Multicultural Education Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter three’s main focus was to break down and take a more in depth look at the many categories of race, class, gender, and disability in the classroom and how each of them affect what we do and how our classroom operates.

Although it is only the third chapter and I have many more chapters to read about multicultural education, this is certainly my favorite chapter in this book so far. I found the various examples and main points throughout the chapter to be both interesting and eye-opening. This chapter hooked me from the first paragraph as it began the discussion of the ongoing social issues that continuously bring about debate on what should be taught in the classroom, how students should learn, how instruction is organized, and how teachers

While it is very unfortunate to admit that there are still racial advantages and disadvantages in the 21st century as Banks and Banks discussed in this chapter (pg. 44) “African Americans and Latinos earn consistently less than their White counterparts with the same level of education,” I believe that we are slowly moving in the right direction towards an equal society where gender, race, religion, etc. are not viewed as being an advantage or disadvantage, but rather just who we are as

Julie and her approach to teaching and was both hooked and inspired. I loved that Ms. Julie took the time to inform students about her, while also taking the time to learn about each student. With such a large diversity, allowing students to get to know one another and feel comfortable around one another is an important factor for setting the standards for the year. While all students may be nervous on their first day, it is especially overwhelming for new students and students from other countries. By allowing students to share about themselves and things they like to do, Ms. Julie created a level ground in which all students were equal and could feel comfortable and safe. I also loved the fact that Ms. Julie allowed her students to be active participants when it came to creating a list of classroom rules and expectations. If you allow students to feel like they created the rules they are more likely to understand and follow them because they have that personal connection. I also agree that using positive statements for rules and expectations rather than negative statements that begin with “no” or “do not” will lead to a more positive environment. Much of what Julie did in her classroom lead to a positive and multicultural learning environment. Julie used students’ differences to support learning and create more detailed learning experiences for her students. While Julie did encounter a few problems with her students and