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  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 believe dialogue journals are a great idea. Growing up, I remember specific classes of teachers who would have us journal every day. I always enjoyed journaling. I believe journaling in the classroom is a great idea for students to release their feelings and talk about them openly through writing. When thinking about this, a dialogue journal may be the only portal a student gets to channel his/her feelings. I do not think that by encouraging multicultural education you are doing anything wrong. Students just may not have the right concept of it. Maybe if you discuss the topic in further detail, students could grasp a better understanding of the term.I think that a possible solution could be to explain that we do have differences, but yet we are all equal. Because we are all different human beings with different backgrounds, it would be hard to just mask those differences and only look at similarities. I think an issue here may be equality and not differences. Encourage students to show their individuality and embrace who they are, but also enforce that even though we are all different, we are all created equally.