Culturally affirming instructional strategies involve changes such as curricular adaptations, using culturally affirming books and instructional strategies that incorporate the students' native languages. Multicultural curricular changes range from the minimal to comprehensive. An example of a minimal curricular change is the Contributions Approach, in which educators include in the curriculum books and activities that recognize the contributions of different cultures. A similar but more involved curricular change is exemplified by the Additive Approach. Here, educators add multicultural themes and perspectives to the basic curriculum. With the Transformation Approach, however, the curriculum actually changes. While engaging in critical thinking, students routinely examine concepts, issues and themes from several diverse viewpoints. The Social Action Approach, the most extreme multicultural curriculum, uses the Transformation Approach as its basis, but adds activities to encourage social change.
Within these broad curricular changes, educators should also provide opportunities for students from diverse cultures to know they are accepted as they are. One method is to give all students culturally affirming books to read. Another is to allow students to work in their native language. For example, students can write journals or books in their native language or, in interactive story time, students can speak, read and write in their preferred language. These types of activities yield several benefits. As students become more literate in their native language, they gain confidence, improve academic skills and more easily transition into English.
Educators need to know the behavior and communication styles of their students from diverse backgrounds. Behavior that is expected in the dominant culture may mean something very different in another culture. When the behavior of a student from a minority culture is misinterpreted, educators may conclude the students are misplaced educationally or that they are misbehaving. For example, many students from Native American cultures are taught not to look an adult in the eye. Unless the teacher is aware that this is appropriate behavior for a child from the Native American culture, averting the eyes seems to indicate that the student doesn't know the answer or is being evasive or untruthful.
Another important aspect of multicultural education is appropriate assessment of students from diverse cultures. Because many of these students do not speak English, or speak English well, their assessments must transcend traditional standardized tests. To ensure an accurate measure of their knowledge and skills, students from diverse cultures who have difficulty with English should be assessed in their native language. Also, the assessor should speak the student's native language. Furthermore, any cultural bias in the assessment needs to be taken into account. If these measures are not employed, students from diverse cultures may be inappropriately placed in special education classes.
All educators need to be culturally competent. A culturally competent teacher is one who values diversity, is culturally self-aware, understands the dynamics of cultural interactions and can institutionalize cultural knowledge so other educators can better teach diverse students. Culturally competent teachers also engender a different classroom climate, one in which the cultural and life experiences of every child from every background are valued, respected and incorporated in the class and school. This provides the basis for all teaching and learning. Thus, lesson planning and learning materials are student-oriented and embrace culturally based learning styles.
Also, increasing the diversity of teachers results in a number of positive gains for students from culturally diverse backgrounds, including higher achievement rates, increased school satisfaction, better attendance, improved self-esteem and a belief that school is relevant. In addition, diverse teachers serve as positive role models for these students. That, coupled with the fact that diverse teachers expect higher performance from students from their own ethnic group, has a positive effect on student performance. Finally, diverse teachers can ease communications between students and parents from different cultures and other educators.
It is important that educators work closely with the families of children from diverse cultures and learn their goals for their children. Teachers should be aware that these families may need extra time in conferences to understand the educational system as well as deal with language problems. The teacher may want to have written materials translated into the parents' native language, and an interpreter may be needed if the family doesn't speak English well.
In some cases, the teacher may need to go to the family's home. Some of these parents work multiple jobs, so attending school conferences is difficult or impossible. Going to the home also gives the teacher additional insights into the family, such as whether the child is assuming interpreting or other responsibilities for the parents.
Finally, educators need to know and respect the families' cultural values to ensure a positive working relationship.