Advice Teachers may want to include more multicultural education, Grant said, but feel overwhelmed by the number of balls they already are juggling. I have to teach reading. But educators say there are a lot of little ways teachers can deal with multicultural issues throughout the day, without taking time away from their subjects. If teachers don't respond, students get the idea that those comments and attitudes are acceptable, she said. It's also important for teachers to examine their own attitudes, and work to understand how those come across in the classroom, said Randy Rasmussen, a speech pathologist in Fort Atkinson and chair of the district's equity committee.
Teachers also can scrutinize textbooks.
Rasmussen gave the example of a 7th-grade history book with sidebars giving brief biographies of important people in a specific era. Of the 55 sidebars, he said, five described the accomplishments of women. But rather than being a liability, Rasmussen said, that textbook could be a jumping off point for a discussion of why there were so few women listed, and what other women could or should have been included in the book. Holidays are fine times to introduce different cultures to children, but it's more important to explore culture in the context of the daily lives of people, Tenorio said. Pitfalls Teachers may be reluctant to get involved with issues of multiculturalism, worried that parents, the administration, or the government may find fault.