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!) Middle school can be a difficult time for many students. They are beginning to be attracted to other peers and their emotional states can be fragile. I think embarrassment and extreme feelings are common and when you allow students at this age to write freely you will find they write about concerning issues. I don't think that you should stop the dialogue journals or decrease emphasis on multicultural aspects of the class but instead go about this a different way. I think that helping students realize the importance of understanding multicultural differences is important. You could allow them to share about their cultural differences and learn from each other. Instead of using the dialogue journals as a way for students to write about anything, I think you should give them a specific topic or a question, maybe even a set of topics and/or questions they can choose from. The writing will then be more focused in the journals.