Embracing Change

Teaching in aMulticultural World

Despite the contemporary focus on multiculturalism in o u rsociety, particularly in education, there is n o t nearly enoughpractical discussion of ways classroom settings can be trans‑formed sothat the learningexperience is inclusive. If the effortto respect and honor the social reality and experiences ofgroups in this society who are nonwhite is to be reflected in apedagogical process, then as teachers‐011 all levels, f rom ele‑mentaryto university settings‐we mu s t acknowledge that o u rStyles of teaching may need to change. Let’s face it: m o s t of uswere taught in classrooms where styles of teachings reflectedthe notion of a single n o r m of thought and experience, whichwewere encouraged to believe was universal. This has beenjustas t rue for nonwhite teachers asfor while teachers. Most of uslearned to teach emulating this model. As a consequence,many teachers a re disturbed by the political implications of amultlcultural education because they fear losing control in a

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36 Teaching to Transgress

classroom where there is no o n e way to approach a subject‐‑only multiple ways and multiple references.

Among educators there has to be an acknowledgment thatany effort to transform institutions so that they reflect a multi‑cultural standpoint m u s t take into consideration the fearsteachers have when asked to shift their paradigms. There m u s tbe training siteswhere teachers have the opportunity to expressthose concerns while also learning to create ways to approachthe multicultural classroom and curriculum. \Nhen I first we n tto Oberlin College, I was disturbed by what I felt was a lack ofunderstanding on the apart of many professors asto what themulticultural classroom might be like. Chandra Mohanty, mycolleague in Women’s Studies, shared these concerns. Thoughwe were both untenured, o u r strong belief that the Oberlincampus was n o t fully facing the issue of changing curriculumand teaching practices in ways that were progressive and pro‑moting of inclusion led us to consider how wemight intervenein this process.Weproceeded from the standpoint that the vastmajority of Oberl in professors, who are overwhelmingly white,were basically well-meaning, concerned about the quality ofeducation students receive on o u r campus, and therefore likelyto be supportive of any effort at education for critical con ‑sciousness. Together, we decided to have a group of seminarsfocusing on transformative pedagogy that would be open to allprofessors. Initially, students were also welcome, but we foundthat their presence inhibited honest discussion. On the firstnight, for example, several white professors made c ommen t sthat could beviewed ashorribly racist and the students left thegroup to share what was said around the college. Since o u rintentwas to educate for critical consciousness, we did n o t w a n tthe seminar setting to be a space where anyone would feelattacked or their reputation asa teacher sullied. Wedid, howev‑er, wan t it to be a space for constructive confrontation and crit‑

Embracing Change 37

ical interrogation. To ensure that this could happen,wehad toexclude students.

At the first meeting, Chandra (whose background is in edu‑cation) and I talked about the factors that had influenced o u rPedagogical practices. I emphasized the impact of Freire’sworkon my thinking. Since my formative education took place inracially segregated schools, I spoke about the experience oflearning when one’s experience is recognized ascentral andsignificant and then how that changed with desegregation,when black children were forced to attend schools where wewere regarded asobjects and n o t subjects. Many of the profes‑sors present at the first meeting were disturbed by o u r ove r tdiscussion of political standpoints. Again and again, it was nec‑essary to remind everyone that no education ispolitically neu ‑tral. Emphasizing that a white male professor in an Englishdepartment who teaches only work by “greatwhite men" ismak‑ing a political decision, we had to work consistently againstand through the overwhelmingwill on the part of folks to denythe politics of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and so forth thatin form how and what we teach. We found again and again thatalmost everyone, especially the old guard,were mo r e disturbedby the ove r t recognition of the role o u r political perspectivesplay in shaping pedagogy than by their passive acceptance ofways of teaching and learning that reflect biases, particularly awhite supremacist standpoint.

