Equi↔librium: A cloud based resource for transformational multicultural education teaching and...

Running Header: EQUI‐LIBRIUM: A CLOUD BASED RESOURCE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING 1

Equi↔librium: A cloud based resource

for transformational multicultural education teaching and learning

Vicki Sheri Towne

EDUC 651, Summer 2014

Colorado State University

Jacqueline McGinty, M. Ed, Facilitator

August 1, 2014


Equi↔librium: A cloud based resource for transformational multicultural

education teaching and learning

This project, which I have named “Equi↔librium,” provides an open, cloud-based, cross-

disciplinary resource for educators of adults to infuse transformational multicultural concepts

into existing curriculums. The goal is to upgrade from what Banks (2004) described as Level 1

and Level 2 content to Level 3 and Level 4 content, and taking existing multicultural education

approached from what Sleeter and Grant (1999) call the “Teaching the Exceptional and the

Culturally Different,” “Human Relations” and “Single Group Studies” to “Multicultural

Education” and “Education That is Multicultural and Social Reconstructionist.” Equi↔librium

will also provide a resource for individuals to self-explore transformative multicultural

educational material with the goals of increasing awareness about societal issues of fairness,

equality, and power and embedded norms, and empowering and encouraging individuals and

groups to take action. An initial website template is provided as Appendix A.


Background

Most K-12 programs provide multicultural education at the Level 1 and Level 2 using

“Teaching the Exceptional and the Culturally Different” and “Human Relations” approaches

(Banks, 2004; Jennings and Smith, 2002). Practitioners in adult and continuing education are

currently presented with the need to infuse transformational multicultural concepts into their

practices to provide learners with critical intercultural literacy skills necessary for living and

working in an increasingly diverse society. Nowhere is this more evident than in our community

college system, which cuts across the spectrums of postsecondary education, workforce training

and career development and continuing education (Boggs, 2010; Kumi-Yeboah & James, 2011).

Implementing institutional and organizational system-wide adoption of transformational

and social action levels of multicultural education is usually beyond the scope of individual

practitioners’ powers, but that does not mean that it is beyond their sphere of influence. By

choosing to incorporate content and teaching strategies that promote social justice concepts of

equal opportunity, respect for those who differ, recognition of cultural pluralism as well as issues

of structural power equity among groups located above and below what McIntosh (TEDx, 2012)

calls the social justice line, individual practitioners have the ability to initiate changes in hearts

and mind that will permeate institutions and organizations from the ground level up to the c-

suite. In this respect, transformative multicultural education is like the groundwater that sustains

trees by flowing up through the roots carrying nutrients affecting the organism system wide.

Multicultural education seeps into the groundwater. When the groundwater is changed,

eventually the whole tree is affected. Thus, the influence of individual practitioners is both

exponential and time-constant (Johnson, 2006).


Changing the groundwater for adult and continuing education

Freire (1970) calls for development of a critical consciousness. Moving away from the

“banking” model of depositing knowledge and towards a model that includes critical inquiry to

help the individual identify their positions in relation to McIntosh’s (TEDx, 2012) social justice

line and how those positions place them within dominant and subordinate groups. This change

will by necessity include “difficult dialogues,” which Watt (2007) describes as those

conversations about social justice issues that awaken conflicting views and beliefs and are often

uncomfortable for educators and learners in every educational setting, from the workshop to the

training room to the campus to the discussion board forum and beyond. Facilitating these

difficult dialogues are a challenge and so the adult educator must develop a reservoir of

strategies and methods that predispose a safe and welcoming learning environment, one that

fosters seeking shared truths and invites examination of ideas without denigration or judgment of

other perspectives (Lloyd, 2013). One source for this reservoir is Watt’s (2007) Privileged

Identity Exploration Model (PIE). PIE describes eight reactions typically encountered during

difficult dialogues on social justice issues that indicate resistance evoked by new uncertainty

Figure 1 Watt's (2007) PIE Model


about the reality of one’s view of the world. The facilitator of such a dialogue is better able to

manage and respond productively within the discourse with an understanding of these responses.

The assumptions underlying the model is that this exploration is a continuous process of

socialization with no ultimate plateau of consciousness, that social oppression must be unlearned

and difficult dialogues are a necessary part of this process, that defensive responses are normal

human reactions and are expressed in patterns of identifiable behaviors and that the combinations

and expressions of the defensive responses will vary by situation and participant cohorts.

Critical inquiry, critical pedagogy and Critical Race Theory (CRT) require development

of critical thinking skills and self-directed learning skills, which are also considered essential to

success in the workforce and in other educational activities. These critical approaches start with

an examination of what is normal in American society. In the case of CRT, racism is positioned

as normal. Critical inquiry and pedagogy expand to examination of all embedded truths and

assumptions. CRT uses narrative inquiry and stories to help learners make meaning of their

experiences, with storytelling acting as a lens to focus on myths, stereotypes and assumptions

embedded in normative culture. Critical inquiry and pedagogy use dialogue and reflection to

explore learner-defined problems about embedded norms in order to arrive at a truth about how

society is constructed in order to deconstruct and transform (Jennings & Smith, 2002; Ladson-

Billings, 1999; Montgomery, 2013). Appendix B provides examples of existing resource

materials that have put these theories into action.

