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Paper Abstract: Definition of multicultural educational strategies, methods, theories, projects, successes. Paper Introduction: Introduction According to Sharan and Sharan (1987), cooperative learning refers to several instructional strategies used by educators to foster learning through peer cooperation and communication. In the last two decades, cooperative learning has been the focus of much educational research. Johnson and Johnson (1989) stated that cooperative learning strategies have been found to be instrumental in producing gains in many academic, social, and personal areas, including students': (1) academic achievement; (2) ability to understand others' perspective; (3) social and cooperative skills; (4) motivation to learn; (5) emotional involvement in learning; Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Recognition is given at the individual andgroup level as with STAD; in addition, teams are given labels such as"super teams" (high performing) or "great teams" (moderately performing) or"good teams" (minimally passing). Thisstrategy uses cooperative groups (fifth grade level) to research BlackAmericans during Black History Month. & Hunkins, F. Noting thatkindergarten children did not exhibit good social skills and were not ableto solve conflicts in a peaceful manner, Leonard stated that the projectwas designed to incorporate and increase group problem solving usingcooperative groups. Beckwith reportsthat the program has been found to elevate students' sense of communityspirit, democratic values, self-esteem, and multicultural understanding. Curriculum: Foundations,principles, and theory. Introduction According to Sharan and Sharan (1987), cooperative learning refers toseveral instructional strategies used by educators to foster learningthrough peer cooperation and communication. As part of the program, Flores (1995) advocates a "hover" strategy inwhich students and teacher produce a "reciprocal relationship" amongstthemselves by using indigenous communication methods focusing on Aztec,Brazilian, Shoshone-Gabrielino, Third-World Culture's Dialectical Theology,African American, and Native-American Indian "alternation" processes ofdeveloping cultural communication competence as a two-way street. Conclusions This paper examined several ways in which cooperative learningprojects and programs are used in multicultural education as a means offostering ethnic and racial integration. Native American Heritage: MultimediaPresentations. ED 384 422). (1993). Nakagawa and Pang (199 ) reports that many multicultural educationprograms, even those using cooperative learning techniques and strategies,place too strong an emphasis upon cultural differences. In addition, individual team members are recognized for goodperformance, a component of the strategy that is said to help maintainmotivation. & Hawes, S. The purpose of this paper is to examine cooperative learningtechniques, concepts, and strategies currently being used in themulticultural context. According to Stoddard (1996), theproject not only helped students to learn about another culture, but italso strengthened their art ability and their understanding of Americanhistory. Teams work with each team about 15minutes a day, during which time the other teams work on their own. These included programs and projects in which students werecooperatively working to: develop and present reports about other cultures;devising systems to honor athletes and other notables of culturally diversebackgrounds; role playing activities in which students run the UnitedNations or participate in owning an international store; celebrate regionalholidays; compile pictorial essays on people of different cultures; learnabout the interdependence of the world's people; learn about music and artthrough studying the music and art of other cultures; learn social skillssuch as conflict resolution and peacemaking strategies. Another cooperative learning strategy developed specifically forAfrican American studies has been discussed by Shanahan (1994). (1995). Team-assisted instruction is similar to STAD,although the emphasis inthese groups is more on diagnosing or mastering certain skills throughpractice. Activity book: Catch the spirit of learning'scooperation games. Cultural differences taught througha regional holiday. The second activity required children to work together on a cross-cultural, folktale-based activity using an award-winning children's book.The cross-cultural folktale required students to learn and use Africanterms via reference to a list of these terms along with their Englishmeanings. W., Mauyama, G. Sharan, Y. Handley (1993) presented two cooperative learning classroom ideas forelementary social studies. Stoddard (1996) described a cooperative learning class project thatcombined Native American culture, art skills, and cooperative learning. For example, Allen and Blackwell(1993) found that the regional holiday is perfect for the cooperativelearning group, enabling students to learn about the multicultural natureof the United States. Stoddard, S.S. & Myrick, C.J. The foregoing cooperative learning strategies are generic in thesense that they can be applied in almost any learning situation includingthat of multicultural education. Cooperative learning.Minneapolis, University of Minnesota, 2-18 pp. In their study, Allen and Blackwell (1993) had students work on bothan individual and group basis (TAI) to research the background and historyof the Mardi Gras holiday in New Orleans. Theactivity is also said to motivate students to like to learn. Reading Teacher, 47(8), 66 -662. Team members then check students'answers as a means of providing assistance. Educational Leadership, 53(2), 98-99. Test scores or grades are used to rankstudents; they are then divided into thirds or quarters. Johnson D.W., & Johnson, R.T. Cooperative Learning Strategies, Methods, and Concepts In Multicultural Settings According to Ornstein and Hunkins (1993), two cooperative learningstrategies that have been used in many multicultural settings are thestudent team achievement divisions (STAD), and the team-assistedinstruction (TAI) methods. (1984). The authors state that through the program,students are challenged intellectually, enjoy stimulating group activities,and learn alternative viewpoints. Student scores arethen averaged into a general team score--a procedure that makes it morelikely that students will help one another. & Sharan, S. The cooperative activityinvolved having the class divide into four competitive teams in which eachteam researched and reported on various highlights of African Americans'Olympic achievements. It was found thatthe cooperative learning groups promoted positive cross-sex and cross-ethnic relationships. The programfocuses on building shared meaning amongst students and between teacher andstudents as they participate in collaborative public speaking interactions. