Education at elementary and senior secondary level.ppt

Unit IV
School, family and societal
influences on development
• school transition in childhood and adolescence
• relationship with teacher expectations and school
achievement
• peer relation and its importance
• impact of peer pressure,
• influences of family- separation from parents, leaving children
in creches
• child development in multicultural context: interplay of
poverty, caste and gender

Learning outcomes……
The learner will…
• Analyse the school transition in childhood and adolescence and its effect
• Enlist and analyze the school influences on childhood and adolescence
development
• Analyze the relationships among development, teacher expectations and school
achievement
• Describe importance of peer relations in development
• Analyze the Impact of peer pressure on development,
• Analyze the Influences of family, separation from parents, leaving children in
crèches on development
• Discuss the child development in multicultural contexts (interplay of poverty, caste
and gender)

School transition in childhood and adolescence
• In education, the term transition typically refers to the three major transitional
points in the education system: when students move from elementary school to
middle school, from middle school to high school, and from high school to college.
• School transitions are the conversions students go through as they change
schools throughout their lives.
Most students make many transitions in their school lives. They do so when they:
• begin early childhood education and care services
• start school
• change year levels within a school
• transfer from one school to another
• shift from primary school to intermediate school, and on to secondary school
• move from secondary school to further education, training and
employment (Ministry of Education, 2010).

School transition in childhood and adolescence
• These transitions play a major role in the development of young people’s decisions
and serve as a milestone which can direct them in a number of ways.
• Students’ wellbeing and learning must be maintained as they transit from primary
to secondary schools.
• A student’s transition can be complicated by the social, emotional and
physiological changes that can negatively impact on their learning.
• Teachers that understand how these changes impact on their students are better
placed to help students make positive adjustments to their new school.

Types of School transitions
• Two main types of school transitions: normative school transitions and
non-normative school transitions or transfers
• Normative school transitions refer to the transitions of students from
elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high
school.
• As each transition occurs, the student generally undergoes many different
changes.
• These changes can be anything from an increase in the size of the school,
to the change in friends that one meets.
• Every student adapts to normative transitions differently and there are a
multitude of things that influence how easily or poorly they adapt.
• Race, gender, location, age, and academic ability all affect the transition.

Types of School Transitions
• Non-normative school transitions/transfers: School transfers refer to
any transition in schooling when a child is moved from one school to
another between normative transfers.
• Schools systems offers the opportunity to parents and students more of a
say in their education and provide them what is called the school choice
program (a variety of different types of schools to choose).
• Choice schooling has made it both financially and institutionally easier for
people to choose where they would like to attend school.

The Effects of Pre-school Education on Children's Development
• Early childhood ( under five) is a critical time for cognitive and
socioemotional development.
• According to Professor W. Steven Barnett (n.d.), author of
"Preschool Education and Its Lasting Effects: Research and
Policy Implications," Early childhood education can impact a
child's academic success and reduce incidences of crime and
delinquency.
• Children enrolled in early childhood education programs may
also receive direct benefits in behavior, thought processes,
socialization and learning capacity.

The Effects of Pre-school Education on Children's Development
• But just attending a preschool may not be enough. A child's development has
much to do with what type of early learning environment he is in. Research
findings show that children who attended high-quality community-based
childcare centers behaved better; had improved cognitive skills that can lead to
improved academic results and better social skills
• Children enrolled in early childhood education programs are less likely to be held
back a grade in school and also have a decreased likelihood of being enrolled in
special education remedial programs.
• According to the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Early
childhood education—received at home, in preschool, in a daycare center or
elsewhere—can affect a child's physical, mental and emotional development.
• The brain of a child reared in safe, loving and secure environments is more likely
to develop in a normal and healthy manner compared to that of a child
traumatized at least once

The Effects of Pre-school Education on Children's
Development
• "Pre-school intervention is particularly effective for the most economically
disadvantaged children" (Zigler, 1987).
• Pre-school graduates were less likely to be assigned to "special"
education or to be held back in grade while their peers moved up, and
were more likely to be in employment.
• It avoids early school failure and placement in special education
• More achievement motivation in Pre-school goers, leads to more pride in
their achievements
• The most lasting impact of early education appears to be children's
aspirations for education and employment, motivation and increased
school commitment (Sylva, 1992)

The Effects of Primary School on Children's
Attainment, Attitudes and Behaviour
• Although schooling makes a significant contribution to cognitive
growth/attainment, schools do not equalize outcomes in an absolute
sense (individual differences)
• Some schools promote positive effects and others negative ones
(school climate)
• Scholastic attainment varies considerably amongst schools regardless
of the individual and social characteristics of pupils entering them.
• School characteristics influence their pupils' attitudes towards school,
which reflects in attendance and also their feelings about classes and
subjects
• School makes a larger contribution in progress as compared to what
is made by the pupils' sex, age or social background.

Pupil Cognitions, Motivations and School
Performance
• Schools exert sizeable effects on the pupils' development,
including scholastic attainment, attendance , future
employment and social behaviour such as delinquency.
• Development of academic self concept, attributions, Self
efficacy
• In middle childhood, the child develops academic self concept,
which mediate achievement behavior and motivation.
• Academic self concept relates with attribution, task orientation
( mastery/ helplessness) (right attribution- motivation,
performance increase).
• According to Bernard Weiner, success or failure can be seen as
coming from either personal causes (ability and motivation) or
situational causes (luck and task difficulty).

Self Efficacy
• According to Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is
"the belief in one’s capabilities to organize
and execute the courses of action required to
manage prospective situations.“
• Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her
ability to succeed in a particular situation.
• Bandura described these beliefs as
determinants of how people think, behave,
and feel.

The Role of Self-Efficacy
People with a strong sense of self-efficacy:
•Develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate
•Form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities
•Recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments
•View challenging problems as tasks to be mastered
People with a weak sense of self-efficacy:
•Avoid challenging tasks
•Believe that difficult tasks and situations are beyond their capabilities
•Focus on personal failings and negative outcomes
•Quickly lose confidence in personal abilities

• Psychologist Albert Bandura has defined self-efficacy as
people's beliefs in their capabilities to exercise control
over their own functioning and over events that affect
their lives.
• One's sense of self-efficacy can provide the foundation for
motivation, well-being, and personal accomplishment.
• People's beliefs in their efficacy are developed by four
main sources of influence, including (i) mastery
experiences, (ii) vicarious experiences, (iii) social
persuasion, and (iv) emotional states.
• High self-efficacy has been linked with numerous benefits
to daily life, such as resilience to adversity and stress,
healthy lifestyle habits, improved employees
performance, and educational achievement.

• Self efficacy development (high self
efficacy- high performance)

• "Mastery experiences are the most
influential source of efficacy information
because they provide the most authentic
evidence of whether one can muster
whatever it takes to succeed. Success
builds a robust belief in one's personal
efficacy. Failures undermine it, especially
if failures occur before a sense of efficacy is
firmly established" (Bandura, 1997).

• Bandura (1977) posits that "Seeing people
similar to oneself succeed by sustained
effort raises observers' beliefs that they too
possess the capabilities to master
comparable activities to succeed."

