ERIC ED354804: The Role of Faculty Development in Multicultural Education. Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Higher Education Series.

43 Pages·1992·0.75 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 354 804
HE 026 223
AUTHOR
Sawchuk, Mariette T., Ed.
TITLE
The Role of Faculty Development in Multicultural
Education. Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Higher
Education Series.
INSTITUTION
Mount St. Mary's Coll., Los Angeles, CA. Doheny
Campus.
PUB DATE
[92]
NOTE
43p.; For a related document, see HE 026 224.
AVAILABLE FROM
Prism Publishing of Mount St. Mary's College, 12001
Chalon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90049 ($16).
PUB TYPE
Guides
Non-Classroom Use (055)
Reports
Descriptive (141)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
College Faculty; Cultural Differences; *Cultural
Pluralism; *Faculty Development; Grants; Higher
Education; Liberal Arts; *Multicultural Education;
Program Descriptions; Staff Development; Teacher
Role; Workshops
IDENTIFIERS
*Mount Saint Marys College CA
ABSTRACT
This monograph examines the process of initiating a
faculty and staff development program in multicultural education at
Mount St. Mary's College (MSMC) in Los Angeles, California between
the year 1985 and 1988. As the population of Los Angeles changed
during the 1970s and 1980s, issues of ethnical diversity at MSMC
itself became increasingly pressing. In 1986, MSMC received a grant
from the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education
(with matching funds from the Times-Mirror Foundation) designed to
make the entire faculty and staff of the college more effective in
dealing with cultural differences among students through all-college
programs and workshops. This report provides brief summaries of the
lectures and workshops that were presented to the college community
and discusses the selection of the guest speakers. It is noted that
some of the invited speakers provided faculty members with resources
on literature, art, music, and history that they could share with
their students, while other speakers and workshops dealt with
teaching methodologies that have been shown to be successful in a
multicultural classroom. In addition, the guide describes the way in
which mini-grants were awarded and administered to faculty for
intellectual exploration concerning culture and its role in
education. it also provides excerpts from six of the funded research
projects. Finally, the guide presents brief excerpts from an
annotated bibliography of African-American, Asian-American,
Native-American, and Hispanic-American authors that was created to
provide a resource of multicultural literature for use by the faculty
at Mount St. Mary's College. (GLR)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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Mount St. Mary's College
Los Angeles, California
AVAILABLE
BEST COPY
Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Higher
Education
The Role of Faculty Development
in Multicultural Education
Mariette T. Sawchuk, Editor
Prism Publishing of
Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, California
Table of Contents
3
Foreword
6
Introduction
I.
9
Lectures and Workshops
II.
15
Mini-grants
III.
16
Awards
18
IV. Summaries of Mini-grant Projects
Multicultural Literature: An Annotated Bibliography
19
23
Connections: The Relationship of Art from Different Cultures
25
Cross-cultural Communication: A Course Module
Health Care and Native American Medicine:
28
A Journey of Discovery
31
Lexicon of Religious Terms
34
Different Voices: Multicultural Dimensions of Leadership
V. Moving Forward: Beyond the Faculty/
38
Staff Development Program
4
2
Foreword
Celebrating Cultural Diversity in
Mount St. Mary's College,
Higher Education
Los Angeles
Educating a multi-ethnic student population for
Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
life in a multicultural world is one of the greatest
in 1925, Mount St. Mary's is an independent,
challenges facing institutions of higher learning in
Catholic college with a special concern for the
the !990s. The task is complex and, in some
education of women. The college offers a
curriculum in which career preparation at every
respects, controversial. All facets of college life are
involvedadmissions, curricula, faculty
level is firmly based on the liberal arts and
development, financial aid, fund raising, library
sciences. The college also emphasizes the study of
holdings and student development. Mount St.
ethics and encourages multicultural awareness
through academic and co-curricular activities.
Mary's College in Los Angeles (MSMC) has been
engaged in the process of implementing
For undergraduates, the college offers both two-
multicultural education on its two campuses for
year associate in arts degrees on the downtown
over 10 years. Grappling with the issues raised by
Doheny campus and four-year baccalaureate
multicultural education has been by turns
degrees on the Chalon campus in west Los
exciting, difficult, frustrating, and surprising.
Angeles. The evening/v, eekend division enables
Through the experience, faculty. administrators,
working students to earn associate or
and students have been immeasurably enriched.
baccalaureate degrees in selected majors or
Cultural diversity on campus, acknowledged and
certification in paraprofessional programs.
utilized as a catalyst for learning, can be a
Graduate programs are available in
tremendous source of strength for higher
education, psychology, physical therapy, and
education in the United States. Mount St. Mary's
religious studies.
