfully sharing their concerns on a particular topic. Let it be known that there is a no stereotype policy and encourage them to be critical thinkers about generalizations.

-   Have diverse representations in your classroom that include examples from various cultures across all subjects, historical figures along with a class library with literature from a variety of diverse authors and topics. Use culturally relevant pedagogy that connects personal experiences and cultural backgrounds to the students. Discuss current events and complex issues through a multicultural lens and when you can allow guest speakers into your classroom from diverse backgrounds to share their perspectives and experiences.

-   Use inclusive language practices by using gender-neutral language avoiding pronouns and use terms like “partner” rather than “husband or wife”. Get to know your students on a personal level and ask them how they would like to be addressed and respect their preferred pronouns. Be mindful of potentially offensive terms and use respectful language when discussing diverse cultures. Explain to the class the importance of respecting different cultural norms and last offer support for students who may need assistance understanding the concepts in their native language.

-   Ideas for physical classroom setup are – decorate the classroom with posters, artifacts and artwork from various cultures, changing it up monthly if possible to give your room a fresh look while also exposing the students to new culture, have flexible seating arrangement and allow different groups sizes and learning styles with options like tables, chairs, couches and designated quiet areas like a calm corner, have a go-to wall in the classroom that students can look at with vocabulary and instructions in their own language, encourage the students to contribute to the classroom and bring personal cultural items that are special to them letting them know this is a shared space for everyone to enjoy.

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Ways to involve families and community members in the educational process:

-   Host a cultural heritage night where students along with their families host a booth with artifacts, food, traditional dance or music, etc. highlighting their culture as well as inviting other members of the community to partake in their traditions. Another idea is for the school to host a culture club where the students in older grades join and they meet once a month and parent volunteers highlight a particular country and their traditions giving students a chance to experience countries crafts, food, etc. very personally.

-   The schools can host parents’ workshops where parents can come and learn strategies that can help their children be the best student they can be with study strategies and literacy development. Also incorporate a digital parent workshop providing parents training on accessing educational resources online as well as how to navigate digital tools to support their children’s learning.

-   As an educator, keep the lines of communication open with your students’ parents/families by facilitating open discussions where parents can share their cultural perspectives and collaborate with teachers to create a more inclusive learning environment. Foster an environment that lets your students, and their families know that you are open to all ideas that they have to incorporate knowledge of their culture into a lesson, by doing this you will enhance family engagement.

-   If necessary, provide language translation services and materials in multiple languages to ensure that all students and their families can fully participate in all learning and discussions that involve their child’s future. Integrate culturally diverse content and perspectives into the classroom to reflect your school community.

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communities and families of diverse learners