• Self-efficacy is influence by
encouragement and discouragement
pertaining to an individual’s performance
or ability to perform

Locus of Control
• Locus of control refers to the extent to which people feel that they have
control over the events that influence their lives.
• When you are dealing with a challenge in your life, do you feel that you
have control over the outcome? Or do you believe that you are simply at
the hands of outside forces?
• "A locus of control orientation is a belief about whether the outcomes of
our actions are contingent on what we do (internal control orientation)
or on events outside our personal control (external control orientation),"
explained psychologist Philip Zimbardo in his 1985 book Psychology and
Life.

Locus of Control
• If you believe that you have control over what happens, then you have
what psychologists refer to as an internal locus of control.
• If you believe that you have no control over what happens and that
external variables are to blame, then you have what is known as an
external locus of control.
• Your locus of control can influence not only how you respond to the
events that happen in your life, but also your motivation to take action.
• If you believe that you hold the keys to your fate, you are more likely to
take action to change your situation when needed.
• If on the other hand, you believe that the outcome is out of your hands,
you may be less likely to work toward change.

Internal Locus of Control
• Are more likely to take responsibility
for their actions
• Tend to be less influenced by the
opinions of other people
• Often do better at tasks when they are
allowed to work at their own pace
• Usually, have a strong sense of self-
efficacy
• Tend to work hard to achieve the
things they want
• Feel confident in the face of challenges
• Tend to be physically healthier
• Report being happier and more
independent
• Often achieve greater success in the
workplace
External Locus of Control
• Blame outside forces for their
circumstances
• Often credit luck or chance for any
successes
• Don't believe that they can change
their situation through their own
efforts
• Frequently feel hopeless or powerless
in the face of difficult situations
• Are more prone to experiencing
helplessness

Attribution Theory
An important assumption of
attribution theory is that people will
interpret their environment in such a
way as to maintain a positive self-
image

Attribution Theory
 Attribution theory is concerned with how individual
interpret events and how this is related to their
thinking and behavior.
 The motivation theory associated here describes
how people explain, justify, and/or provide excuses
about influences on their motivation - means,
their current motivation level is due to some
external reason that has nothing to do with them.

Attribution Theory
People are motivated to
understand the causes of
behavior. Attribution theory seeks
to explain how and why people
make these causal attributions.
Attributions - are the reasons we we
give for our own and others
behaviors.

 Fritz Heider argued that there are two
general types of attributions that people
make:
–Personal attributions
–Situational attributions

Personal attributions
 Explanations in terms of personal
characteristics. For example:
–“The baby must be a happy
baby.”
 Other examples:
–“He scored well on the exam
because he is smart.”
–“She tripped because she is
clumsy.”

Situational attributions
 Explanations in terms of situational
factors. For example:
–“Someone must have just played
with the baby .”
 Other examples:
–“He scored well because it was an
easy test.”
–“She tripped because a squirrel ran
in front of her.”

Attribution Theory
Suggests that motivation is
influenced by the reasons we
give ourselves (attributions) for
our successes and our failures
Suggests four attributions:
ability, effort, task difficulty, luck

Attribution Theory
 Ability is a relatively internal and stable factor over which the
learner does not exercise much direct control.
 Task difficulty is an external and stable factor that is largely
beyond the learner's control.
 Effort is an internal and unstable factor over which the learner
can exercise a great deal of control.
 Luck is an external and unstable factor over which the learner
exercises no control.

Attribution Theory
These four attributions (ability,
effort, task difficulty, luck) can
be categorized along two
dimensions: locus of control
(internal, external) and stability
(stable, unstable)

Locus Of Control
 Internal Locus of
Control
 Individual believes
that his/her behavior
is guided by his/her
personal decisions
and efforts.
 External Locus of
Control
 Individual believes
that his/her behavior
is guided by fate,
luck, or other
external
circumstances

Attribution Theory
 When one succeeds, one attributes
successes internally (“my own skill”).
 When a rival succeeds, one tends to credit
external (e.g. luck).
 When one fails or makes mistakes, we will
more likely to use external attribution,
attributing causes to situational factors rather
than blaming ourselves.
 When others fail or make mistakes, internal
attribution is often used, saying it is due to
their internal personality factors.

Attribution Theory
 Motivation is high when we attribute
our successes and failures to
internal factors like ability and effort
 Motivation is low when we attribute
our successes and failures to
external factors like task difficulty
and luck

Social Competence and Attainment in school
• Social responsibility, defined as "adherence to social rules and role
expectations“. It is instrumental in the acquisition of academic knowledge
and skills.
• Social responsibility makes two contributions to learning:
(1) Behaving responsibly can aid learning by promoting positive interactions
with teacher and peers, e.g. peer sharing of materials or exchanging help
with assignments;
(2) Students' goals to be compliant and responsible can constrain and
enhance the learning process, e.g. pupils' striving to complete
assignments on time to comply with requirements.

Transitions and Adolescent Development
• Schools should be thinking about the wellbeing and learning needs of adolescents
and responding appropriately to the changes that are taking place for this age
group (Ministry of Education, 2010).
• Schools should identify which groups of students are most at risk. Some of the
threats to students’ successful adaption to school might be as a result of ‘normal’
adolescent change. Other threats might be environmental. In either case, there
are practices that schools can use to pave the way for students.
• Students need to make positive adjustments to their new school and classes so
that their wellbeing is maintained and their learning is coherent and continuous.
• McGee et al (2003) found that there was a strong correlation between the extent
to which students experienced difficulty following transition and their likelihood
of dropping out from education.

Students feel that:
•they belong in their new school, and are well included in school
activities and programmes
•they are positively connected to their peers, other students in the
school, and to their teachers
•their teachers know them, including their strengths, interests and
learning needs, and show they are interested in them
•they are understood and valued as a culturally located person
•they have a sense of purpose in being at school
•they have an understanding and commitment to their learning
pathway through their schooling and beyond
•they are making progress
•their current learning follows on from their previous learning (the
curriculum is connected and continuous) and is appropriately
challenging
•learning is interesting, relevant and is fun
•their families have been included in decisions
•they are physically and emotionally safe
•they have opportunities to try new, exciting things and/or extend
their particular skills/interests (eg, through extra-curricular
activities).

Preparing for successful
transitions
Teachers and leaders should:
•ensure that students experience success in their learning so they stay
engaged in education
•identify vulnerable students before their entry into the secondary school,
and as they transition between classes in a secondary school
•proactively address any likely threats to students’ wellbeing and academic
progress such as putting in place learning and pastoral care support for
students
•have processes in place to monitor the wellbeing and progress of all
students, (especially vulnerable students)
•continue to offer support to students throughout the year (not just in the
initial weeks)
•ensure that support for students is inclusive of the appropriate specialist
personnel, parents,
•make plans for the sustainable wellbeing and progress for students
•adopt a responsive and solutions-oriented approach to working through
issues of students not adjusting to their new school.

