Educating Multiracial Students

A topic that is hot in the field of education today is the schooling of multiracial children. There has been much talk about this in recent years mainly because on school forms or standardized tests for example, when the students have to fill out what race they are, they don't know which one to check off, because they belong to multiple. Over the last decade there have been more than 100,000 multiracial children born in the U.S. It is important for teachers to meet the needs of multiracial children, and because many of them live in urban areas, the schools there need their teachers to be more aware of the special needs of these students. These students have many advantages that they can bring into the classroom as well. Many of them have a strong sense of self, possibly speak more than one language, and they appreciate minority groups and cultures more than someone else might. They can also face many challenges for instance, they might struggle to accept that they might be one of a kind when it comes to their race. Being in a school that accepts multiracial students and having teachers that treat them no differently than anyone else, may help them overcome the challenges they face. If the teacher accepts them and others students in the class don't, they will know that their teacher will do the best they can to protect them from bullying or other peer challenges they might face. There is also many things the school can do as a whole to make the multiracial students feel more accepted. The school could have a heritage day where each student gets to share with their peers and teachers all about them and where they come from. The school can also provide toys and books that depict different races, ethnicity's, and cultures. The teachers can also teach the students about well known multiracial people in society (like Barack Obama) so they can identify with them. The last point the article makes is that schools should have counseling for multiracial students so if they have a problem, they will have someone to talk to.

After reading this article I had many thoughts about this subject pop into my head. The view the teachers have towards the students who are multiracial affect the way they see themselves and the way others see them. If they have a teacher who doesn't accept them, what will make the other students accept them? And what will make them accept themselves? I also really liked the ideas that the article gave about things schools can do to make the multiracial students feel strong about themselves and to educate the other students about all the different types of people there can be in the world. When I was younger we had a day were each student in my class brought in items (could be clothing, money, food, toys, etc.) that connected to their culture(s). One girl in my class was German, Spanish, and African-American. She had so many different things that showed where she and where her family came from. I remember this being the first time I really understood what it meant for someone to be multiracial, and I know that when I have multiracial students, I will do everything in my power as a teacher to make sure they feel just as accepted as everyone else.