To share in o u r efforts at intervention we invited professorsfrom universities around the country to come and ta lk ‐bothformally and informally‐about the k ind of work they weredoing aimed at transforming teaching and learning so that amulticultural education would be possible. We invited then‑Princeton professor of religion and philosophy Cornel \Nest togiVe a talk on “decentering Western civilization.” It was o u rhOpe that his very traditional training and his progressive prac‑

38 Teaching to Transgress

tice asa scholar would give everyone a sense of optimism abouto u r ability to change. In the informal session, a few white maleprofessors were courageously outspoken in their efforts to saythat they could accept the need for change, but were uncertainabout the implications of the changes. This reminded usthat itisdifficult fo r individuals to shift paradigms and that there m u s tbe a setting for folks to voice fears, to talk about what they aredoing, how they are doing it, and why. One of o u r mos t usefulmeetings was one in which we asked professors from differentdisciplines (including math and science) to talk informallyabout how their teaching had been changed by a desire to bemore inclusive. Hearing individuals describe concre te strate‑gies was anapproach that helpeddispel fears. It was crucial thatmore traditional or conservative professors who had been will‑ing to make changes talk about motivations and strategies.

When the meetings concluded, Chandra and I initially felt atremendous sense of disappointment.Wehad n o t realized howmuch faculty would need to unlearn racism to learn about col‑onization and decolonization and to fully appreciate the neces‑sity for creating ademocratic liberal ar ts learning experience.

Al l t o o often we found a will to include those considered“marginal” without awillingness to accord their work the samerespect and consideration given other work. In \Nomen’s Stud‑ies, for example, individualswill often focus on women ofco lorat the very end of the semester or lump everything about raceand difference together in one section. This kind of tokenismisn o t multicultural transformation, but it is familiar to usasthechange individuals a re m o s t likely to make. Le t me give anoth‑er example. What does it mean when a white female Englishprofessor is eager to include a work by Ton i Morrison on thesyllabus of her course but then teaches that work without evermaking reference to race or ethnicity? l have heard individualwhite women “boast” about how they have shown students thatblack writers are “as good” as the white male canon when they

Embracing Change 39

do not call attention to race. Clearly, such pedagogy is n o t aninterrogation of the biases conventional canons ( i f n o t all can ‑0115) establish, bu t yet another f o rm of tokenism.

The unwillingness to approach teaching f rom a standpointthat includes awareness of race, sex, and class is often rooted inthe fear that classrooms will be uncontrollable, that emotionsand passionswill n o t be contained. To some ex ten t ,we all knowthat whenever we address in the classroom subjects that stu ‑dents are passionate about there is always a possibility of con ‑frontation, forceful expression of ideas, or even conflict. Inmuch of mywriting about pedagogy, particularly in classroomsettings with great diversity, I have talked about the need toexamine critically the way weasteachers conceptualize what thespace for learning should be like. Many professors have con‑veyed to me their feeling that the classroom should be a “safe”place; that usually translates to mean that the professor lecturesto a group of quiet students who respond only when they arecalled on . The experience of professorswho educate for criticalconsciousness indicates that many students, especially studentsof color, may n o t feel at all “safe” in what appears to be a neutralsetting. It is the absence of a feeling of safety that often pro‑motes prolonged silence or lack ofstudent engagement.

Making the classroom a democratic setting where everyonefeels a responsibility to contribute is a central goal of t rans ‑formative pedagogy. Throughout my teaching career, whiteprofessors have often voiced concern to me about nonwhitestudents who do n o t talk. As the classroom becomes mo r ediverse, teachers are faced with the way the politics of domina‑tion are often reproduced in the educational setting. For exam‑ple, white male students continue to be the mo s t vocal in o u rClasses. Students of color and some white women express fearthat they will be judged as intellectually inadequate by thesepeers. l have taught brill iant students of color, many of themseniors, who have skillfully managed never to speak in class‑

40 Teaching to Transgress

r o o m settings. Some express the feeling that they are less likelyto suffer any kind of assault if they simply do n o t assert theirsubjectivity. They have told me that many professors nevershowed any interest in hearing their voices. Accepting thedecentering of the \Nest globally, embracing multiculturalism,compels educators to focus attention on the issue of voice.Who speaks? \Nho listens? And why? Caring about whether allstudents fulfi l l their responsibility to contribute to learning inthe classroom is n o t a c ommon approach in what Freire hascalled the “banking system of education” where students areregarded merely as passive consumers. Since so many profes‑sors teach from that standpoint, it isdifficult to crea te the kindof learning community that can fully embrace multicultural‑ism. Students are much more willing to surrender their depen‑dency on the banking system of education than are theirteachers. They are also much more willing to face the chal‑lenge of multiculturalism.

