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!) If the principal is not in your corner on what and how you are teaching, then your curriculum and method of teaching must be altered. If something were to occur and it was made known that you continued doing something that your principal told you to change, that would not be a good situation. I do like the idea of the free write and think it is a wonderful opportunity for the students to express themselves, however, this puts an enormous responsibility on you. Anything that they write you need to take special care of especially when a students is claiming they want to hurt themselves. If your focus on African American culture is embarrassing a student, you might need to take a good look at your methods and see why this may be. Depending on what content you teach, focusing so much on multicultural education may not be the best idea if there have already been issues.