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DOCUMENT RESUME SP 036 510 ED 392 764 Touching the Future. TITLE Education, National Foundation for the Improvement of INSTITUTION Washington, D.C. 95 PUB DATE 53p. NOTE CT 06516 NFIE Publications, P.O. Box 509, West Haven, AVAILABLE FROM (order#: A701-00390-1, $5 plus $2.50 shipping and handling). Descriptive (141) Reports PUB TYPE MFOI/PC03 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE *Curriculum Development; Educational Cooperation; DESCRIPTORS Educational Philosophy; *Educational Technology; Curriculum; Elementary Secondary Education; English *Faculty Development; Gifted; History Instruction; *Instructional Innovation; Middle Schools; *Multicultural Education; Multimedia Materials; Teaching Methods; *Teaching Styles Biliteracy; *Diversity (Student) IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT five. This publication relates the experiences of the profiled in terms of McAuliffe Educators in 1994. The projects are teacher's philosophy, the Christa the school and the students, the project impact and McAuliffe Institute (CMI) project, and the (1) "Integrating Multimedia results. The project titles are: School English Production and Multicultural Education: A Middle School, East Project" (Hazel Lockett, Vernon L. Daley Junior High High School Orange, New Jersey); "Listening for All Voices: A High School, Ann Multicultural.History Project" (Robin Wax, Pioneer (3) "An Elementary School Biliteracy Curriculum" Arbor, Michigan); Arizona); (4) (Jaime Roybal, C. E. Rose Elementary School, Tucson, Gifted Population" ."Multicultural Education and the Underrepresented, Florida); (Arlene Costello, Oakcrest Elementary School, Pensacola, Understanding" (Nana Hill, and (5) "Constructing Multicultural McKinney, Academic Competitiveness through Technology Academy, need to The report includes suggestions as to what teachers Texas) . students in classrooms know and do to serve the diverse population of view of multicultural today. Suggestions include: developing a broad its applications education; exploring a wide array of technology and and adapting teaching methods to the to multicultural educatiw, the kind of different ways students lc,arn. The report also suggests these professional development useful for helping teachers meet school and district needs, including making multicultural education a lines of priority; providing equal access to technology across the academic ability; culture, gender, sociceconomic level, and professional encouraging and'supporting collaboration; focusing local access to development on curriculum integration; and increasing (ND) knowledge and expertise through technology networks. *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** ng i h *a 6. , THE FUTURE ISOCellW.-anA43:41101.4.11` Ia -r,-.4mimairnicacais THE :4 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS SEEN GRANTED BY NATIONAL 2 FouNDxrIoN TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." 1. 1 . A 'Oa ! - S. il, - . ' FOR TI1E ": .'441-111',61V6014'.., 't U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION .., 4711 . , .f. Odic* of Educalionai Heg0S,Ct, ana irnprovomont ...' 1, . EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Is a. 0 This document has been reproduced as received Irorn the person or organization , 1t originating it it a Minor changes have been moue to IN1PROVEM ENT improve reproduction quality N Points of view of opinions slated in this At. ) document do not necessarily represent otficial OERI position oi policy of Pp./ .:, 4 .,4 I 1 ' ,, 4 .ste . EDI CA110\ . rfwv catisLL , iliC ' . . t 1.. : ." - 41" '` % leTk-"- /j-k , . TV'Try'V t. : Vv,4"7: -to Litaelartvo!' !4.171"' ), TC, )40.trift"*.s.? TY", kW ye av 111.11=..=re f v-watt 4'12%.elit_ e r 'fretk.:4441 ' ..0.0ere.e0.1094.24*?:., V a Agqu... -7 a ...;0or , . 0120- .ct _ -cr. '" We, - eAr- .440,112 414:ree Touching FUTURE T HE NFIE extends special appreciation to the Sega Foundation and the AT&T Foundation for generous financial support for the 1994 Christa AfcAuliffe Institute and this report. NFIE also wishes to thank the members of the National Education Association for their annual contributions to. NF1E's endowment. THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION 1201 16th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20036-3207 9 9 5 1 ^ Multicultural Education McAuliffe Institute Projects on Overview of the Christa LEARNING IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY THE CHALLENGE OF TEACHING AND forty-year-old math teacher in sub- Imagine, for a moment, that you are a that you happens to teach in the same school urban, northern Virginia, who mind mornings before the buses arrive your graduated from in 1973. Certain II class you took in this very room. wanders back 25 years to the Algebra friend, cxchanging glances from the next You can picture Mona, your best smoothing her one-liners from behind you, Gina row, John whispering white like flip in front of youall of them already perfect Mary Tyler Moore And workers, engineers, and businessmen. you, all children of government in. own homeroom trickles then your concentration is broken as your in September could not speak any There's Shuang, a Chinese girl who is coming little, although her written work English and still volunteers very with who lives in a crowded apartment along; Bruno, a boy from Honduras American boy and devout Muslim several relatives; Ibrahim, an African strikes Washington, D.C. And once again it whose family just moved in from that filled this room diverse this class is than the class you how much more 25 or even fifteen years ago. port-of-entry cities, but also in the heart- Today's studentsnot just in circum- ethnic backgrounds, economic landcome from a wide variety of in multicultural religions. The day-to-day interactions stances, races, and other opportunities for students to learn about classrooms offer incomparable At the same time, these class- cultures and build bonds of understanding. teachers be multicul- challenges for teachers. Not only must rooms create new but they must also be equipped to pro- turally aware and sensitive themselves, and learning experiences for students. vide effective multicultural teaching inservice training that most teachers The preservice preparation and them to address the challenges of receive are generally insufficient to enable creating their own approaches to help diversity effectively. Some teachers are for other cultures, overcome students develop understanding of and respect learning environment. stereotyping and bias, and excel in a diverse NFIE IDENTIFIES PATH-FINDING TEACHERS Education In 1994, the National Foundation for the Improvement of (NFIE) sought to meet this professional development need by providing in eight-month fellowships to excellent teachers who NN ere leading the way (C.MI) on this field. NFIE focused its existing Chrism McAuliffe Institute and projects to improve teaching and learning of culturally diverse students goal. The Institute selected as to explore how technology might further this CAll Educators five outstanding teachers who, through their teaching practices, had demonstrated innovative approaches to multicultural education that incorporated information technologies. They were: HAZEL LOCKETT Sdloo/ 1-ernoll 1.. Daley Junior East Orange. New Jersey ROBIN WAX Pioneer High School Ann Arbor, Michigan JAIME ROTBAL C.E. Rose Elementary Sihool &emu. .4 fizona ARLENE COSTELLO Oairrest Elementary School Pensacola, Florida NANA HILL Academic Competitiveness Through ii hooky Aew/emr .11eKinney. 