College is publishing this series of monographs,
Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Higher Education,
Although small, Mount St. Mary's student body is
to help other institutions exploring the potential of
remarkably diverse: 1,200 students self-reporting
multicultural education.
their places of birth listed more than 42 states and
43 foreign countries. The ethnic diversity of the
The MSMC experience has shown that cultural
undergraduate student body closely parallels that
diversity becomes a positive force on campus
of Southern California: 12% African-, 37% Anglo-.
when faculty and staff see that, diversity as an
15% Asian-, and 36% Hispanic-American.
opportunity for learning rather than an obstacle.
Approximately 60% are Catholic. About half of the
Therefore, faculty and staff development on the
students reside on campus and half commute.
subject of culture and learning is crucial to
effective multicultural education. This monograph
Every aspect of a MSMC education is
describes the way in which MSMC went about
characterized by concern for the individual
such a faculty development program during the
studenther goals, her talents, her development.
years from 1985 to 1988. In addition to outlining
This concern for the individual student led to the
the process, the monograph includes a summary
evolution of the College's dual campuses and
of one representative workshop and excerpts from
programs, features which are among MSMC's
some of the faculty and staff research projects.
greatest strengths. Unified by one administration
and one faculty, the college specializes on each
campus. The Doheny campus offers both
associate in arts degrees leading to immediate
5
honors program, the Women's Leadership
employment and an alternative access program
program, the Model United Nations delegation,
admitting students who show a potential for
and the Minority Biomedical Research program.
success in college despite weak academic records.
Alternative access students have average GPA's of
2.50 on a 4.00 scale and average composite SAT
scores of 660. They are often the first in their
Multicultural Education
families to attend college and must struggle with
poverty, inadequate high school backgrounds. and
As the population of Los Angeles changed during
pressing family obligations. For many students.
the 70s and '80s, the student body at Mount St.
English is a second language. The alternative
Mary's College gradually became more ethnically
access program. a direct response to their needs.
diverse with the change initially more apparent on
has been dramatically effective in enabling these
the Doheny campus. The college's own
students to succeed. Approximately 68% of those
recruitment efforts at inner city high schools
who come as freshmen earn their associate in arts
contributed to this change. Faculty working with
degree in two years or transfer to a baccalaureate
students from diverse cultures became aware that
program. Seventy-five to 80 percent of those who
students experienced academic difficulty when
persist go on to baccalaureate study in Mount St.
their cultural assumptions were different from
Mary's four-year program (50%) or at other
those of the college. Respect for authority, for
institutions (25-30%). Significantly. students
example. is a strong value for Asian-American
transferring from MSMC's alternative access
students. Consequently, they often avoid asking
program do well in the four-year program, meeting
questions in class even when they are confused
the challenge of demanding academic standards.
about the subject matter. These students
Some continue their studies further, earning
interpret the act of questioning as a challenge to
graduate degrees. Research has been none on the
the teacher implying incompetent instruction.
alternative access program at MSMC's Doheny
Most faculty members, on the other hand,
campus and a model program developed, which is
interpret student questions as a sign of interest
described in this series' first monograph. "Access
and involvement in the class. Some faculty may
and Persistence: An Educational Program Model."
even lower a student's grade for failure to
participate. In order to avoid these
The baccalaureate program on the Chalon campus
misunderstandings and others like them.
focuses on students who have demonstrated their
interested faculty and administrators began to
ability to succeed academically. Baccalaureate
explore ways to teach students and their parents
freshmen have average SAT or ACT scores placing
about college assumptions and to learn about the
them in the top quartile of college-bound students
world views of various ethnic cultures. English
nationwide. Minorities make up a large
teachers began to look for novels. poetry and plays
percentage of these talented students. About half
by authors from a variety of ethnic groups in order
of the candidates for MSMC's prestigious, merit-
to stimulate student interest. Faculty came to
based President's Scholarships are African-,
"brown-bag" lunch meetings to exchange ideas
Asian- or Hispanic-American. The baccalaureate
and teaching methodologies that helped students
program has been recognized for its excellence by
succeed. Mount St. Mary's College began to
independent organizations such as U.S. News and
explore the implications of multicultural education
World Report and Changing Times magazines.
not only on a theoretical level. but also on a
Special opportunities centered here include the
pedagogical one.