It has been asa teacher in the classroom setting that l havewitnessed the power of a transtrmative pedagogy rooted in arespect fo r multiculturalism. Working with a critical pedagogybased on my understanding of Freire’s teaching, I en t e r theclassroom with the assumption that we mus t build “communi‑ty” in order to crea te a climate of openness and intellectualrigor. Rather than focusing on issues of safety, I think that afeeling of community creates a sense that there is shared com ‑mitment and a common good that binds us.What weall ideallyshare is the desire to lea rn ‐ t o receive actively knowledge thatenhances o u r intellectual development and o u r capacity to livemo r e fully in the world. It has been myexperience that one wayto build community in the classroom is to recognize the valueof each individual voice. In my classes, students keepjournalsand often write paragraphs during class which they read to oneanother. This happens at least once irrespective of class size.Most of the classes I teach are n o t small. They range anywhere

Embracing Change 4|

n t h i r t y to sixty students, and at times I have taught m o r ee hundred. To hear each other ( the sound of different

froIthan onVoices). to listen to o n e another, isan exercise in recognition. Italso ensures that no student remains invisible in the classroom.Some students resenthaving to make a verbal contribution, andso I have had to make it clear f rom the outset that this is arequirement in my classes. Even if there is a student presentwhose voice cannot be heard in spoken words, by “signing”(even i fwe cannot read the signs) they make their presence felt.

When I first entered the multicultural, multiethnic class‑room setting I was unprepared. I did n o t know how to copeeffectively with somuch “difference.” Despite progressive poli‑tics. and my deep engagement with the feminist m o v e m e n t , Ihad never before been compelled to work within a truly diversesetting and I lacked the necessary skills. This is the case withmost educators. It is difficult for many educators in the UnitedStates to conceptualize how the classroom will look when theyare confronted with the demographics which indicate that“whiteness” may cease to be the n o r m ethnicity in classroomsettings on all levels. Hence, educators a re poorly preparedwhen we actually confront diversity. This is why so many of usstubbornly cling to old patterns. AsI worked to create teachingstrategies that would make a space for multicultural learning, Ifound it necessary to recognize what I have called in other writ‑ing on pedagogy different “cultural codes.” To teach effectivelya diverse student body, I have to learn these codes. And so dostudents. This ac t alone transforms the classroom.The sharingof ideas and information does n o t always progress asquickly asit may in m o r e homogeneous settings. Often, professors andstudents have to learn to accept different ways of knowing, n e wepistemologies, in the multicultural setting.

just as it may be difficult fo r professors to shift their para‑digms, it is equally difficult fo r students. I have always believedthat students should enjoy learning. Yet I found that there was

42 Teaching to Transgress

much mo r e tension in the diverse classroom setting where thephilosophy of teaching is rooted in critical pedagogy and ( i nmy case) in feminist critical pedagogy. The presence of ten ‑s ion ‐and at times even conflict‐often m e a n t that studentsd id n o t enjoy I n y classes or love me, their professor, asI secret‑lywanted them to do. Teaching in a traditional discipline fromthe perspective of critical pedagogy means that I oftene n c o u n t e r students who make complaints like, “I thought thiswas supposed to be an English class, why are we talking somuch about feminism?" (Or, they might add, race or class.) Inthe transformed classroom there is often a much greater needto explain philosophy, strategy, intent than in the “norm” set‑ting. l have found through the years that many of my studentswho bitch endlesslywhile they are taking myclasses contact meat a later date to talk about how much that experience mean tto them, how much they learned. In my professorial role I hadto surrender my need for immediate affirmation of successfulteaching (even though some reward is immediate) and acceptthat students may n o t appreciate the value of a certain stand‑point or process straightaway. The exciting aspect of creating aclassroom community where there is respect for individualvoices is that there isinfinitely mo r e feedback because studentsdo feel free to ta lk ‐and talk back. And, yes, often this feed‑back is critical. Moving away from the need for immediateaffirmation was crucial to my growth asa teacher. I learned torespect that shifting paradigms or sharing knowledge in newways challenges; it takes time for students to experience thatchallenge aspositive.

