Running head: MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Implantation of Sensitivity of Multicultural Education

Tasha Smith
Northern Illinois University

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Understanding of Sensitivity of Multicultural Education

As an African American Early childhood educator who is still a student herself, I find it
rather odd that instructors think or believe that all students can be taught the same. I am not
speaking on a race issue but also across socioeconomic status as well as cultural differences
inside of the class room. As a parent and an early childhood educator raising my daughters in a
culture that was totally different from the culture that I was raised in, I am caught between what I
have learned is best for my children and what I was raise to believe is best for them. Although
my daughter is enrolled in one of the most diverse schools where we live, I think that there is not
enough diversity among the way that the children are being taught and engaged. I do not believe
that the fact that all of the children who make up the class room are all from different types of
families and cultural backgrounds is being taken into consideration. Although I understand that it
could be rather difficult to try to reach out to all of the different students and their cultural
background, however I do believe that as parents and educators we must be aware of the things
that our children are being exposed to as well as personal biases that we may have and are not
aware that we have. How children view themselves can come from outside sources, we must
make sure that we are giving them positive exposure so that they can grow into thriving adults.
I have read several different pieces of literature that explores and investigates the role that
parents, the media and the school system has on the raising of young children. The articles
explored how these environments can have a hand in shaping the cultural identity of young
children. The perceptions that they receive from these environments can be negative, positive or
have no effect on them at all. First it is important to understand what other studies have to say on
culture. Culture according to cultural psychologists is seen as a custom complex made up of
what people do and think in their local contexts (Lee & Johnson 2007). This idea further

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explains how culture is a part of a shared meaning [of] systems necessary to understand to be
able to deeply engage understanding at a more personal level (Lee & Johnson 2007).
D. Wood, B. Kurtz-Costes, S.J Rowley, & N. Okeke-Adeyanju, (2010) wrote a
compelling article that discussed the implication of how a parents view their male child succeed
rate in school affects how that male child sees themselves. In their study they wrote, The
vulnerability of African American boys in academic settings is well documented, with gender
differences in educational attainment highly pronounced at the upper educational levels (Woods
et al., 2010). This shows that the familys role in the identity of younger aged children can be
found evident in higher levels of education. That is just one piece of a childs cultural identity.
Other influences of media and school environment can affect how a child looks at their own
cultural identity.
Parents education-related beliefs are probably expressed through behaviors that
communicate perceptions and expectations to children, which in turn may influence childrens
own academic beliefs and motivation (Woods et al., 2010). What the child hears or sees from
the parent molds and shapes how the child understands who he or she is. Parents and other
family members are in the microsystem, which is the most inner level of how the child develops
their understanding of themselves and the world around them. There is so much power in the
relationship the family and the child that the understanding of this influential role needs to be
taken with care. The child will pick up the habit that the family members exhibit to them
whether they are negative or positive.
Cultivation theory says that there are common features in many programs on television
(Martins & Harrison, 2011). These common features can be explained by the importance on
material wealth and the endorsement of gender stereotypes, real world perceptions of racial and

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ethnic minorities, and body dissatisfaction (Martins & Harrison, 2011). These features in turn
have the ability to affect self-esteem which is important because it has been linked to student
motivation, persistence, and academic achievement (Martins & Harrison, 2011). Self-esteem is
said to be a multidimensional construct. Also referred to as global self-esteem it includes the
cognitive, social, and physical appearance dimensions that combine to create an overall selfevaluation (Martins & Harrison, 2011). Cultivation Theory also postulates that media has the
power to create our social reality (Martins & Harrison 2011).
The analyses further revealed an increase in self-esteem for white boys on follow up.
According to these results television viewing helped predict childrens self-esteem and is
relationally dependent on gender and race. Martins and Harrison postulated that there are three
possible reasons as to why this happened. The first possible reason is that television is said to
reinforce gender roles and stereotypes. Black characters are negatively portrayed at higher rates
which lead to distortions in perceptions and women are portrayed in more subservient and
passive roles. Second, the messages portrayed about Black children and white girls are used by
the same children to form a basis for their own self-evaluation which would negatively impact
their self-esteem given the negative content. The final possible reason given is that watching
television is taking over the time children could be using to gain real life experience and build
their own self-esteem. As discussed earlier, self-esteem plays an important role in education; if
children view themselves negatively than they are likely to suffer academically (Martins &
Harrison, 2011).
The information that children get from everywhere around them has a hand in their
perception and understanding of their cultural identity. The information that they get from their
school and its system also play a key role in their understanding of their cultural identity. The