4
department received a second grant from
In 1986, Mount St. Mary's received a grant from
the Consortium for the Advancement of Private
CAPHE/NYNEX matched by the ARCO
Foundation to infuse multicultural content into
Higher Education (CAPHE) to increase faculty and
staff awareness of the link between culture and
the subject matter courses (such as English and
learning, a project this monograph describes in
history) required for an elementary teaching
detail. Matching funds for this project were
credential. Funding from the AT&T, Ford, and
supplied by the Times-Mirror Foundation. The
Teagle foundations has made it possible for the
first objective of the grant, as stated in the
college to research the alternative access program
and share the results with other colleges and
proposal, was "to make every member of the
universities through publications, workshops, and
faculty and staff more effective in dealing with
presentations at conferences. Grants from the
cultural differences among the college's students"
through all-college programs and workshops. The
Knight and Ford foundations, the Pew Charitable
Trust, and the Clowes Fund, Inc., have enabled
second was to provide funds for individual faculty
and staff to research particular, practical topics
the college to undertake a revision of the core
related to culture and learning.
curricula with the goal of making multicultural
awareness a central component of a Mount St.
This grant was a resounding success.
It funded
Mary's education. MSMC is still very much in the
numerous
speakers for 15 all-college events
process of incorporating multicultural dimensions
course
departmental workshops. In the 'course of the
into every aspect of college life. The experience is
grant, 30 research projects were undertaken.
a challenging and invigorating one.
Twenty departments and administrative offices
were involved in these projects, and over 40
Costs associated with introducing this Celebrating
members of the faculty and staff contributed to
Cultural Diversity in Higher Education series have
them. Many of the monographs in this series are
been underwritten by the CBS Foundation. A
a result of these CAPHE-funded research projects.
grant from the Clowes Fund, Inc., has helped to
Another important result of this faculty and staff
defray the cost of this monograph, "The Role of
development grant was a gathering momentum for
Faculty Development in Multicultural Education."
further institutional change. The education
7
Introduction
college submitted a proposal with two basic
As I took ro/ifor my American literature class in the
objectives: the first was to help every member of
Fall of 1985. I thought. 'This is the United Nations:
the faculty and staff become more effective in
Alfonso, Challappa, Brady. Evans, Gonzalez, Lee,
dealing with cultural differences among students
Marti, Otani. Ramirez, Wong!' I wondered if we
through lectures, workshops, and programs open
had anything in common. Perhaps by studying the
to all. The second was to provide faculty members
literature of America together, we could create a
with mini-grants for research on specific topics
shared experience from which we could all learn.
related to culture and learning. The proposal was
funded in January of 1986, and the first mini-
MSMC English Instructor
grant applications were filed in June of that year.
"Unity through Diversity" became the theme of the
1986-87 academic year. A keynote lecture at the
The situation confronting this English professor
faculty convocation in September 1986 launched a
was a common one at Mount St. Mary's College in
study on the relationship between culture and
the 1980s. A faculty and staff, which was, for the
learning, the impact of which is still being felt.
most part. Anglo-American, undertook the
education of a student population growing more
culturally diverse with each passing year. Faculty
Assumptions
and administrators began to consider how to
educate a multicultural student body more
There are probably as many definitions of culture
effectively. One response was stepped-up efforts
as there are of love. This monograph will not
to hire faculty and staff from minorities
attempt to offer a conclusive one, but instead uses
traditionally underrepresented in higher
as a working definition that given by the noted
education, who could serve as role models for
anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor when he
students. During the '80s, unfortunately, the
introduced the term into anthropology in his book
number of doctorates awarded to African- and
Primitive Culture: "Culture is that complex whole
Hispanic-Americans was declining sharply.
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
Competition for these graduates was, and
custom and any other capabilities and habits
continues to be, keen. The decreasing pool of
acquired by man as a member of society." Culture
minority doctorates, budgetary constraints, and
includes many elements of which human beings
the number of tenured faculty made it inevitable
are conscious, such as the murals of Diego Rivera
that the majority of the faculty at MSMC (as at
or the Buddhist wedding ceremony, and also
most other American colleges and universities)
many things of which they are usually unaware,
would continue to be Anglo-American through
such as rules governing interruptions in
the 1990s.
conversation. Culture underlies every aspect of
Until the college was able to have a more
life and behavior, including common sense beliefs
ethnically diverse faculty and staff, faculty
about the world, time, space, relationships,
courtesy and values. Misunderstandings often
development provided a way to improve the
education of a multicultural student body. When
occur when people of different cultures interact,
particularly if one or both are unaware of their
the Consortium for the Advancement of Private
culturally determined expectations.
Higher Education (CAPHE) invited MSMC to
submit a grant proposal, the administration saw a
When the college began its faculty/staff
way to undertake faculty/staff development in
development program on culture and learning, the
multicultural education on a broad scale. The
6
president, academic deans and grant coordinator student handbook while other aspects are learned
shared certain assumptions. The first and most
informally. Mount St. Mary's College, for example,
obvious was that everyonestudents, faculty,
has a tradition of emphasizing community service,
staff, and even administratorshas a culture.
an aspect of the college subculture that has been
articulated and written down in the mission
One goal of the program was to help members of
statement of the college. One of the college
the college community become more aware of their
traditions passed on informally is the custom of
own cultural expectations as well as to help them
understand the cultures of students from various
greeting everyone on campus, even strangers.
