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Teachinghistory usingsources inmulticulturalclasses
Luisa Black
Portugal
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Who are the teachers?
Who are the teachers?
Who are the teachers?
Teachers are the product of agiven society
They are subject to all the sameinfluences, emotions andprejudices that affect theirstudents and their families
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Who are the teachers?
Because teachers are unawareof their own beliefs - theyoften remain unchallenged.
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Culture is like an iceberg
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Culture is like an iceberg
history clothes
folklore arts food
Deepculture
attitudes
values
perceptions
beliefscommunication
What one thinks and how one thinks is determined by one’s cultureThe act of thinking is mediated through one’s own cultureOur cultural databaseCultural Sensitivity: Understanding the needs and emotions of your own culture and theculture of others.
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The sounds of silence
People communicate without words: thesmile, the look, the rising of the eyebrows,or elbows, etc.
Non verbal messages have differentmeanings in differentcultures/communities
The paradox of culture is that language – the system most often used totranslate culture is, by its own nature, poor to fulfil this taskNinety percent of what we think about a person is determined in the first ninetyseconds we meet them.
Issues related to teachers’ perceptions
1. A decisive factor in the learning outcomesresults from the teachers’ perception of theirstudents as learners.
2. These perceptions are based on subjectivereadings of students’ socio cultural background,academic and behavior characteristics.
3. Teachers organize their strategies accordingly.
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Issues related to perceptions and labels
1. Teachers water down knowledge inresponse to students social class andethnicity
2. The question of different goals ofteachers and expectations of students(content might exacerbate the tension)
3. Teachers should be very aware of labels,stereotyping, identity issues, etc.
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What is history teaching?
History teaching is a complex task thatinvolves transforming subject matterinto forms that are meaningful tolearners, while retaining the integrity ofthe subject
= didactic and didactic transposition= its full complexity
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History should be taught in its fullcomplexity
Teachers should notpresent history as asimple subject: a linearnarrative and a bag offacts.
The reasons behind thefacts are more importantthen the chronologicalknowledge of the facts.
The octopus
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History Teaching
Teach the facts
Knowledge
what to know
By giving answers
Teach the skills
Interpretation
Sources
how to thinkdifferent perspectives
By asking questions
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1515Prizren September 2009
History Teachers
Should be able to:
Ask questions more open endedly(more creatively)
Focus on the learning
Born in Cambodja, came to the US in t980
How does Theoung Mim represent her multiple identities in this image?• What do you notice about the face she paints?• Which part of the portrait do you think represents Mim’s parents’ expectations?Which part represents her?• Do any of you ever feel like you have two identities? Why?
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Theoung Mim
• Being a Cambodian woman meanshaving to maintain two identities. One ismy parents’ expectations and the other iswho I really am.
• My painting depicts these two sides,which are sometimes hard to blend.
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What is identity?
- Identity like history is complex and can beseen from different perspectives
- Understanding of self and otherness
- Identity (our own or someone else’s) is not alinear process
- It is an open-ended process
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Personalise historyShare experiences
EmpathySimilaritiesDifferences
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Professional Communication
Developing communication skills in theclassroom with students from differentcommunities is a process that requires trust,awareness, sensitivity, respect, and honesty.
Competence is a constantly evolving processof adaptation and refinement.
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To facilitate communication, teachersneed to:
1. Develop listening skills2. Verify perceptions3. Ask for feed back4. Resist the temptation to make hasty
judgements5. Cultivate cultural awareness6. Accept challenges
7.7. AdaptAdapt
Listening more carefully and more responsivelyExpressing myself more clearly and more completely
Question of attitudes and values
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Fernando Pessoa
The more differentfrom myself, themore real someoneseems to me,because it dependsless on mysubjectivity
Lisbon 1888-1935Book of Disquiet
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Who are the students?
Underage festivalsIndividual differences (e.g. gender, physical characteristics, peer relations, familyconditions, values, etc.) affect the way students learnEthnicity may influence perceptions of difference
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Looking into the future?
Reading wordsThe importance of
understanding themeaning of words
Reading imagesThe importance of
understanding themeaning of images
Breaking home Rules, by Norman Rockwell
Difference of the reading words and the reading images generations.
The changing role of literatureThe importance of the imagePast or future?
Prizren September 2009
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Visual Sources
Visual sources are powerful tools, providinginsights into the past.
Visual sources are (and should be treated as)sources of information.
Visual sources can be read as texts in their
own right, not as mere illustrations.
Prizren September 2009
Visual Material
– The message conveyed by visualmaterials creates representations of thesociety that might be unbalanced
– Teachers need to develop theircompetences to analyze visual materials
– Questions of balanced ethnic, race andgender representations
– Questions of reading visual materials
Education for all What does it really mean?
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What questions do I need to ask?
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Giacomo Gastaldi, Della navigationi e vuaggi, 3º V.,1556.
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Multicultural Context- People approach problems differently- Clear communication is essential- Goals should be clear to all- Developing joint strategies leads to greater
success- Avoid blaming and labelling- Avoid stereotypes- Everyone has different strengths to bring to
the collaborative process
We need reflective teachers for changing attitudes and in consequence schoolsA better understanding of culture in societyAn increase in communication between different culturesA more adapted attitude to the context of cultural diversityA better capacity to participate in social interaction
as vozes das culturas minoritárias são ignoradas, excepto quando elas falam de níveis deactividades culturais tais como a música, a dança, a cozinha e hábitos sociais.uma educação que tem em conta a diversidade cultural tem de estar intimamenterelacionada com os princípios que orientam movimentos dos direitos humanos.
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The 21st Century: multiculturalism
- The 21st century is going to be one ofunprecedented ethnic and religious mix.
- In the past, multicultural societies havetended to only flourish under imperial rule.
- Multiculturalism within the context ofdemocratic citizenship: multiculturalism is notthe cause of present discontents but part ofthe solution.
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The French Football Team for theEuropean Cup 2008
The French Football Team for theEuropean Cup 1959
To look at the content through the eyes ofthe students:
1. Accommodating students’ personal knowledgeand experience
2. Finding out students’ potential as history thinkers3. Understanding what/why students value about
the past, and how to include this in the lessonsplanning
4. Respecting the culture of the community (ies)
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Matching of curriculum and pedagogy with learners’abilities and interests
– Varying tasks– Experimenting with team learning– Involving learners in action planning
and independent activities– Encouraging students to reflect on and
review their own progress– Providing assessment tasks that build
confidence
Improving history learning
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Mia Couto
At the doorstep ofmodernization, we need toremove our shoes. I haveenumerated seven dirtyshoes that we need to leaveat the doorstep of moderntimes. There are manyothers. But I had to chooseand seven is a magic number.
1. The idea that others are guilty and we arevictims.
2. The idea which states that success is not thefruit of labour.
3. The prejudice that the person who criticizesyou is an enemy
4. The idea that changing words changesthings
5. The shame of being poor and the cult ofappearances.
6. The passivity in front of injustice7. The idea that to be modern, we have to
copy others