Make them feel connectedness
connectedness was defined in terms of
students feeling that they:
•belonged
•feel included (regardless of their ethnicity,
ability, gender or sexual orientation)
•have a contribution to make to the school
•are cared for by their teachers
•are accepted by their friends
•are physically and emotionally safe
•are learning.

The Role of Teacher Expectations and Behaviours
•Teacher Expectations effect can be of two types:
i.Direct effect (e.g. accurate instructions which promote subject learning) and
ii.Indirect (e.g. expectations may lead to assignment of high/low level tasks
which can affect child's academic self concept and eventually attainment).
•“Teacher expectancy effect“ is very high during early school years. This effect
is highly individualistic in terms of students attainments.

• The function of the teacher is to manage
learning which can be done through;
i. Group-based and teacher-paced approach
(primary & Sec schools)
ii.Individual-based and learner-paced (college)

Effects of school
• The direct effects of school are motivational as well
as cognitive.
• The direct effects work independently and change
pupils' self-concepts, goals, beliefs about success and
social responsibility
• These exert powerful influence not only on
subsequent education but also on employment and
community participation in adulthood.

 A student teacher relationship can have a significant
influence on a child’s development.
 Take for example the character of “Nikumbh sir” from
“Taare Zameen Par” who prodded each child to imagine
beyond the ordinary, and identified the potential in
“Ishaan”, when no one else could, not even his/her own
parents.
 Or for that matter even “Rosy maam” in Stanley Ka
Dabba, who with her small words of encouragement,
instantly lit up Stanley’s face each time she entered the
class.

TEACHER'S IMPACT SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
 Teachers have the greatest impact on a child's social development. Students
observe and learn from their teacher's behavioral pattern and they adopt it.
 It may be any new 'verbal words' that they hear or any new 'behavioral act'
that they have seen and observed from their teachers.
 A teacher can help a student build his social skills by….
 strengthening communication and interaction skills
 - by making student understand how to make use of problematic situations
as learning experience
 -by providing teacher's intervention from time to time.

TEACHER'S IMPACT CHILD'S
ATTITUDE
 Skillfully directed teachers can alter student's level of
thinking and their attitude as a whole.
 For teachers, goal is that child should always have
positive attitude towards life in different situations.
 It's not a one-stop lecture that helps, rather a good week
by week planning and staying committed to the idea that
helps.

TEACHERS INFLUENCE ON
OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF A
CHILD
 Teachers need to realize the fact that children are like
clay
 just as a potter gives a desired shape to the clay, so do
children become what their teachers want to make them.

IN THE EARLY YEARS:
 A guide: The role of a teacher for in a child’s early years is
that of a guide.
 A guide who leads them down towards new paths.
 A guide who walks beside them and keeps them safe
from harm, while letting them explore all the new things
around them.
 A teacher in a toddler’s life is essentially a partner in their
learning experience, and is a person who encourages
them to find their own answers and discover the world
that they live in for the first time.

PRE-TEEN TO EARLY TEENAGE
YEARS:
 A mentor: Once teachers have guided young toddlers to find their
own voice, in the next phase of a child’s life, teachers can help them
explore special interests or talents, which can have a great impact on
their future development.
 At this tender and influential age, children often look to their teachers
as role models, and the qualities that a teacher demonstrates through
their own behavior can affect a child later in life.
 Even the way a teacher communicates and expresses himself/herself
can be a big influence on a child’s behavior.
 This is also a stage, when teachers can be firm with their students, by
setting boundaries for them, on what is acceptable behavior and what
is not.
 Children in their school environment with the help of teachers often
imbibe values such as punctuality, perseverance and morality.

EARLY ADULT LIFE:
 A friend: The student teacher relationship is primarily one of trust,
guidance, and encouragement, and as a child grows into a young
adult, a teacher often starts being a friend and confidant for the
student.
 If a teacher majorly influences a student, he/she is likely to seek
advice and counsel from him/her on the future he/she should build,
on the choices that he/she can make, the set of ideals he/she should
follow.
 Teachers shoulder the responsibility of breeding good citizens of
tomorrow, by not only providing education but also providing
students with a chance to mold their future into a bright and
promising one.
 Take for instance to “Professor Duggal”, in “Do Dooni Char” who was
an ordinary middle class mathematics professor, but yet set an
example of integrity and honesty, such that his students thought him
as an idol long after passing out of his class.

•someone whom you would
think is an equal in age or
ability
•a friend, someone in the
community

Purpose of
Purpose of
Peer Groups
Peer Groups

• Satisfy certain belonging needs
• Often preferred to other socializing agents
• Influence social, cognitive and psychological
development
• Influence development of morals and values
• Interaction provides instruction on
acceptable behavior.

Evolution of
Evolution of
Peer Interaction
Peer Interaction

Infancy/Toddlerhood
• First feel belonging and develop
attachment to parents
• Capable of simple interactions,
distinguishing self from others
• Progress from emotional to other
behavioral interactions
• By 3.5 can be socially involved
with peers
• Friendship: momentary
playmateship

Early Childhood
• Parenting styles affect opportunity
for social interactions
• Deal with more complex issues such
as power, compliance, cooperation,
and conflict
• Interaction increases and becomes
more complex, forming groups
• Friendship: one-way assistance

Middle Childhood
• School age children experience increase
in social interaction
• Peer groups are attractive because of opportunity
for independence from family
• Enjoy the closeness and sharing of emotions
• Group provides identity models
• Peer interaction is more than 30% of total time
• Activities become gender-specific and
reflect culture
• Friendship: Two-way, fair-weather
cooperation; intimate, mutually
shared relationships

Adolescence
• Develop “best friends” and base friendships
, closeness of the relationship
• Peer group activities escalate
• Turn to group for “what’s hot now”
• “hang out”, talk, watch TV, listen to music,
play video games, be seen, see who else is
“hanging” with whom, wait for
something to happen
• Friendship: autonomous
interdependent friendships

Peer Group
Peer Group
Organization
Organization

• Cliques
–mutually connected by doing things together
• Crowds
–loosely organized reference groups of cliques

Ways Peer Groups
Ways Peer Groups
Influence Behavior
Influence Behavior

• Reinforcement
–giving attention and
acceptance
• Modeling
–imitation, conformity
• Punishment
–teasing, physical aggression, rejection
• Apprenticeship (Education)
–the “expert” helps the “novice”

Peer Acceptance
Peer Acceptance
Versus Rejection
Versus Rejection

Helping Adolescents Deal
with Peer Pressure
*

Pressures
Pressures
 Transition into middle school and becoming a teenager can
Transition into middle school and becoming a teenager can
be very challenging for children. Some changes include
be very challenging for children. Some changes include
added pressures from friends and peers.
added pressures from friends and peers.
 Pressures are a normal part of life and children need
Pressures are a normal part of life and children need
guidance from their teachers, parents and other adults so
guidance from their teachers, parents and other adults so
that they are able to handle these pressures in a positive
that they are able to handle these pressures in a positive
way.
way.
 Some of these pressures may be drugs, truancy, sex,
Some of these pressures may be drugs, truancy, sex,
shop-lifting, bullying, cheating, and any other action that a
shop-lifting, bullying, cheating, and any other action that a
child may not want to do.
child may not want to do.
CSMH-MSMHA 2006

What is peer pressure?
WE all want to be part of a group and
feel like we belong in our community.
Peer pressure can happen when we
are influenced to do something we
usually would not do, or stop us from
doing something we would like to do.

