Teachers trained under a single-norm model fear losing control in multicultural classrooms.

Evidence

Despite the contemporary focus on multiculturalism in our society, particularly in education, there is not nearly enough practical discussion of ways classroom settings can be transformed so that the learning experience is inclusive. If the effort to respect and honor the social reality and experiences of groups in this society who are nonwhite is to be reflected in a pedagogical process, then as teachers— on all levels, from elementary to university settings— we must acknowledge that our styles of teaching may need to change. Let’s face it: most of us were taught in classrooms where styles of teachings reflected the notion of a single norm of thought and experience, which we were encouraged to believe was universal. This has been just as true for nonwhite teachers as for white teachers. Most of us learned to teach emulating this model. As a consequence, many teachers are disturbed by the political implications of a multicultural education because they fear losing control in a classroom where there is no one way to approach a subject— only multiple ways and multiple references. — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 80

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed (banking model) and the author’s wider critique of monocultural teaching inherited from banking-education norms. — connects to: Fear of losing student respect drives professors back to traditional teaching — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 274; Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 377; Concrete strategy-sharing by peers dispels faculty fear of inclusive teaching — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 83 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom #expands (0.85) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 377
• Concrete strategy-sharing by peers dispels faculty fear of inclusive teaching #responds-to (0.80) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 83