The Pluralistic Classroom

BY DR. MATT SILVERMAN and DR. ALLEN STUDNITZER

A school and its classroom can be a wonderful place for children. It can be an environment full of emotional warmth, nurturing, and understanding. School is a place where children should want to attend to enjoy and experience acts of giving, sharing, and learning. The classroom should be a learning community that is respectful with open access for all its members. Moreover, schools should be an institute of learning, thinking and provide opportunities to develop problem-solving skills within hands-on projects and 21rst century educational activities. For many, school is a place of safety and security. Children and parents have come to expect that school is a place for pondering the complexities and miracles of the universe.

Parents, teachers, and administrators have seen children attend their first day of school open eyed and excited. Parents often see the excitement in their home on the first morning of school as their children prepare to leave to the place of learning and wonderment. We have seen children so excited about the first day of school that they are unable to sleep the night before the big day. Educators often take great enjoyment in welcoming arriving students to the opening day festivities. These young minds arrive full of anticipation about the upcoming school year and excited with a seemingly natural curiosity as to the wonders of learning. Children seem to be born with the curiosity to explore and create meaning about the world around them. Together with that curiosity, students are often seen expressing feelings of pride and self worth as they work to increase their skills and experience success in their school endeavors.

Typically, students who arrive at school display an energy and excitement that is tangible and undeniable. Yet, it seems that not every student retains this energy throughout the school year. Regrettably, some students do not view their school experience as meaningful or worthwhile but rather as a source of frustration, alienation, and rejection. These students do not feel respected or valued in their school community and equate their learning experience with feelings of inferiority and dejection. For these students school has become a place of oppression instead of liberation leading towards an emotional and cognitive disconnect from the classroom experience. Disenfranchised students, often, do not have much hope for future success and acceptance in their home school. They respond to the negative feelings with aggressive or passive acts of rejection to the presiding view of their failure. It is easier to withdraw from the contest they have no hope of winning than to struggle and fight a continuous losing battle. Many of these feelings can be internalized to such a degree that their habits, feelings, attitudes, and patterns of behavior become unconscious or unknowing to themselves. These internalized feelings of oppression can result in the acceptance of the negative assumptions and stereotypes, which in turn, can lead to self-doubt, self-criticism, feeling of powerlessness, hopelessness, shame, and self-destructive cynicism.

Self-perception, expectations, and visions of success that students should envision emerge from their lived experiences within their family and culture, from the voices that their peers project upon them, and the images of self that they see through the media. These “institutions” act as a series of mirrors and lenses that each individual views and examines as a reflection of their lived realities. Each has a powerful effect on an individual and as a result, a powerful influence on their individual investment in education.

While many point to the issues of socio-economics; gender; race, ethnicity and culture; and learning and linguistic diversity as the problem, these issues can actually be resources to promote solutions to student engagement, increasing student achievement, and expectations to future academic and societal success. While the issue surrounding student engagement and maximizing student educational achievement is complex and multifaceted, one approach that is attainable is the use of a Pluralistic Curricula Design. We have explored and created workshops to help teachers and administrators incorporate the Pluralistic Design into their school structure. This approach is based on increasing student academic engagement through the exploration of educational instruction and curricula materials using the lived experiences of the student. Every child comes to school with a collection of experiences and a thought process that is uniquely “theirs.” Using a Pluralistic Design, educators can teach subject matter by allowing students to explore and create meaning based on their own unique life experience. For example, when teachers approach the history of the formation of Texas as a state, the story of the Alamo can presented to children of Mexican decent from different perspectives. From those who heritage is from Mexico, the Alamo, as portrayed in our history textbooks, can be seen as a story of disgrace and shame. A relatively few Texans “held off” an entire Mexican army long enough for Sam Huston to raise an army which led to the defeat of Santa Anna’s army. Another perspective, that can be uncovered, is exploring how the Mexican army, led by Santa Anna, marched on the Alamo to free enslaved individuals. The later series of events led to the United States “annexing” the territory which later became Texas. Each student can then relate to the experience to satisfy their own curiosity and vision history as part of their history as opposed to the history of the dominant “white and middle class.” Teachers can approach their subject matter following expected standards but “enriching” the content to include the perspective of all cultures and heritage.

In one often used history book, Virginia is given a “first place winner ribbon” for being the first colony to introduce slavery. How does a person of color view this insensitivity by our textbook firms? When people of color and women are given separate sections or paragraphs to highlight their inclusion in our textbooks, is there a basis to believe that they are not part of the mainstream history? Whose history is being taught and from whose vantage point? Are there different perspectives in the minds of our students of color? Are there curricula inclusions of individuals from the gay and lesbian culture? How do our Native-American students view “Custer’s Last Stand” or the selling of Louisiana Territory by the French (without Native American consent)? These are the countless examples that teachers can uncover to entice all students to explore and be reflective and thoughtful. Teachers just need to be sensitized to the myriad of misinformation and non-validating messages found within our curriculum.

A Pluralistic Classroom is an approach to conceptualize learning environments and the curriculum taught into a model of a non-oppressive, supportive, engaging and caring environment that values all its members. The major goal is to provide all members of the classroom equal access to learning and an opportunity to participate in the learning environment by valuing the culture, views, and belief systems of each student within the lesson and curricula material. It is a continuing process whose result is greater academic and educational achievement through greater student engagement.

It is a widely held belief that more information is retained when current learning experiences are linked to previous experiences. The Pluralistic Classroom expands this thinking by encouraging critical thinking versus rote learning through the use of exploring the students’ personal assumptions, beliefs and views. This is accomplished through a balanced combination of dialogue and reflection. The process is taught, modeled, and practiced. We have created content and graphic organizers that can be used for these specific purposes. When students are fully engaged, there are fewer disruptions and fewer disruptive behaviors which provide an environment for greater learning.

In addition, a Pluralistic Curriculum and classroom can help to counteract stereotypical feelings, beliefs and thoughts and the consequential actions of oppression including the act of bullying. When students, supported by teachers, learn to accept and appreciate “who they are” and honor the positive characteristics of those who are different, a vibrant and cohesive learning community where all are valued can be created.

The challenges in incorporating a Pluralistic Curricula Design can include sensitizing teachers to the issues and approaches that are involved. Teachers already “live” the need. Teachers are struggling to guide students from diverse groups and backgrounds and to mediate, accommodate, and validate their home and community culture into the accepted and mainstream school culture. By valuing differences and not just “accepting” the idea of differences (and whose difference is better and superior?) schools can bridge gaps and incorporate all students into an educational system that works for children. When teachers incorporate the Pluralistic Design they are supporting and promoting an equitable educational experience for all the students found within our school population. Every school member can experience being an important and valuable asset who learns and contributes to the educational process.