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!) I think that journals are useful tools for promoting interest in writing but I do think that you need to give broad topics for students to write about to focus their writing. That said, you have learn some information from the journals you have and they need to be addressed. First, you need to talk to the counselor about the student who has expressed suicidal intent. They will know what steps to take from there. Second, if your multicultural approaches are embarrassing students adjustments need to me made. I think that instead of focusing on racial differences and focusing so much on a specific race, you need to teach students about a variety of different cultures. Also, make sure you are not focusing solely on the negatives of injustices (though it is important to keep the lines of communication open where these are concerned) but focus on the positives of cultural diversity. I would do some professional development and research into effectively incorporating multicultural education into your curriculum before going any further.