1;..t _ ABOUT THE CHRISTA MCAULIFFE INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL PIONEERING IlYzen Christa .11cAuliffe. a .Vez,:. Hampshire teacher and the .first private citizen chosen for space flight, died in the explosion of the Challenger spacecraft, eduartors. parents. and students from aro,.nd the country sent donations to the National Education Association. These donations were entru. ed to ,VFIE, which in 1987 errand the Chrism McAuliffe Institute for Educational Pioneering to carry on the legacy of the dsk-taking teacher The initial resources lasted six years. and the Sega Foundation provided support ftr the last two years of the program. Each year the Institute selected five CMI Educators from across the nation to pioneer new teaching ideas focused on a special theme .firr the year (ReflectingChrista .lIcAuliffe's commitment to creating new visions for teathing and learning, many of the themes have included a teihnology link.) The Educators received a $5.0,10 rash award and national recognition and participated in rigorous professional development and leadership activities. With guidance from NFIE staff, the Educators also designed and managed everiments in their own classrooms, with the goal of improving teaching and providing professional development for other teachers. Since the program:s inception, thirty teachers have been chosen as CMI Educators, and 98 teachers. school technology coordinators, and college faculty have participated in summer institutes and seminars designed by the Educators. The 1994 CMI Educators received a cash award, national recognition, intensive professi'snal development, and ongoing technical assistance and site reviews from NFIE staff. Throughout the eight-month period, CM I Educators regularly exchanged ideas with each other and with NFIE staff in meetings and conferences and over a computer network. With these sup- ports, the five teachers &signed their own classroom research projects known as "action research"to improve teaching and learning of culturally divcrse .,rodents and to explore how technology could further the goal of multicultural education. The ultimate aim of the action research was to yield recommendations, practical ideas, and methods that teachers, curriculum specialists, and other educators could apply in their own schools. Several tiines during the course of their action research the Educators pre- sented their ideas and preliminary findings to teachers and other educators at national confeiences. This report describes the projects and experiences of the five path-find- It also reviews their action- ing teachers designated as 1994 CM I '2:ducltors. research findings and highlights some of the key components and lessons from their experiences. By presenting this information in this form. NFIE hopes to reach a large number of those individuals who, in the words of Christa McAuliffe, "touch the future" because they teach. CRITICAL ISSUES ADDRESSED BY THE CMI EDUCATORS Recognizing that the five teachers entered the CM( program with varying perceptions and definitions of multicultural education. NFIE encoura,,ed the Educators to examine, discuss, and refine their own concepts and, in doing so, to consider the full range of factors that shape a child's culture, including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, home language, and gender. NF1E further encouraged the teachers to contemplate several specific challenges that teachers often face in implementing multicultural education: How to integrate diverse elements of culture into curriculum content; How to reduce prejudice and promote understanding and respect for all cultures; How to create educational practices and use instmctional tools, including technology, that foster academic whievement among all students; and How to address the role of culture in shaping knowledge. Based on this investigation, the Educators chose to focus on three critical issues concerning diversity that confront teachers today. ISSUE ONE: B''.../AN. V.E,. A Many schools implement multicultural education by adding some simple activities to their regular curriculum, such as projects honoring famous mem- hers of ethnic groups, celebrations of special national holidays, or activities featuring ethnic food, dress, and art. These add-ons do little, however, to address the real challenge: to encourage and empower students to think more deeply and critically about culture. Achieving this broader goal may require teachers to transform their own understanding of culture or to rethink and restructure their classrooms and their schools. Issui Two: EMPHASIZING THE UNIFYING ASPECTS o! MULTICULTURAl EDUCATION Many people view multicultural education as something that applies only to people of color, a view that may marginalize it as an area of study and dis- courage teachers from addressing issues of culture in the core curriculum. The challenge for teachers is to structure teaching and learning so that multicultural education reaches all students and dispels a "we-they" mentality. Effective multicultural education can be a unifying force; a better understanding of other cultures promotes the broad public interest and extends fairness, equality, and justice to all people. ISSUE THREE: USING TECHNOIOGY TO ENHANCE MULTIPIE TI ACHING AND Or10,,, While many teachers have successfully used traditional instructional methods to ..cach about diversity and culture, some are looking for new approaches. New technologies, such as electronic networks or computer-based, muiti- media technologies, can facilitate innovative ways of teaching that arc espe- cially responsive to diverse student needs. This is a very new arca of teaching and learning, however. Neither higher education institutions nor K-12 school districts provide teachers with professional development concerning the integration of technology into multicultural education. Much more research and demonstration needs tEl be done to create effective applications of different technologies to multicultural education. 10_