Educators must be aware of the realities of the lived experiences of both faculty and students. Students may be at differing developmental levels in regards to the issues of a multicultural curriculum. These differing levels impact directly on such things as comfort level with the topic, expectations of others, awareness of the subject area, and the level of emotion in response to a given topic. One way of understanding these differences is through psychological models of identity development. The model presents a continuum awareness of ethnic identity in a linear manner beginning at a point of naivete or unawareness of multicultural issues.
Some critical incident acts to expose the person to their own or others' ethnic identity.
At this point there are many possible responses. We present two possible paths below to explain the classroom responses we observed. The learner may react with behaviors or comments that act to maintain the status quo or can be very adamant in favor of this new worldviews. Later on the learner becomes engaged in a process of constructing an adoption of new paradigms to support a changed worldview. This does not necessarily suggest a change in personal action but rather new ideas and language.