I spoke with Tammy Steele, a classroom teacher at Carrollwood Elementary School who has been a Top 10 Finalist for Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year twice, about her experiences with multicultural education.
Q: What are your feelings about multicultural education?
A: "It is good to know the cultures and backgrounds of your students, and you have to differentiate instruction to meet every student's needs."
Q: What do you feel is the role of the teacher in multicultural education?
A: "To know the strengths and weaknesses of each student, and to build on them."
Q: What do you feel is the role of the school in multicultural education?
A: "By law, the school has to provide services, and the school has to ensure that the students are receiving those services."
Q: Have you had any diversity-related issues at school this year?
A: "I haven't had to deal with anything big. There was an incident in which a child was given the "Whopper Award" for having the best excuses for not having his homework. The mother was offended, and race was mentioned. The student wasn't offended, though."
Q: You have taught at both Mendenhall Elementary and at Carrollwood Elementary. How do those schools compare in regard to multicultural issues?
A: "The kids just blend right in. They don't really care about those things. As far as comparing the two schools, at Mendenhall there is a large Hispanic population, so I would need someone to help me communicate with parents sometimes. It's kind of scary. You have to trust that they're translating what you're trying to say to the parents correctly."
(cont. next page)
Q: What are your feelings about multicultural education?
A: "It is good to know the cultures and backgrounds of your students, and you have to differentiate instruction to meet every student's needs."
Q: What do you feel is the role of the teacher in multicultural education?
A: "To know the strengths and weaknesses of each student, and to build on them."
Q: What do you feel is the role of the school in multicultural education?
A: "By law, the school has to provide services, and the school has to ensure that the students are receiving those services."
Q: Have you had any diversity-related issues at school this year?
A: "I haven't had to deal with anything big. There was an incident in which a child was given the "Whopper Award" for having the best excuses for not having his homework. The mother was offended, and race was mentioned. The student wasn't offended, though."
Q: You have taught at both Mendenhall Elementary and at Carrollwood Elementary. How do those schools compare in regard to multicultural issues?
A: "The kids just blend right in. They don't really care about those things. As far as comparing the two schools, at Mendenhall there is a large Hispanic population, so I would need someone to help me communicate with parents sometimes. It's kind of scary. You have to trust that they're translating what you're trying to say to the parents correctly."
(cont. next page)
