Let's teach respect, not racism - Ethnic mascots demean American Indians Jeff J. Corntassel, Ph. Printer Friendly Version Countering the Assault of Indian Mascots in School By Dr. Cornel Pewewardy With another school year upon classroom teachers comes the reality and challenge of educating a multicultural society.
Teaching multiculturally requires examining sensitive issues and topics.
It requires looking at historical and contemporary events from a multicultural perspective. Multicultural teaching encourages students to investigate institutional racism, classism, and sexism and how societal institutions have served different populations in discriminatory ways. Educators can help students examine their own biases and stereotypes related to different cultural groups. Teachers have a professional responsibility to eliminate racism in all aspects of school life. Accordingly, teachers should not ignore multicultural issues in school.