Meaning
• Peer pressure is the direct influence on
people by peers, or the effect on an
individual who gets encouraged to follow
their peers by changing their attitudes,
values or behaviors to conform to those of
the influencing group or individual.
• This can result in either a positive or
negative effect, or both.

WHY do we have peer
pressure?
The only reason…
WE WANT TO BE
ACCEPTED BY OUR

Types of peer pressure
•Positive peer pressure
•Neutral peer pressure
•Negative peer pressure

Positive peer pressure
•where peers support and encourage
constructive actions for one another
•the type of age-appropriate peer
pressure that we want to encourage
o As example, Our peer encourage us to study hard
for mid-term exam .

Neutral peer pressure
• Occurs when peers ,pressure one to go
along with the crowd in a way that’s not
harmful to others.
• This type of pressure occurs frequently
in the teenage years and should not be
considered a problem.
o For example, your friends invite you to go for a
party which many friends will go

Negative peer pressure
•to do something that places a teen
in danger or is hurtful to others is
definitely cause for concern.
o For example, your peer want you to steal your
parents’ money to go for outing and party.

Some examples of negative peer
pressure are:
• Pressurised to dress or act a certain way.
• Cheating or copying someone else’s work or letting others copy
your work.
• Not including certain people in social activities.
• Taking dangerous risks when driving.
• Using drugs or alcohol.
• Shoplifting or stealing.
• Engaging in sexual activity.
• Engaging in bullying or cyberbullying.
• Projecting a misleading/false image on social media.

Positive vs. Negative Peer Pressure
Negative Peer Pressure-
Is often dangerous and against
school rules, home rules and
personal values.
• Skipping school
• Vandalizing
• Smoking
• Sneaking out of the house
• Bullying
• Disrespecting authority
• Sex
Positive Peer Pressure-
Is often overlooked but does
exist and may be described
as an influence to do what
is right.
• Studying
• Volunteering
• Befriending someone
• Community Service
• Joining a sports team

Influence of peer pressure
• Friendship.
We can find friendship and acceptance, and share
experiences that can build long lasting bonds.
• Feedback and Advice.
•Our friends listen and give us feedback as we try out
new ideas, explore belief, and discuss problems.
•Peers can help us to take decisions.
•And also, our peers can give us advice and do the right
things for us.

Socializing.
Our peer group gives us opportunities to develop social
skills.
•Encouragement.
Our friend can encourage us to study hard and not to
give up easily if there’s any problem.
• Provides New Experiences.
Our peers might get us involved in clubs, sports, or
religious groups.
Our peers might bring us to experience something good
that we had never experienced before.

Influence of Bad peer pressure
• We may be stressed because of our peers.
• Sometimes, they will influence us to do
something we aren’t comfortable with or
have never done before.
• Doing drugs, drinking, etc.
• This pressure may be expressed openly
• “Oh, come on it's just one beer, all of us drink it!”
• Or , more indirectly.
• “Take this cigarette.”

Identifying Students with under peer
pressure
Traits putting students at a higher risk of falling to peer
pressure
• Low self esteem
• Lack of confidence
• Uncertainty about ones place within a given peer group
• No personal interests exclusive of one's peer group
• Feeling isolated from peers and/or family
• Lack of direction in life
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Poor academic abilities or performance

Helping Children Deal with Peer
Pressure
Steps children can follow when confronted with peer pressure:
• Ask Questions
“Why would we do that ?”, “Whose idea was this ?”, “Is this a smart thing to
do ?”
• Identify the negative behavior or action
– “Calling her names is just going to start trouble”, “ don’t think smoking
is a good idea”, “It is against school policy to leave the grounds”.
• Evaluate the consequences
– “We will get in trouble”, “Smoking is not healthy”, “My parents will take
away my allowance(pocket money)”

Steps continued:
• Suggest an alternative
– “Why don’t we go to the store/playground after school is over”
• Leave the situation
– If all else fails, remove yourself from the situation. Walk away and
do something else

Positive and Healthy Ways to Deal
with Pressures
• Strategies for students to use:
• Make a joke and change the subject
• Say “no” and keep saying “no”
• Leave the area
• Get help from someone you trust
• Suggest a different activity
• Hang out with others who share your beliefs

What you can do?
• Make students aware of some of the pressures they
may encounter
• Demonstrate the difference between positive and
negative peer pressure
• Provide suggestions and strategies to help children
deal with peer pressure
• Help students develop decision making skills
CSMH-MSMHA 2006

Self-Evaluation Questions:
1. Why did you say that?
2. Why is it a good / bad idea?
3. Is it something you really want to do?
4. Could it get you into trouble?
5. Will it disrupt other people?
6. Why do you want to bother other people?
7. Do you want to be known as a criminal or delinquent?
8. Who has more power and control? YOU, by saying
"NO", or someone who doesn’t agree internally, but
agrees anyway?

What strategies can help to
handle negative peer pressure?
• Pay attention to how you feel. If something doesn’t
feel right about a situation, it probably isn’t. Even if
your friends seem ok with what is going on, the
situation may not be right for you.
• Plan ahead. Think about how you will respond in
different situations. Plan what you can say or what
you can do.
• Talk to the person who is pressuring, let him or her
know how it makes you feel and tell the person stop.

• Have a secret code to communicate with parents. Something you can say
or text to your parent(s) that lets them know that you need to get out of a
situation. Parents can either call or text to say that you need to come
home, or that they need to pick you up.
• Give an excuse. It should be ok to say “no” without needing to apologize
or give an explanation. But it may make it easier to say no if you have a
ready reason. Perhaps saying you have a medical reason or even stating
that your parents need you to come home, if you feel it would be best to
leave the situation all together.
• Have friends with similar values and beliefs. It is easier to say “no” if
someone else is also saying it. Saying “no” together makes it easier for the
both of you.
• Get support from a trusted adult such as a parent, teacher, or school
counselor. A trusted adult can listen to you and help you with strategies
that might work in your situation.

• Give yourself permission to avoid people or situations that don't
feel right and leave a situation that becomes uncomfortable.
Work on setting boundaries. It's OK for you to do what is best
for you.
• Check in with yourself. Ask, "How am I feeling about this?" "Does
this seem right to me?" "What are the pros and cons of making
this decision?"
• Recognize unhealthy dynamics: It's not OK for others to
pressure, force, or trick you into doing things you don't want to
or for others to make threats if you don't give in. It's not OK for
others to mock, belittle, shame, or criticize you for your choices.

