Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: De-emphasize Differences. I was recently assigned to the middle school in the Warren School District. The district serves a community that had once been an all-white middle-class enclave, but has recently become more diverse in its ethnic makeup. I am very interested in multicultural education. I instituted the use of dialog journals in my adviser group, telling the students that they can write anything they want. Some journal entries cause me concern. Warren Jackson, an African American, complains that my emphasis on African American culture embarrasses him. Gail Smith, a white girl, writes that her parents object strongly to her affection for Warren Jackson and that she is considering suicide. My problems come to a head in my first meeting with the principal. The principal suggests that I decrease his use of small groups, that I abandon my dialogue journals, and that I de-emphasize the multicultural aspects of my classes. He suggests that I emphasize similarities, not differences. I don't know what to do. I do think that my methods have some value but I cannot go against my principal. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) It seems to me that some professional learning is in order for your school. If I were you, I would try to have a conversation with your principal, again, and explain your reasonings for the activities and dialogue journals. Then, if your principal disagrees, you might want to develop a letter or outline to justify your use of a multicultural curriculum and go above the principal in order to show how important this stuff is. Education is the key to making our nation a better place and if the students have a cultural perspective of one group, hatred and racism is going to continue. These students need more than just one perspective.