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 6(1), 22-24. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 6(2), 9-12. The purpose of thechange is to provide students with an opportunity to work with otherstudents and to give students in low-scoring teams a new chance to learn. The results of the program revealed that 15 out of the 2 kindergarten students solved verbal conflicts peacefully, accepted othersinto their play, and collaborated and shared with each other to a fargreater extent than they did prior to the implementation of the program.The results were also said to indicate that involving the home, school, andthe community in the peace education resulted in opportunities for studentsto improve their social skills. An excellent cooperative learning strategy for multiculturaleducation is the Model United Nations program. (1995). Thepaper concludes by describing how to use student analysis speeches toidentify common ground from which to facilitate competency-basedcollaborative research, arrangement, presentation and evaluation of problem-solving group discussions that arrive at culturally diverse students'defined solutions for mutual benefit in their shared environment. "I don't know what I'm doing--they all start with B": First graders negotiate peer reading interactions.The Reading Teacher, 48(3), 21 -217. Music and art are combined in program discussed by Beckwith (1991).Entitled "Tribal Rhythms" the program brings professional artists into theclassroom at the elementary school level. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. (Paper presented at the AnnualMeeting of the Speech Communication Association (81st, San Antonio, TX,November 18-21). Social Studies and the Young Learner,6(1), 17-18. Fores (1995) discuses the use of communication in a cooperativelearning context as a way of teach multicultural education. Each team was also responsible for developing a poster on teamworkand activities based on the theme of keeping the Olympic torch alive. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 5(3), 12-14. The role played by cooperative learning strategies in fosteringstudents' ability to understand others' perspectives has implications formulticultural education. ED 39 95. Making the art experience meaningful: Totempoles created by pre-service teachers. (1992). Theproject involved assigned readings on the history and purpose of the totempole. Leonard, K.M. Bernagozzi, T. Learning, 2 (6), 45-67. The first consisted of working as a team toconstruct a job description and responsibility program. Presenting a multicultural inquiry lesson based ona pictorial format. Allstudents participated in cooperative learning groups for 55 minutes per dayacross 1 instructional days. Flores, N.L. (1996). Nakagawa, M. STAD requires that class quizzes be given frequently in order todetermine whether students have learned the material. An international store to integrate globalawareness, math, and social studies. In his class, Beckrequired young students to divide into groups and use magazines to pick outpictures of people from different cultures. Moreover, these findings were observed to generalizeto home activities. (1993). Students learn about foreign currency and about math through theirpurchases at the store. Beck (1993) has stated that for very young students an excellent wayto teach cultural diversity is through pictures. However, when applying recognition, teachers are required tokeep a balance between the individual and the team. Improving the social skills of kindergartenstudents in their multicultural setting through a peacemaking program.(ERIC Document Reproduction No. MacGillivray, L. Based on their research, the groupmust write and sponsor a classroom resolution to honor certain African-Americans (they are allowed to select which ones) that they have learnedabout as the result of their research. Cooperative learning groups withthis focus, according to Nakagawa and Pang, will enhance students'understanding of other groups and improve their cooperation with themrather than make them feel that the cultures are somehow alien to their ownexperiences. The Model United Nations:5 + and growing strong. The programessentially consists of an instructional unit in which students set up andrun an "international store," in which the items are priced in foreigncurrency. Each team made a "culturepicture map," and reported their observations regarding the new culturethey were learning about. Art Education, 49(3), 12-19. (1994). The strategy entailed dividing the class into groups and having eachgroup conduct in-depth research on some aspect of Native American culturethey find interesting. The group must then present the findings of theirresearch using a multimedia format. Ontiveros, B. The artists engage in groupdiscussions with students, using the themes of "tribe" and the "artist inself" to create a framework for cooperative learning. Beckwith, B. Moreover, they are required to do some research onthe different cultures of people who are said to utilize the store. One often used cooperative learning strategy used in the context ofmulticultural educational objectives