• Spend time with people who respect your decisions and won't
put unfair pressure on you to conform.
• Remember that you can't (and don't have to) please everyone or
be liked by everyone. This can be hard to accept, but it helps to
try.
• When people or situations that make you feel pressured are not
avoidable, try the "delay tactic": Give yourself time to think about
your decision instead of giving an immediate answer: "Let me
think about that," "Can I get back to you?" or "Check back with
me in an hour."
• When you can't avoid or delay a pressure-filled situation, practice
saying "No thanks" or just "No!" If "no" feels uncomfortable,
practice using other responses, such as "Not today," "Maybe
another time," or "Thanks, but I can't."

Your Peers are...
• people about your own age
• your parents
• your teachers
• your baby cousin

When people your age try to influence you
to believe or act like them it is called?
Communication
Peer pressure
Negotiation
Friendship

Peer Pressure can be...
•Positive
•Negative
•Neither
• Positive or Negative

A friend wants you to smoke with
them. This is an example of .....
Negative Peer Pressure
Positive Pressure

A friend encourages you to try out for
the basketball team. This is which type
of pressure?
Negative Peer Pressure
Positive Pressure

What qualities can help a person to
resist negative peer pressure?
•peed and Coordination
•Self-Confidence & Assertiveness
•A nice Smile
•Nice Hair

When you are under
pressure you should...
• Stay Calm & Be Confident
• Make Eye-Contact & Repeat "NO"!
• Leave the situation if your friend
persists
• All of the above

Which is NOT an effective
way to handle peer
pressure?
• avoid or leave the unsafe situation
• give reasons for your refusal
• give in and join in the same unsafe
activity
• talk to an adult you trust

Influences of family-
Separation from parents,
Leaving children in creches

Factors Influencing Parent-Child
Relationship
Family structure
Relationship History
Emotional system
Temperament
Parenting Experiences
Intellectual Capacity
Education (formal and informal)
Cultural context and experiences

Methods to Improve Child - Parent
Relationships
1. Play games with Child.
2. Casual conversation.
3. Bring the child to new places.
4. Rewarding

• Happily married parents are more
sensitive, responsive, warm, and
affectionate toward their children.
• Emotional Coaching parents monitor
their children’s emotions, and coach
them to deal effectively with emotions,
• Emotions Dismissing parents view
their role as to deny, ignore, or change
negative emotions

• A secure mother–child attachment is
associated with positive peer interactions,
social behaviors and emotions.
• Children are most likely to experience
healthy social–emotional development
when they are secure in their attachment
to their mothers and fathers and when
their mothers exhibit sensitivity throughout
their childhood.

• Parents can encourage healthy
eating habits in children by having
family meals together, making
healthy foods available, and not
keeping unhealthy food at home.
• They can reduce TV time by
involving children in sports, and
keeping them physically active.

• Child’s individual needs are important. Parents
identify these little desires of their young ones
early on. This helps to develop the bonding of a
child and his/her parents. The child feels
understood and comforted without having to ask.
• At a care centre, child is one of many. The staff’s
key aims are to help keep things peaceful, and
enjoyable. Individual needs, goals, aspirations
are not a priority. Herding together children into
groups and involving them in group activities is
common in such centres.

• As per the brain research theory, the age from zero to
six is very critical for the brain development in the
spheres of socio-emotional, cognitive and language
development in a child.
• The environment he lives in, affects the development of
the child. If they lack confidence and other basic
needs, their brain cell gets impacted.
• The foundation stage is the most important period of
the child as they absorb and learn everything like a
sponge.
• It isn’t only important for education, but also for the
well-being, physical and mental health,

• Children who spend more hours per week in non-
maternal child care are more likely to exhibit
problematic social–behavioral adjustment, including
less social competence and cooperation and more
problem behaviors, negative moods, aggression, and
conflict.
• At age 15, children who had experienced more non
maternal child care reported more risk-taking behaviors
and impulsivity, including using alcohol, tobacco, or
other drugs; behaving in ways that threatened safety;
and not being able to control impulses appropriately.
• Mothers whose children spend more time in non-
maternal care are likely to exhibit lower levels of
sensitivity and less positive mother–child interactions,
regardless of the quality and stability of the child care.

• Leaving the toddler with a maid for a long time
creates a distance between the parents and the
child. It takes a lot of time to reunite with the child.
• The way the maid speaks, acts and behaves is
keenly observed and adopted by the child in her
care, causing behavioural issues in the child and
sometimes even a hurdle in parent-child bonding.

• “Apart from being indisciplined,
children who are brought up by
maids develop insecurity, confusion
and have low self-esteem

Example
• Sheela Khanna (32) who is mostly busy with kitty parties,
shopping and travelling, has little time for her four-year-old
daughter Pariniti. Sheela was in for a rude shock when her
daughter said to her one day:“Kya hai moti? Mujhe game
khelne de.”
• “I was shocked to hear my daughter speaking like this.
Earlier, she used to speak in English but she learnt this from
the maid Roopa. I wanted to fire her instantly and take care
of my daughter herself but Pariniti is so attached to Roopa
that I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” Sheela says

Positive Effects
• Social Awareness: Children who spend time in
day care could be more socially aware than
children who spend no time in day care.
• Memory: Children who spent more time in
center-based care displayed an early advantage.
They tended to score higher on standardized
tests of short-term memory. This effect emerged
even before starting school and is maintained
during the primary grades.

• Social skills: Early positive effects of high-quality
care on cooperation, assertion, responsibility,
and self control seemed to disappear at later ages
—although the researchers point out that long-term
positive effects on social development may well
reappear at a later age because development is
dynamic.
• Improved Vocabulary: Improved competence in
such areas as vocabulary can raise a child’s
educational self-esteem and increase his
chances of being successful in the future.

Impact of Orphanages
• Orphanages put young children at increased risk of delayed
language development, other developmental problems, and
infectious illnesses.
• In the long term, institutionalization in early childhood increases
the likelihood that children will grow into psychologically
impaired and economically unproductive adults.
• Children reared in institutions (compared to children raised by
families) have been found to have lower IQ scores; difficulties
forming and maintaining relationships with others; and poor
self-esteem.

• Children develop a range of negative behaviors, including
aggression and indiscriminate affection toward adults.
• The lack of opportunities for close, consistent, and caring
relationships with adults in institutional settings has a
significant impact on children into adulthood.
• Children who are placed in orphanages shortly after birth
show dramatically lower brain activity when compared to
their non-institutionalized peers.

Multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism is the existence of cultural
diversity within a society
• Multiculturalism describes the existence,
acceptance, and/or promotion of multiple
cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction,
usually considered in terms of the culture
associated with an aboriginal/ native ethnic
group and foreigner ethnic groups.

Multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism flourished in the late twentieth century,
• The term multiculturalism, however, has not been used only to describe a
culturally diverse society, but also to refer to a kind of policy that aims at
protecting cultural diversity.
• Multiculturalism is the phenomenon of multiple groups of cultures existing
within one society, largely due to the arrival of immigrant communities, or the
acceptance and advocacy of this phenomenon.
• This can happen when a jurisdiction is created or expanded by amalgamating
areas with two or more different cultures (e.g. French Canada and English
Canada) or through immigration from different jurisdictions around the world
(e.g. Australia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and many other
countries

Multiculturalism
• Culture includes, racial, religious, linguistic characteristics etc.
which may have differences and distinctions in customary
behaviours, assumptions and values, patterns of thinking and
communication styles.
• It aims at the preservation of different cultures and their
identities within a unified society as a state or nation.
• Multiculturalism‟ is now used not only to define
disadvantaged and marginalised groups like tribal, linguistic-
cultural-religious minorities, LGBT, disabled, etc., but also
immigrants who may come under ethnic, religious minorities
as well as minority nations and indigenous peoples.