Implementing the Plan

The Equi↔librium project vision is to develop a collaborative and open cloud-based

repository of resources that provide transformative multicultural education content and support a

social action and Reconstructionist approach for adult teaching and learning. The goals are to


increase the awareness about societal issues of fairness, equality, power and embedded norms,

and to empower and encourage individuals and groups to take action in support of the social

justice and democratic ideals of equal opportunity and access for all people(s). Because this

vision is large in scope and requires collaborative partners, the implementation will necessarily

consist of three phases (Appendix C), each anticipated to take 6 months to one year for

completion. Phase I involves recruitment of a diverse group of collaborative partners,

establishing organic working groups to develop the project operating and support structure,

determination of resources needed to pursue and complete Phase II and III, and establishment of

time requirements and a timeline for completion of Phase II and launching Phase III. Natural

sources of collaborative partners are the community of action researchers, Adult and Continuing

Education classmates and professors, Academia.edu members and graduate students,

ResearchGate.org members and other personal and professional colleagues. Some additional

considerations for Phase I are provided at Appendix D. Phase II is about creating, collecting and

compiling teaching and learning materials from across the spectrum of adult, post-secondary,

workforce training, career development and continuing education and preparing the

infrastructure that will make that material available as an accessible, open and participatory

public resource and meeting space. Phase III is making that resource and meeting space

available for public use, promoting the resource and instituting structures and processes for

sustainability.

Implementation Considerations

The greatest obstacle for initial implementation would be the inability to recruit

collaborative partners. Without collaborative partners, the project would need to be substantially

scaled down in scope. This would not necessarily be fatal to ultimately realizing the original


larger project scope if efforts to recruit collaborative partners during Phase II and/or Phase III

prove successful.

Phase II’s greatest obstacle in terms of realizing the original project scope would again be

the inability to attract collaborators. In terms of meeting substantive content needs, the lack

collaborative partners from the various sectors would severely hinder the ability to collect or

develop a variety of cross-disciplinary content and materials as previously discussed. Still, these

obstacles can be overcome to the extent that efforts to recruit collaborative partners are

successful in Phase III and/or visitors become contributors, members and volunteers.

Aside from the collaborative partner issue, the greatest obstacles to overcome in Phase III

would be insufficient site visitors, contributors, members and volunteers. Lack of collaborators

would still not be fatal, but inability to gain active members and volunteer contributors would be

a setback, and inability to attract visitors and participants might prove fatal. These obstacles

could be addressed by focusing greater energy on marketing the project’s larger vision of

education and training associations, other professional groups and post-secondary institutions as

a resource and tool for implementation of their own multicultural education action plans.

Another avenue to pursue to raise general public awareness would be social media campaigns

designed to raise visibility by increasing the number of site-related tweets, posts and links.

Assessment

I will consider myself successful if I am able to find six collaborative partners who share

this project’s vision and will be active participants, one for each substantive section of the

currently envisioned Phase II site structure and one with an interest in educational technology

design.


Phase I metrics for success

The collaborative partners will need to:

1. Form organic working groups and establish an agenda and method for division of the

labor;

2. determine an organizational support structure for continued project development,

compiling and circulation group work product;

3. Determine resources needed to support Phase II and launch Phase III;

4. Determine the scope and timeframes for completion of Phase II and launching Phase

III; and

5. Develop additional collaborative partners, supporting partners and volunteers.

Phase II metrics for success:

1. The collection and compilation of a variety of existing materials for creation of

alternative paths for personal identity exploration learning activities based on an

individual’s entry position above and below McIntosh’s (TEDx, 2012) social justice

line.

a. Learning objects and activities are accessible and open.

b. Learning objects and activities make use of transformative and social action

theories.

c. Learning objects and activities are geared towards empowerment for action.

d. Learning objects and activities build on critical thinking skills, written and

oral communication skills, problem-solving skills and self-directed learning

e. Learning objects and activities are available in alternative culturally relevant

formats


2. The creation, collection and compilation of a variety of learning objects and activities

for development of multicultural education learning activities relevant to the various

subject matter areas across the spectrum of education for adults.

a. Learning objects and activities are accessible and open.

b. Learning objects and activities make use of transformative and social action

theories.

c. Learning objects and activities are geared towards empowerment for action.

d. Learning objects and activities build on critical thinking skills, written and

oral communication skills, problem-solving skills and self-directed learning

e. Learning objects and activities are available in alternative culturally relevant

formats

f. Learning objects and activities are cross-disciplinary adaptable.

