Cultural Literacy and Multicultural Literacy

Cultural
Literacy
Culture is not “one size fits all”. As the cultural
environment changes, we must adapt to the given
standards. Our behavioral patterns change
dramatically from one cultural context to another. We
are expected to behave according to the standards of
the group. We may choose not to behave in
accordance with our cultures or else endure a never-
ending struggle (Vega et al., 2009).
Cultural literacy is not knowledge alone- it is immersion.
One needs to understand the signs and symbols of a given
culture and being able to participate in its activities and
customs as opposed to simply being a passive observer. The
signs and symbols of a culture include both formal and
informal languages, its idioms and forms of expression,
entertainment, values, customs, roles, traditions and the
like – most of which are assumed and unwritten. Thus,
they are learned by being participative of the culture.
This is to say that to be culturally literate with the Ifugaos,
one has to eat the pinikpikan, drink the tapoy, dance the
gong music, wear the g-string, chew the itso, speak their
dialect, etc. By this, it is then said that cultural literacy is
culture-specific but it is not limited to national cultures.
The culture of one workplace can be different from
another, as people in an institution may come from various
places locally or abroad just as the culture of one campus of
a university can differ widely from another campus or
school.
Multicultural
Literacy
What is multicultural literacy?
Multicultural literacy is both teaching the word and the
world Freire (2005), its people and their practices, and being
able to understand and accept and coexist with different
peoples of the globe to act as responsible citizens in the
global village. It requires global citizens to balance unity and
diversity, develop cultural, national, and global
identifications, and eventually acquire multicultural
citizenship.
According to Banks (2006: p. 129),
multicultural literacy “is a movement
designed to empower all students to become
knowledgeable, caring, and active citizens in
a deeply troubled and ethnically polarized
nation and world.”
Approaches to Multicultural Literacy
(Banks, 2003, as quoted by Vega et al., 2015: p. 66)

Dimensions of Multicultural Literacy
(Banks, 2003, as mentioned by Vega et al., 2015)
The following explanations are culled from Vega
et al. (105: p. 69).
1. Content Integration. It deals with the extent to
which teachers use examples and content from a
variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key
concepts, generalizations, and issues within their
subject area or disciplines.
2. Knowledge construction process. It describes how
teachers help students to understand, investigate, and
determine how the biases, frames of reference, and
perspectives within a discipline influence the ways in
which knowledge is constructed within it. Students
learn how to build knowledge themselves in this
dimension.
3. Prejudice reduction. It describes lessons and
activities used by teachers to help students develop
positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic,
and cultural groups. Research indicates that
children come to school with many negative
attitudes toward and misconceptions about
different racial and ethnic groups.
Research also indicates that lessons, units, and
teaching materials that include content about
different racial and ethnic groups can help
students develop more positive intergroup
attitudes if certain conditions exist in the teaching
situation. These conditions include positive
images of the ethnic groups in the materials and
the use of multiethnic materials in a consistent
and sequential way.
4. Equity pedagogy. It exists when teachers modify
their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic
achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural,
and social class groups. Research indicates that the
academic achievement is increased when cooperative
teaching activities and strategies, rather than
competitive ones, are used in instruction.
5. Empowering school culture and social
structure. This dimension is created when the
culture and organization of the school are
transformed in ways that enable students from
diverse racial, ethnic, and gender groups to
experience equality and equal status
CREATING A MULTICULTURAL
CLASSROOM
How can teachers establish linkages between
multicultural education and the
disciplines and subject matter content taught in
schools?
One approach is to filter multicultural education

through two categories of curriculum
development: reality/representation and
relevance.
1. Reality/Representation
A persistent concern of curriculum development in all subjects is
helping students understand the realities of the social condition and
how they came to be as well as adequately representing those realities.
Historically, curriculum designers have been more exclusive than
inclusive of the wide range of ethnic and cultural diversity that exists
within society. In the haste to promote harmony and avoid
controversy and conflict, they gloss over social problems and the
realities of ethnic and racial identities, romanticize racial relations,
and ignore the challenges of poverty and urban living in favor of
middle-class and suburban experiences.
School curriculums need to reverse these trends by
also including equitable representations of diversity.
For example, the study of American literature, art, and
music should include contributions of males and
females from different ethnic groups in all genres and
in different expressive styles.
2.Relevance
Many ethnically diverse students do not find schooling exciting or inviting;
they often feel unwelcome, insignificant, and alienated. Too much of what
is taught has no immediate value to these students. It does not reflect who
they are. Yet most educators will agree that learning is more interesting and
easier to accomplish when it has personal meaning for students. Students
from different ethnic groups are more likely to be interested and engaged in
learning situations that occur in familiar and friendly frameworks than in
those occurring in strange and hostile ones. A key factor in establishing
educational relevance for these students is cultural similarity and
responsiveness (see Bruner, 1996; Hollins, 1996; Wlodkowski & Ginsberg,
1995)
How to create a Multicultural Classroom?
CREATE A CULTURALLY -RESPONSIVE

TEACHING
- Cultural-Responsive teaching acknowledges
cultural diversity in classrooms and accommodates
this diversity in instruction
1. Recognizing and accepting student diversity
Teachers must welcome and value their students

as human being regardless of their ethnicity,
cultural backgrounds and genders.
2. Building on students’ cultural backgrounds
Teachers must communicate and establish

positive images about students’ origin and home
cultures and not to discriminate or isolate them
from other students.
3. Being Responsive to different learning styles
Teachers are expected to build, enhance and

empower her/his students’ strengths and uses
these to help her/his learners enjoy learning in a
positive culturally- responsive teaching-learning
process
Hence, to work effectively with students from
different cultures, teachers must understand
their cultures. Teachers must develop students’
personal pride in their own cultures. He should
develop in them a learning environment that
meets the emotional needs of each learner.

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Cultural

(Banks, 2003, as quoted by Vega et al., 2015: p. 66)

One approach is to filter multicultural education

CREATE A CULTURALLY -RESPONSIVE

Teachers must welcome and value their students

Teachers must communicate and establish

Teachers are expected to build, enhance and

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