• Multiculturalism is an unstoppable trend worldwide,
and countries such as Brazil, Canada, Singapore, UK,
Germany, Switzerland, India, USA, Australia and New
Zealand are leading the way and India is a country
which has Multiculturalism in its DNA.
• In Indian context, most states differ from one another
in language, culture, cuisine, clothing, literary style,
architecture, music and festivities.
• Multiculturalism in India pinpoints that various
cultures in a society has equal respect and
recognition.

Culture and Child development
• Child development is a dynamic, interactive
process.
• Every child is unique in interacting with the
world around them, and what they invoke and
receive from others and the environment also
shapes how they think and behave.
• Children growing up in different cultures
receive specific inputs from their environment.
For that reason, there’s a vast array of cultural
differences in children’s beliefs and behaviour.

• Language is one of the many ways through
which culture affects development.
• As early as infancy, mothers from different
cultures talk to their babies differently.
• German mothers tend to focus on their
infants’ needs, wishes or treat them as a
person.
• Mothers of the African tribal group, on the
other hand, focus more on social context. This
can include the child’s interactions with other
people and the rules surrounding it.

• For example, in Western European and North
American countries, children tend to describe
themselves around their unique characteristics –
such as “I am smart” or “I am good at drawing”.
• In Asian, African, Southern European and South
American countries, however, children describe
themselves more often around their relationship
with others and social roles. Examples of this
include “I am my parents’ child” or “I am a good
student”.
• This early exposure affects the way children attend
to themselves or to their relationship with others –
forming their self image and identity.

• Because children in different cultures differ in
how they think about themselves and relate to
others, they also memorise events differently.
• For example, when preschoolers were asked to
describe a recent special personal experience,
European-American children provided more
detailed descriptions, recalled more specific
events and stressed their preferences, feelings
and opinions about it more than Chinese and
Korean children.
• The Asian children instead focused more on the
people they had met and how they related to
themselves.

Cultural Effects of Parenting
• European-American children frequently provide long, elaborative,
self-focused narratives emphasising personal preferences and
autonomy. Their interaction style also tends to be reciprocal, taking
turns in talking.
• In contrast, Korean and Chinese children’s accounts are usually brief,
relation-oriented, and show a great concern with authority. They often
take a more passive role in the conversations.
• The same cultural variations in interaction are also evident when
children talk with an independent interviewer.
• For instance, in Chinese culture, where parents assume much
responsibility and authority over children, parents interact with
children in a more authoritative manner and demand obedience from
their children. Children growing up in such environments are more
likely to comply with their parents’ requests, even when they are
reluctant to do so.
• By contrast, Chinese immigrant children growing up in England
behave more similarly to English children, who are less likely to follow
parental demands if unwilling.

FAMILIAL CULTURE
• Every home and household practices follows a certain
culture. A status quo of behavior and a belief system that
is usually a result of what the child’s parents, or
patriarch/matriarch have established over a period of
time.
• And since a child’s earliest understanding and education
is imbibed from observation of what goes on at home, the
culture prevalent at home greatly influences how the child
behaves, be it a positive or a negative manifestation
• Let us take. If a child belongs to a very wealthy business
family, and has seen that there is a culture (propensity) on
the part of the elders to discuss money all the time, a
leaning towards a show-of-wealth, again, chances are that
the child too, will adopt a similar ‘culture’ (habit).

RELIGIOUS/COMMUNITY
CULTURE
Culture that is derived from the religious beliefs
and practices of a specific family.
•If a child grows up seeing a lot of time and effort
being devoted to religion, prayer, ceremonies;
that is the culture he or she might also adopt.
•Similarly, communities and their peculiarities
also form part of the cultural exposure and
inheritance of a child.
•If we were to generalize example of a Bengali
family where there is omnipresence of the arts
and other intellectual pursuits, a child in that
environment will be obviously be influenced by
that kind of learning

OUTSIDE-HOME CULTURE
• A huge part of what influences children also
includes the kind of culture they are exposed to,
outside the home environment.
• Educational institutions, especially school (since
those are very impressionable years), plays a
significant role in shaping a culture that a child
will adopt for the rest of his or her life.
• The kind of value system and beliefs that children
are exposed to at school and during their
formative years of learning will undoubtedly have
a huge impact on how they turn out, negative, or
positive.

NATIONAL Culture
• There is a culture and an identity to be inherited from
one’s motherland.
• Even children, and subsequently adults, who may believe
that they are global-citizens, will in some form or fashion,
consciously or unconsciously, digest a culture that has
been part of the place they were born in, and grew up in.
• An Indian child, when he or she grows up, is less likely to
put their parents into a care-home, choosing instead to
keep them at home, and care for them personally, than
say, an American. That is usually down to a cultural
difference between these two nationalities.
• All we can do as parents and care givers is to try our best
to ensure that our children are exposed to the ‘right’ kind
of culture, at home, and outside!

Culture and Development
• Race and other identities are often sites of discrimination
and oppression in societies; as such, they can have a
tremendous impact on childhood development.
• The United States is a very racialized society, and children—
especially children of color—often become aware of the
dynamics of racism at a very young age. Children are taught
the stereotypes that go along with their particular race(s), as
well as the races of others, and these stereotypes can have a
strong influence on their development.
• Stereotypes and racialized expectations often contribute
to stereotype threat, in which a child experiences anxiety or
concern in a situation that has the potential to confirm a
negative stereotype about his or her social group.
• For example, if an African-American child is given the
message that black people are not as “smart” as white
people, she may worry if she is not doing well in school
because of it. Stereotype threat can lower the intellectual
performance of black students, due to the stereotype that
they are less intelligent than other groups, which may cause
them to feel additional pressure and anxiety.

Poverty
• Living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on the
physical and mental health and wellbeing of children. Poverty
impacts children within their various contexts at home, in school,
and in their neighborhoods and communities.
• Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard
housing, homelessness, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity,
inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe
neighborhoods, and under resourced schools.
• Poorer children and teens are also at greater risk for several
negative outcomes such as poor academic achievement, school
dropout, abuse and neglect, behavioral and socio-emotional
problems, physical health problems, and developmental delays.

Poverty and Academic Achievement
•Poverty has a particularly adverse effect on the academic
outcomes of children, especially during early childhood.
•Chronic stress associated with living in poverty has shown
adverse affect on children’s concentration and memory which
may impact their ability to learn.
•Under resourced schools in poorer communities struggle to
meet the learning needs of their students and aid them in
fulfilling their potential.
•Inadequate education contributes to the cycle of poverty by
making it more difficult for low-income children to lift
themselves and future generations out of poverty.