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information that was gathered from further research provided information about the effect that
what is presented in the classroom and the way children feel about themselves and their culture.
It was mentioned in an article by Nicole Martins and Kristen Harrison that research has
shown that high self-esteem is correlates with student motivation, persistence, and academic
achievement. Children have feelings and it needs to be understood that people need to make sure
that they are not being oblivious to that act. Perceptions of individual discrimination committed
by peers and teachers were linked to lower self-esteem and increased depressive symptoms, and
daily perceptions of racial discrimination committed by peers and teachers were linked to
subsequent declining grade point averages and academic self-concepts (Seaton, 2010). Parents
and teachers play a key role in the academic area in childrens lives. When children are
perceived as less capable, parents and teachers are less likely to encourage them to take
challenging coursework, even when childrens achievement scores qualify them for advanced
classes (Wood, et al., 2010). If they are not being pushed, encouraged and reassured of their
capabilities how can we make sure that they will success in the field of academics.
Why are children behaving in the manner that they are because of the fact that this is who
they are or because this is how they see people who look like them acting while in different
places? Why are little black boys behaving in a manner that shows that they are aggressive or
have behavioral issues? Why are young White girls behaving in a manner that often classifies
them as a mean girl? Research demonstrates that not only are young children able to make
simple in-group/out group distinctions based on gender and race, but children also attach
favorable evaluations to in-group members presumably to maintain their self-concept (Martins &
Harrison 2011). Children see characters in the media being portrayed in certain manner and they

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begin to act in the way that they see people who they connect with or individuals who they
identify with.
Unfortunately, for African American children, the majority of comparisons available in
the television world consist of characters that are unprofessional and provocatively dressed
compared to White counterparts (Martins & Harrison 2011). If we treat children a certain way,
they will indeed begin to believe that this is what we are expecting of them and they will begin to
think that this is what we want them to do. In addition to confronting stereotypes linked to race,
African American boys face the additional challenge posed by social expectations that African
American boys perform more poorly than African American girls. If we let children know this bit
of information, why would little African American boys even try when they know that they
cannot do what is expected of them? Children play the part that they are given. They have a
great amount of examples that give them the ammunition to become a character instead of an
individual. Students often get reality and fiction mixed up. They are not allowed to think for
themselves because they see only the way the media wants them to see based on the shows that
are geared to young children and depending on what they have access to view.
With this as well as other information that I have gathered from different readings and
classroom discussions over the years of my education in this field I think that it is the
responsibility of the family, media and the school to give children a positive light on who they
are and who they can become. I think that as an educator I would try to implement more
activities to get children to explore their backgrounds and share their findings with the class. I
will also try to inform my children and students that everyone is special and that we all deserve
respect from our peers. I will teach them that we will be open to learning new things about
people who are different than who we are. I want them to be comfortable in their own skin and I

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want them to feel comfortable with who they are and who they can become if they work hard and
try to be their best.

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References
Martins, N., & Harrison, K., (2011). Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship between
Childrens Television Use and Self-Esteem: A Longitudinal Panel Study. Communication
Research, 39(3) 338-357
Lee, K., & Johnson, A.S., (2007). Child Development in Cultural Contexts: Implications of
Cultural Psychology for Early Childhood Teacher Education. Springer Science + Business
Media, LLC
Seaton, E.K. (2010). The Influence of Cognitive Development and Perceived Racial
Discrimination on the Psychological Well-being of African American Youth. Journal of Youth
and Adolescence
Wood, D., Kurtz-Costes, B., Rowley, S. J., & Okeke-Adeyanju, N. (2010). Mothers' academic
gender stereotypes and education-related beliefs about sons and daughters in African American
families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 521-530.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0018481