Multicultural Statement for Dr. Alberto Rodriguez
My life and career are evidence of my support for multiculturalism. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, I grew up in a community that originally resisted multiculturalism and speaking any language other than English. I attended the local public school system and witnessed the slow painful metamorphosis that Miami-Dade County Public Schools went through in becoming a more open and accepting system of diversity and heterogeneous populations. During my fifth grade year, I saw first hand the start of busing in Miami and seeing African-American children being uprooted from their communities as a result of court-ordered desegregation. I remember seeing the fear in both communities: the one having children bused and the one receiving the bused children. That made a lasting impression in my life and career. I noticed that this fear was predicated on ignorance. This ignorance fueled active imaginations and only made this endeavor all the more difficult.
My career has been anchored around several bedrock principles: having high expectations of all students regardless of race, gender or ethnicity; treating everyone in an open and fair manner; and providing fair and equal opportunities for all. Growing up in a home where English was not the primary language and being exposed to different viewpoints, this enabled me to look at situations and challenges multi-dimensionally. Growing up being a minority also exposed me to the less than graceful side of humanity. What this taught me was compassion, tolerance and empathy to those different than me.
The literature contains a growing consensus about what teachers need to like, know, and be able to do to teach all students to high academic standards. This vision rests on teachers being able to learn and taking responsibility for this task, regardless of students' skin color. Nieto (1992) pointed out that the most important part of becoming a multicultural teacher is becoming a multicultural person. For teachers to implement the principle of cultural congruence, they must have knowledge of and respect for the various cultural traditions and language of students in their classrooms. They also need to become more aware of how their own cultural biases may influence their judgments about student performance and obstruct their students' ability to learn (Bowers and Flinders, 1990).
Greenfield, Zeichner, Bernard and Wang and Kovach - all cite the need for teachers to become aware of the cultural experiences that their urban students bring to school. Schools should encourage and help urban children from minority groups explore their ancestral cultural roots so that they can develop a positive cultural identity (Williams, 2001). Teachers can incorporate culture and language sensitive practices into instruction in their classrooms so that students feel there is respect for their cultural roots. Instruction in these classrooms builds upon and respects the cultural resources and traditions that students bring to school (Zeichner, 1994). Teachers and schools, overall, need to involve parents and their community members in authentic ways in the school program (Ada, 1989 and Grant, 1991). According to Comer (1988), when adults across racial, class, and cultural 1ines share information and power within a school, students are more likely to be able to cross these lines and perform well in both languages and cultures.
Multicultural school districts can help transcend these barriers, whether imposed intentionally or unintentionally, on the greater community. Staff development is necessary to build teacher capacity for more than just tolerance, but actual appreciation for other cultures. There has to be a collective consciousness that racism and "separate but equal" practices will not be tolerated. Diversity not only should be celebrated but included in the curriculum. Classroom practices that include both minority cultures and the majority, mainstream culture can benefit all children. In more general terms, an understanding of cultural roots creates pride in oneself and one's group, as well as appreciation of other groups (Williams, 2001). This behavior needs to be organizationally embedded in everything done, in and outside the classroom, as well as before and after school.
The fact that Amherst-Pelham is desirous of becoming a Multicultural School District means that its outlook and perspective is long-term and values the contributions that all cultures can bring. This initiative goes very much in hand with the district's MSAN endeavor and closing the achievement gap. This is ultimately a social justice and civil rights issue and must be seen with the appropriate seriousness.