Students taught me, too, that it is necessary to practice com ‑passion in these new learningsettings. I have n o t forgotten theday a student came to class and told m e : “ 7etake your class. welearn to look at the world f rom a critical standpoint, o ne thatconsiders race, sex, and class.Andwe can’t enjoy life anymore.”Looking o u t over the class, across race, sexual preference, and

Embracing Change 43

ethnicity, I saw Students nodding their heads. And I saw f o r thefir5t time that there can be, and usually is, some degree of paininvolved in giving up old ways of thinking and knowing andlearning new approaches. I respect that pain. And I includerecognition of it n o w when I teach, that is to say, I teach aboutshifting paradigms and talk about the discomfort it can cause.“ h im students learning to think m o r e critically about ques‑tions of race and racism may go home fo r the holidays and sud‑denlysee their parents in a different light. They may recognizenonprogressive thinking, racism, and so o n , and it may hur tthem that new ways of knowingmay crea te estrangement wherethere was none. Often when students r e t u r n from breaks I askthem to share with us how ideas that they have learned orworked on in the classroom impacted on their experience ou t ‑side. This gives them both the opportunity to know that diffi‑cult experiences may be common and practice at integratingtheory and practice: ways of knowingwith habits of being. Wepractice interrogating habits of beingaswell asideas. Throughthis process webuild community.

Despite the focus on diversity, o u r desires for inclusion,many professors still teach in classrooms that are predominant‑ly white. Often a spirit of tokenism prevails in those settings.This is why it is so crucial that “whiteness” be studied, under‑stood, discussed‐so that everyone learns that affirmation ofmulticulturalism, and an unbiased inclusive perspective, canand should be present whether or n o t people of color a re pre‑sent. Translbrming these classrooms is asgreat a challenge aslearning how to teach well in the setting of diversity. Often, ifthere is one lone person of color in the classroom she or he isObjectified by others and forced to assume the role of “nativeinformant.” For example, anovel isread byaKoreanAmericanauthor. White students t u r n to the one student f rom a Koreanbackground to explain what they do n o t understand. ThisPlaCCS anunfair responsibility o n t o that student. Professors can

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intervene in this process bymaking it clear f rom the ou t se t thatexperience does n o t make one an expert, and perhaps even byexplaining what it means to place someone in the role of “na‑tive informant.” It m u s t be stated that professors canno t inter‑vene if they also see students as “native informants.” Often,students have come to myoffice complaining about the lack ofinclusion in another professor’s class. For example, a course onsocial and political thought in the United States includes nowork by women. \Nhen students complain to the teacher aboutthis lack of inclusion, they are told to make suggestions ofmaterial that can be used. This often places an unfair burdenon a student. It also makes it seem that it is only important toaddress a bias if there is someone complaining. Increasingly,students are making complaints because they wan t ademocrat‑ic unbiased liberal a r t s education.

Multiculturalism compels educators to recognize the nar‑r ow boundaries that have shaped the way knowledge is sharedin the classroom. It forces us all to recognize o u r complicity inaccepting and perpetuating biases of any kind. Students areeager to break through barriers to knowing. They are willing tosurrender to the wonder of re‐learning and learning ways ofknowing that go against the grain. When we, as educators,allow o u r pedagogy to be radically changed byo u r recognitionof a multicultural world, we can give students the educationthey desire and deserve. We can teach in ways that transformconsciousness, creating a climate of free expression that is theessence of a truly liberatory liberal a r t s education.