Poverty and Psychosocial Outcomes
•Children living in poverty are at greater risk of behavioral and emotional
problems.
•Some behavioral problems may include impulsiveness, difficulty getting
along with peers, aggression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) and conduct disorder.
•Some emotional problems may include feelings of anxiety, depression, and
low self-esteem.
•Unsafe neighborhoods may expose low-income children to violence which
can cause a number of psychosocial difficulties.
• Violence exposure can also predict future violent behavior in youth which
places them at greater risk of injury and mortality and entry into the
juvenile justice system.

Poverty and Physical Health
•Children and teens living in poorer communities are at
increased risk for a wide range of physical health problems:
•Low birth weight
•Poor nutrition which is manifested in the following ways:
– Inadequate food which can lead to food insecurity/hunger
– Lack of access to healthy foods and areas for play or sports
which can lead to childhood overweight or obesity
•Chronic conditions such as asthma, anemia, and pneumonia
•Exposure to violence in their communities which can lead to
trauma, injury, disability, and mortality

Poverty
• Children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds show short
attention spans
• Teachers can help students who live in poverty by implementing
these suggestions
• Spend time adding to their worldly experience
• Work to boost the self-esteem of students by praising their school success
• Provide access to computers, magazines, newspapers, and books

Action Steps
Embody respect. You can't change what's in your students' bank account, but you can
change what's in their emotional account.
•Give respect to students first, even when they seem least to deserve it.
Embed social skills. At every grade level, use a variety of classroom strategies that
strengthen social and emotional skills. For example,
•Teach basic but crucial meet-and-greet skills
Embed turn-taking skills in class, even at the secondary level.
•Remind students to thank their classmates after completing collaborative activities.
Be inclusive. Create a familial atmosphere by using inclusive and affiliated language. For
example,
•Always refer to the school as "our school” and the class as "our class”; avoid using a me-
and-you model that reinforces power structures.
•Acknowledge students who make it to class, and thank them for small things.
•Celebrate effort as well as achievement; praise students for reaching milestones as well as
for fulfilling end goals. Pack acknowledgments and celebrations into every single class.

Caste and Multiculturalism
• The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the
Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by many endogamous hereditary
groups, often termed jātis or castes.
• Religiously, Hindus form the majority, followed by Muslims. The statistics are: Hindu (80.5%),
Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (2.1%), Budhist, Jain, Jew and Parsi populations.
• India's state boundaries are largely drawn based on linguistic groups; this decision led to the
preservation and continuation of local ethno-linguistic sub-cultures.
• Most of the major religions of the world such as Hinduism and Buddhism, originated in this
land while others, such as Christianity and Islam, though came from outside has remained
and grown in it for a thousand years and more.
• Caste-based discrimination has also been prevalent over centuries, including segregation by
occupation with the lower castes subjected to less-skilled, lower paying jobs; a lack of access
to education; and in the extreme, a form of geographic segregation and isolation (Srinivas,
1953).

Tribal Community Problems
Poverty and Indebtedness
•Majority tribes live under poverty line.
•Most of the occupation falls into the primary occupations such as hunting, gathering,
and agriculture. Hence there per capita income is very meager much lesser than the
Indian average. Most of them live under miserable poverty and are in debt in the
hands of local moneylenders and Zamindars.
•In order to repay the debt they often mortgage or sell their land to the moneylenders.
Indebtedness is almost inevitable since heavy interest is to be paid to these
moneylenders.
•Health and Nutrition
•In many parts of India tribal population suffers from chronic infections and diseases
out of which water borne diseases are life threatening. The Himalayan tribes suffer
from goiter due to lack of iodine. Leprosy and tuberculosis are also common among
them. Infant mortality was found to be very high among some of the tribes.
Malnutrition is common and has affected the general health of the tribal children as it
lowers the ability to resist infection, leads to chronic illness and sometimes leads to
brain impairment.

Education
•Overall the formal education has made very little impact on tribal
groups.
•Earlier Government had no direct programme for their education.
But in the subsequent years the reservation policy has made some
changes.
There are many reasons for low level of education among the tribal
people:
– Formal education is not considered necessary to discharge their social
obligations.
– Superstitions and myths play an important role in rejecting education.
– Most tribes live in miserable poverty. It is not easy for them to send their
children to schools, as they are considered extra helping hands.
– The formal schools do not hold any special interest for the children. Most of the tribes are
located in interior and remote areas where teachers would not like to go from outside.

• The causes of educational backwardness
among tribal children are
• Cultural Discontinuity
• Remoteness and scattered nature of tribal
habitations
• Social discrimination

Gender and Multiculturalism
• All countries share is a stereotypical view of minority women as victims
of their own cultures’ patriarchal practices, and a lack of understanding of
the specificities of the intersections of gender, ethnicity, and class.
• There is disparity in sharing of responsibilities is causing issues and
affecting family law and policy, the concept of “the democratic family”,
and actual family practices. The central aspects of democratic family are
negotiations between partners, shared parenting and the position of
children.
• Asymmetrical household responsibilities, pre-given gendered
understandings of men and women’s roles, and the persistence of male
violence should give way to “an adaptation and reproduction of pre-
existing family norms to new circumstances.”

Interplay of poverty, caste and gender
• All the factors (interplay of poverty, caste and gender) effect the
development of the child
• Poverty leads to poor physical, emotional, and behavioral health.
• Children who experience poverty have an increased likelihood of
extending into adulthood numerous chronic illnesses, and for a shortened
life expectancy.
• Poverty creates and widens achievement gaps in relation to children
from better SES
• Poor children are more likely to live in neighborhoods with concentrated
poverty, which is associated with numerous social ills.
• Even due to poverty( girls not sent to schools);

• Caste discrimination adversely affects the overall development of child,
due to stereotypes associated with castes
• creates and widens achievement gaps in relation to children from better
SES
• lack of facilities also adversely affect the overall development of child
• Girl child is at the receiving end, due to cultural factors, several castes do
not educate their girl child, or will educate to a specific level, there is
imposition of several restrictions
• Subjected to adhere to gender roles( boys/ girls both)
• Girls are deprived of privileges, basic facilities and opportunities for proper
growth and development

• Both social class and ethnic/racial group membership are predictors of physical and mental
health and educational status.
• Both are associated with lifestyle, environmental, and occupational factors (e.g. tobacco
and alcohol, air and water pollution, asbestos and lead exposure) and
• access to education and health-promoting and protecting resources (e. g. adequate and
varied foodstuffs, sanitation) ;and
• preventive learning and medical services (e.g. prenatal care, childhood immunization,
chronic disease screening).
• Although poverty and cultural diversity have always been important determinants of
educational and health status of an individual and effects the overall growth and
development of the child

Culturally Responsive
Teaching is Transformative
• Multicultural education guides students in
understanding that no single version of "truth" is
total and permanent.