One goal of studying the relationship between
ethnic backgrounds.
culture and learning is to investigate and
The second assumption underlying the program
articulate aspects of MSMC's own subculture.
was that culture affects learning. Cross-cultural
studies over the last quarter century have
demonstrated that differing cultural contexts
Goals
promote different kinds of development in reading,
writing, mathematical and analytical abilities. The
As the College prepared to initiate the faculty
methods by which faculty members teach, their
development program in 1986, the hopes of the
expectations of student behaviors, and their
administration and coordinators were relatively
standards for evaluation are all products of
modest. The aim was not to make the college
culture. Student success or failure may be related
culturally neutral. As a Catholic, liberal arts
to how compatible the cultures of the student and
college, Mount St. Mary's stands solidly rooted in
instructor are or how well one or both adapt to
Western culture. Its structure, expectations,
the other.
goals, and curricula, like that of most American
What happens outside the classroom can also
colleges and universities, have evolved from and
reflect the values and assumptions of Western
have a profound effect on the quality of a student's
culture. The very emphasis on truth, the
college experience. Making friends, living with a
appreciation of diversity, and the exploration of
roommate, and balancing study with co-curricular
non-majority cultures that gave impetus to the
activities and leisure are typical student
project is in the best tradition of Western and
experiences that have important cultural
components. For students from a cultural
American culture.
minority background. these non-academic areas
Neither did college administrators expect an
may present particular problems because
immediate revision of the curricula or even a
differences in underlying beliefs may permeate
general consensus about the nature of
their experiences yet are especially hard to
multicultural education. The goal was rather to
identify. Issues of relationship and daily routine,
give faculty, administrators and staff additional
moreover, are likely to be emotionally charged.
tools for meeting the educational and personal
MSMC made a vigorous effort to involve
needs of ethnically diverse students. The college
administrators and staff working in residence, co-
community was invited to hear artists,
curricular activities, and student services in the
anthropologists, educators, psychologists,
programs on multicultural awareness.
sociologists, and writers discuss aspects of many
ethnic cultures, providing faculty members with
A third and final assumption is that each college
resources on literature, art, Llasic and history
and university has its own subculture, some of
that they could share with their students. Other
which is written down in the college catalog and
7
frequently investigate to see if a cultural
speakers and workshops dealt with teaching
misunderstanding is part of the problem.
methodologies demonstrated to be successful in a
Resident advisors in the dormitories and staff in
multicultural classroom. With lectures and
the student development office are more aware of
conferences as catalysts, individual members of
cultural issues when planning activities,
the faculty and staff turned to mini-grants to
mediating conflicts, and offering counsel. Faculty
fund research into topics on multicultural
members draw on materials and examples from
education which offered promise of improving
many different cultures when planning their
their effectiveness with the students they
courses. Student have formed organizations
encountered daily.
celebrating the heritage of African, Asian, and
Hispanic cultures. A revision of the core curricula
In retrospect, the faculty/staff development
is now underway with the goal of integrating
program in multicultural education was
multicultural education into its structure and
successful because members of the college
content. More and more, faculty and staff see the
community were invited to participate. They could
ethnic diversity of MSMC's students as a resource,
be as much or as little involved as they chose. At
and teach these students to see their
times, faculty convocations that all were expected
multicultural campus and multicultural city as
to attend became the forum for a guest speaker.
providing opportunities for learning, growth
In general. however, organizers of the program
friendship and understanding.
aroused interest by inviting noted scholars and
artists, who happened to be members of minority
This process of faculty and staff development in
groups. Faculty and staff attended because they
multicultural education is replicable by other
were interested in the ideas under discussion.
colleges and universities or schools or
They were not asked to debate the merits of
departments within a larger educational
multicultural education in committee meetings or
institution. To help other interested educators in
faculty senate; they were not plunged into
beginning the process, the next chapter discusses
curricula revision or exhorted to overhaul their
the selection of guest speakers and presents a
courses. Free to explore new ideas from their own
summary of a major symposium presented during
points of view, faculty members and staff seized
MSMC's faculty and staff development program.
the opportunity, transforming the college in the
Subsequent chapters describe the way in which
process. The results were not always neat or
mini-grants were awarded and administered
orderly. Some faculty and staff encountered
and provide excerpts from six of the funded
obstacles in the execution of their research and
research projects.
had to change direction. Some efforts overlapped
or duplicated one another.
Despite. or perhaps because of, this open-ended
process. the faculty and staff development projects
generated an awareness of cultural diversity that
permeates the campus today. When a student is
in academic difficulty, her professor or advisor will
10
8