is that of teaching culturaldifferences through the regional holiday. At the higher levels of education, cooperative learning groupsinvolve more communicatory efforts such as group discussions about culture,cultural differences, and ways to resolve conflicts arising as a result ofthese differences. (1994). Ornstein, A.C. References Allen, M. In this regard, MacGillivray and Hawes (1994)report that cooperative learning methods, if used appropriately, canpromote racial and ethnic integration in both the classroom and the school. & Pang, V.O. (1989). The STAD method requires that four to five member teams by balancedby ability, gender, and ethnicity. Each STAD team consists of one student drawn from each of the thirdsor quarters of the class ranks with extra middle-ranked students becomingthe fourth or fifth members. (1993). The authorssuggest using cooperative groups to research and learn about theinterdependence of the world's peoples. (1994). Harvard Educational Review,61(3), 252-259. (1995). Shanahan, T. According to Shanahan (1994), the strategy worked to improvechildren's literacy and this, in turn, helped students to more fullyconnect with their heritage. Sherman (1993) discusses a cooperative learning project designed toteach global awareness, math and social studies simultaneously. Warring, D., Johnson, D. The authors then monitored student interactions. The validity of the foregoing claim can be seen in a study of theeffects of cooperative learning on mixed race/ethnic and mixed genderrelationships conducted by Warring, Johnson, Maruyama and Johnson (1985).Subjects were 74 sixth-grade students and 51 fourth-grade students. Tribal rhythms: A thematic approach tointegrating the arts into the curriculum. It is required that every student get 8 percent or more of thematerial correct on the practice quiz before he or she is certified by theteam to take the final exam. Not only do these strategies foster cooperationand integration among various ethnic groups, they also have been found toelevate student achievement. Here's something for everyone teacher'sroundtable. Black History Month resolutions: Fifth gradersconstruct their heritage. Observations showed thatstudents not only learned the material but also felt that they had learneda lot about the cultural heritage of Louisiana. According to Muldoon andMyrick (1995), this cooperative technique (used at both the college andsecondary level) requires students to participate in role-play simulationsof United Nations meetings. For example, Ontiveros (1994) describes a strategy to teach at-risk children about Native American culture. High average scores or improvement scores are reinforced with teacherrecognition. Specifically, the paper reviews diverse strategiesand techniques being used in classrooms containing children of diverseethnic and racial backgrounds. (1991). Sherman, H. (1987). One program of this sort discussed in the paper was acooperative learning project involving students and teachers working onpublic speaking. However, some cooperative learningtechniques and strategies are specifically developed for multiculturalpurposes. Educational Leadership, 45(3), 2 -25. (199 ). Using indigenous strategies to manage learningin multicultural public speaking classrooms. & Blackwell, D. (1994). (1993). Training teachers for cooperativelearning. The purpose herewas to prepare students for working in multicultural settings and to impartgood worth ethnics. Peacemaking language skills, and parent participationwere strong program elements. In the last two decades,cooperative learning has been the focus of much educational research.Johnson and Johnson (1989) stated that cooperative learning strategies havebeen found to be instrumental in producing gains in many academic, social,and personal areas, including students': (1) academic achievement; (2) ability to understand others' perspective; (3) social and cooperative skills; (4) motivation to learn; (5) emotional involvement in learning; (6) attitudes toward school and teachers; (7) psychological health and sense of interdependence with others;and (8) attitudes toward peers. Every five to six weeks STAD teams are changed. Bernagozzi (1992) discussed the use of a cooperative learningstrategy designed to teach African-American students about their heritagewith respect to physical education/athletics. A cooperative learning project to improve the social skills ofkindergarten children in a multicultural setting by a simple peaceeducation program was implemented by Leonard (1995). Cooperative pluralism: Moving from"me" to "we." Social Studies and the Young Learner, 2(4), 9-11. Impactof different types of cooperative learning oncross-ethnic and cross-sex relationships. Writing Notebook: Visions For Learning, 11(4), 18-19. (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Beck, C.R. Journal ofEducational Psychology, 77(1), 53-59.----------------------- 1 Also, there is more of an emphasis on student-teacherrelationships with communication being a large part of relationshipbuilding. Students were then given a set of visuals and worked in small groupsconstructing their own totem poles. It is stated that the technique can be usedfor students of any heritage, allowing them to make a strong connectionwith not only with their own heritage but with any heritage they choose toconnect with. Torecognize students efforts, each team was given a "certificate ofparticipation," similar to those received by athletes participating in theOlympics. & Johnson, R. Whereas STAD requires that students study the material togetherwith their learning being monitored and evaluated through quizzes, TAIrequires students to work to learn material on an individual basis, andtake their own individual quizzes. Several concepts, strategies,techniques and methods of cooperative learning were delineated. The students then work cooperative in groupsto learn class material. Muldoon, J.P., Jr. Handley, L.M. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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