Creating a Multicultural Classroom
• Use multicultural books and materials
• Show an appreciation of cultural, racial, and
ethnic differences
• Avoid stereotypes
• Acknowledge differences in children
• Discover the diversity within the classroom
(know your students and their backgrounds)
• Accept and embrace all of your students

Minimizing Religious and Cultural
Prejudice
• Include content from all cultures, both ethnic
and religious, into the curriculum.
• Show interest and enthusiasm about the
diverse cultures represented in your
classroom.
• Discuss various cultures in an engaging way.

Foster a Sense of Belonging
• For new students
or students who
seem isolated, a
teacher can assign
a buddy who will
help them to feel
at home.

Sharing Cultures
• Teach students to know and praise their
own and other's cultural heritage.

149
The Equitable Learning
Environment
• Watch for and challenge student behaviors and
relationships that reflect stereotypical roles
Example: Men assuming the lead in lab activities,
women being “note-taker” in small groups
• Be thoughtful about how you create cooperative
teams or small groups
• Help students un-learn the ways of being and seeing
that lend themselves to prejudice

150
The Equitable Learning
Environment
A. Identify and work to eliminate your biases,
prejudices, and assumptions (about various groups
of students)
B. Identify the gaps in your knowledge about equity
issues and pursue the information to fill those gaps
C. Build the skills necessary to intervene effectively
when equity issues arise
D. Mind your compliments: to compliment male students on
their intelligence. Female students: On their appearance

151
VI. The Equitable Learning
Environment
• Never, under any circumstance, invalidate or allow other
students to invalidate concerns of inequity raised by students
from disenfranchised groups
• Develop your facilitation skills so that you can effectively
facilitate “difficult dialogues” about racism, sexism, classism,
heterosexism, etc.
• Design assignments that encourage students to apply what
they’re learning to a human rights issue
• Use peer teaching, peer feedback, and other peer interactions
to provide students an opportunity to learn content through a
variety of lenses

Updating pedagogy
• Culturally relevant pedagogy is a pedagogy that makes
modifications in instructional strategies to account for
diversity.
• Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning are two of the
most effective strategies to engage students in culturally
relevant learning. Reciprocal teaching occurs when students
take turns leading the class discussion. This method invites
students to use their cultural viewpoints to express the
instructional material in their own words.
• Cooperative learning is effective when group collaboration
as well as individual responsibility is utilized for the
completion of assignments. The outcome of cooperative
learning goes beyond the completion of the task and is also
teaching students to know and praise their own and each
other’s cultures.

Approaches to Multicultural Education
Dr. James A. Banks, educator and author of over 20 books on
multicultural education, has identified four approaches that
teachers can use for integrating multiculturalism into their
curriculum. Let's look at each approach, one at a time:
•Contributions
Teachers using this approach provide examples of the relevant
contributions and heroic accomplishments of people from different
races and cultures, without changing the lesson plan or goals of
the unit being taught. For example, in a science , students could
learn of the contributions of scientists from different countries or
American ethnicities.
•Additive
This approach requires adding cultural realities that traditionally
are left out of a curriculum that focuses on a traditional holiday,
like Independence Day or important days of different countries.
Providing stories about their celebration would be one way to add
a multicultural element. The Additive approach does not change
the overall curriculum.

• Transformation
The transformation approach seeks to change the attitudes about
cultural differences by using a different curriculum, one that
encourages students to view problems and concepts from the
perspective of different cultures. For example, if students were
studying the wars between two countries, they would consider
the views of the settlers, soldiers, and also the native peoples.
• Social Action
The social action approach uses the concepts from the
transformation curriculum and takes it a step further, where
students take action for social change. After acquiring the
necessary knowledge about something in their community that
needs change, students get involved in activities that may effect
that change, such as writing letters to senators or taking the
time to reach out and befriend students of different races or
ethnic backgrounds.

The Dimensions of
Multicultural Education
James A. Banks's Dimensions of Multicultural Education is used widely by
school districts to conceptualize and develop courses, programs, and
projects in multicultural education.
The five dimensions are:
(1)content integration
(2)the knowledge construction process
(3)prejudice reduction
(4)an equity pedagogy
(5)an empowering school culture and social structure.
Although each dimension is conceptually distinct, in practice they are
interrelated.
•

Content Integration
• Content integration deals with the extent to which teachers
use examples and content from a variety of cultures and
groups to illustrate key concepts, principles, generalizations,
and theories in their subject area or discipline.
• More opportunities exist for the integration of ethnic and
cultural content in some subject areas than in others. There
are frequent and ample opportunities for teachers to use
ethnic and cultural content to illustrate concepts, themes,
and principles in the social studies, the language arts, and in
music.

The knowledge construction
process.
• The knowledge construction process describes teaching activities
that help students to understand, investigate, and determine
how the implicit cultural assumptions, frames of references,
perspectives, and biases of researchers and textbook writers
influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed.
• Multicultural teaching involves not only infusing ethnic content
into the school curriculum, but changing the structure and
organization of school knowledge. It also includes changing the
ways in which teachers and students view and interact with
knowledge, helping them to become knowledge producers, not
merely the consumers of knowledge produced by others.

• The knowledge construction process
helps teachers and students to
understand why the cultural identities
and social positions of researchers need
to be taken into account when
assessing the validity of knowledge
claims.

Prejudice Reduction.
• The prejudice reduction dimension of multicultural education
seeks to help students develop positive and democratic racial
attitudes.
• The theory developed by Gordon Allport (1954) has
significantly influenced research and theory in intergroup
relations. He hypothesized that prejudice can be reduced by
interracial contact if the contact situations have these
characteristics:
• (1) they are cooperative rather than competitive
• (2) the individuals experience equal status
• (3) the contact is sanctioned by authorities such as parents,
principals and teachers.

An Equity Pedagogy.
• An equity pedagogy exists when teachers modify
their teaching in ways that will facilitate the
academic achievement of students from diverse
racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and language
groups.
• This includes using a variety of teaching styles
and approaches that are consistent with the
range of learning styles within various cultures.

An Empowering School
Culture
• This dimension involves restructuring the culture and
organization of the school so that students from diverse racial,
ethnic, socioeconomic, and language groups experience
equality.
• Members of the school staff examine and change the culture
and social structure of the school.
• Grouping and labeling practices, sports participation, gaps in
achievement among groups, different rates of enrollment in
gifted and special education programs among groups, and the
interaction of the staff and students across ethnic and racial
lines are important variables that are examined and reformed.

To support the earlier discussion..three categories
of research that describe the effectiveness of
multicultural education can be identified:
(1) research that describes the effectiveness of
multicultural curriculum interventions
(2) research on the effects of cooperative learning
(3) research on how culturally responsive teaching
influences student learning

Remember :
A.  Become familiar with your students
culture.
B.  Have cross-cultural experience.
C.  Read multicultural literature.
D.  Put yourself in a different culture.
E.  Have friends from different racial
group.

PITY IS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO HOPE!
AS A TEACHER YOU HAVE THE ABILITY
TO GENERATE HOPE IN EVERY
STUDENT'S LIFE, BECAUSE YOU HOLD
THE KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS,
AND THAT KEY IS
EDUCATION!

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