Reflection # 3 - Claudia Cardenas

Reflection Paper#3: To what extent was your elementary and secondary education “multicultural”? Would you consider your experience indicative of the contributions approach, the additive approach, the transformation approach, or the social action approach? If you could go back to elementary and secondary school again, which approach would you want your teachers to take, and why?

America has become a vast melting pot and needs to be able to teach children of all races and cultures. Growing up, I took my first couple of years of elementary school in Reading, Pennsylvania. Then I continued my education in Miami, Florida. The teaching methods and culture acceptance of these two cities were and still maybe completely different. At tenth and green elementary in Pennsylvania the classes were made up of mostly white kids with the occasional Black or Hispanic outcast. I would consider my participation at tenth and green elementary to only be scarcely indicative of the contributions approach. While at North beach elementary in Miami, Florida the classes were made up of children from all cultures. I would consider my existence at North Beach elementary to be indicative of all four multicultural teaching approaches. By going to two different elementary schools in different areas of the country I was able to experience different levels of multicultural education.

During my time at Tenth in green elementary to instructors implemented the contributions approach to multicultural teaching. The contributions approach teaches the students the normal curriculum but sporadically includes lessons of ethnic heroes, and foreign holidays. From this system The only hero and holiday I remember learning about was Martin Luther King Jr. I feel that the teachers at tenth and green exemplified a weak attempt at multicultural education. The teachers were only culturally responsive to the white students while the minorities were left feeling like aliens in a foreign world.

On the other hand, the educators at North Beach elementary practiced all four multicultural teaching approaches. They taught of ethnic heroes and holidays (contributions approach),and they taught me about other cultures concepts and themes (additive approach).Also, the teachers taught me issues and events from different ethnic and culture groups (transformation approach) and they pushed me to make decisions on social issues and then to take action to help solve them (social action approach). From my education at North Beach elementary, I remember learning of the culture of many of my classmates and of cultures I had not even heard mention. I recall taking part in discussions like Christopher Columbus, hero or villain? I feel that the incorporation of all these approaches to multicultural education enriched my studies and my way of thinking.

If I could go back I would want tenth and green elementary to incorporate all approaches of multicultural education. Mainly because they only barely used the contributions approach, I felt disconnected and uninterested in school. By North Beach elementary using the four approaches it sparked curiosity in me. Not only did I want to know about the United States, I wanted to learn about parents country Colombia, and the countries of my classmates. I wanted how the world came be, because we were all different, but we were in the United States learning together.