Close encounters: Truth, experience and interpretation in multicultural teacher education

Abstract

his paper examines the contradictory e ects of teaching multicultural education in two American white women' s university classrooms. T he authors use discourse analysis to understand the confusing results of teaching about di erence. In this analysis, course readings and a ® eld trip to an urban school are examined in regard to the instructors' intentions and students' responses. T he authors understand the puzzling results of their teaching by examining the positivist dimensions of their pedagogy, including the belief in rational approaches to overcoming racism, sexism and other systems of oppression, the belief in the possibility of replacing`bad ideas' with`good' ones, and the perpetuation of knowledge grounded in a binary system of meaning-making and language use. T he authors conclude with ideas for a postpositivist approach to knowledge, experience and action, that emphasizes the production of interpretations.We have to relate ourselves somehow to a social world that is polluted by something invisible and odourless, overhung by a sort of motionless cloud. It is the cloud of givenness, of what is considered`natural' by those caught in the taken-for-granted, in the everydayness of things.Maxine Greene (1995: 47) [I]n the end, non-identity is antagonistic; it always threatens`the survival of cooperative relationships' . In the end, only the sign of the Same, of the replication of the one identical to itself, seems to promise peace. Donna Haraway (1989: 369) Close Encounters of the T hird Kind, a tale of contacts between aliens and humans, re-presents our analysis of knowing and teaching in the area of multiculturalism. This 1977 ® lm, directed by Steven Spielberg, narrates the movements from sightings to communication to face-to-face contact of alien beings and human beings. T he ® lm portrays a range of responses to the increasingly close contacts: some people¯atly deny that any meetings with alien spacecraft occurred and angrily demand to return to their former lives. Others are`invited' by the aliens to learn more, to have personal j. curriculum studies, 1998, vol. 30, no. 4, 375± 395 Nancy L esko teaches curriculum theory at

‘You’ve got to teach people that racism is wrong and then they won’t be racist’: Curricular representations and young people’s understandings of ‘race’ and racism

“…A related difficulty is that white teachers themselves can be equally socially and emotionally invested in these discourses, and do not always receive multicultural or anti-racist education in the way that teacher educators intend (Lesko and Bloom 1998). In other words, learners--whether children or adults--can be deeply resistant to the kinds of knowledge which demand that they engage with difficult truths about themselves and their world that can be very difficult to tolerate or to accept.…”

“…In other words, learners--whether children or adults--can be deeply resistant to the kinds of knowledge which demand that they engage with difficult truths about themselves and their world that can be very difficult to tolerate or to accept. Drawing on their experiences of attempting to engage predominantly white, middleclass teacher education students with the 'truth' about social injustices and inequalities, Lesko and Bloom (1998) show how knowledge is constrained by epistemological and discursive limits. It would be naïve to suggest, therefore, that the act of replacing 'bad ideas' about race and racism in the curriculum with 'good' ones, will, in and of itself, radically disrupt the existing racial status quo.…”

Having Our Say about Multicultural Education

“…When resisters discussed educating students in an urban environment, they focused on beliefs that students are not self-disciplined and lack respect for teachers; emphasizing their desire to teach in their monocultural comfort zone (Lesko and Bloom 1998). Rushton (2003) suggested that preservice teachers have preconceived ideas about urban environments, but come to grow and change their beliefs after new experiences.…”

“…However, the effectiveness of these classes has been questioned (Garmon 2004;Larke 1990; Lesko and Bloom 1998;Wideen, Mayer-Smith, and Moon 1998) because most colleges of education are flouting this evolving mandate by offering only one course that is at best dismissive and pacifist, and at worst ineffective in meeting the needs of diverse learners.…”

Leaders’ Orientations to Diversity: Two Cases from Education

“…length depending on the period of time for which a respondent spoke, which might be very brief or more prolonged. The analysis paid close attention to how leaders construct meanings; of 'difference' and equality, and how they formulated action in response (Lesko & Bloom, 1998). Consequently the data was coded using themes related to concepts of diversity, the perceived pressures to consider diversity, the relevance of diversity, actions to achieve diversity and personal experience of diversity issues.…”