3. The creation of an active resource repository with a variety of transformational and

social action multicultural education reference materials, including multi-media,

mobile platform and other technologies along with links to offsite topical material.

a. The resources are accessible and open.

b. The repository is organized and “user friendly.”

c. The repository site has search technology in place to facilitate exploration.

d. Repository materials are made available in accord with current copyright laws

and educational usage conventions.

4. The creation of a repository of teaching and learning objects that support

transformational social action multicultural education.

a. The objects are accessible and open.


b. The objects are geared towards adults

c. The objects are organized by educational sector and the organization is

intuitive and “user friendly.”

d. The repository site has search technology in place to facilitate exploration.

e. Repository materials are made available in accord with current copyright laws

and educational usage conventions.

5. General topical discussion forum sites are created

a. The discussion forums have designated facilitator(s) in place

b. The facilitators have some background and training in transformational and

social action multicultural education as members of the helping professions

and/or as educators

c. The discussion forums have ground rules in place and visible upon entry into

the forum area.

d. The topical descriptions are intuitive, user friendly and culturally relevant.

6. The site infrastructure is fully functional, tested and ready for public access within 48

hours of the Phase III launch date.

Phase III metrics for success:

1. Visitors begin accessing the site within one week of launch.

a. Site visits increase on a steady basis during the first year of operation

2. Visitors begin sharing stories and participating in discussions

3. 1% of visitors become volunteers and members

4. The collaborative partners and sponsors develop sustainability and growth plans.


References

Banks, J. (2004). Approaches to multicultural curriculum reform. In J. Banks, & C. A. Banks,

Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Indianapolis, IN: Jossey-Bass.

Boggs, G. R. (2010). Democracy's colleges: The evolution of the community college in America.

Prepared for the White House Summit on Community Colleges. Washington, DC:

American Association of Community Colleges.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum.

Jennings, L. B., & Smith, S. P. (2002). Examining the role of critical inquiry for transformative

practices: Two joint case studies of multicultural teacher education. Teachers College

Record, 104(3), 456-481.

Johnson, A. (2006). Power, privilege and difference, 2nd Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Kumi-Yeboah, A., & James, W. B. (2011). The relevance of multicultural education for adult

learners in higher education. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 7(1), 10-14.

Retrieved from http://www.americanscholarspress.com/content/IFOTS-One-

2011.pdf#page=10

Ladson-Billings, G. J. (1999). Preparing teachers for diverse student populations: A critical race

theory perspective. Review of Research in Education, 24, 211-247. Retrieved from

http://dev8.hs.iastate.edu/wp-

content/uploads/2011/01/Preparing_Teachers_for_Diverse_Student_Populations.pdf


McIntosh, P. (1990). Unpacking the knapsack of white privilege. Independent School, 49(2), 31-

36. Retrieved from http://insightpv.org/storage/Microsoft%20Word%20-

%20Unpacking%20the%20Knapsack%20of%20White%20Privilege.pdf

Montgomery, K. (2013). Pedagogy and privilege: The challenges and possibilities of teaching

critically about racism. Critical Education, 4(1), 1-22. Retrieved from

http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/182323

Sleeter, C. E., & Grant, C. A. (1999). Making choices for multicultural education: Five

approaches to race, class, and gender (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Merrill.

TEDx. (2012, November 12). How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion:

Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/e-

BY9UEewHw

Watt, S. K. (2007). Difficult dialogues, privilege and social justice: Uses of the privileged

identity exploration (PIE) model in student affairs practice. College student affairs

journal, 26(2), 114-126. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ899385.pdf

Watt, S. K., Curtis, G. C., Drurnmond, J., Kellogg, A. H., Lozano, A., Nicoli, G. T., & Rosas, M.

(2009). Personal Identity exploration: Examining counselor trainees' reactions to difficult

dialogues. Counselor Education & Supervision., 49(2), 86-105.


APPENDIX A

Initial Equi↔librium Site Design Template


Appendix B

Some Examples of Multicultural Teaching and Learning References

Writing and Communication

English Composition

Lloyd, K. (2013). Crossing cultural and gender borders to change the way we use discourse in

the classroom. CEA Forum, 42(1), 246-261. Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1007520.pdf

Classroom discussion is driven by the normative assumption that arguing ideas is

a competitive exercise. This can polarize and shut down dialogue

Alternative models of essay construction and collaboration include Nyaya from

India and a feminist perspective

Exposing students to these different argument concepts opens the door to

critically examine multicultural issues.

Using Multimedia and Video

Science

Pennock, P. H., & Schwartz, R. S. (2012). Using video clips to implement multicultural topics of

science and nature of science into a biological content course for pre-service teachers - an

action research project. i.e. inquiry in education, 3(2-3). Retrieved from

http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=ie

Videos and other multimedia tools are a powerful and effective way to introduce

controversial topics in educational settings.


Using Video can lift some of the burden from the educator of facilitating

exploration of the controversial issues of multiculturalism

Cooperative learning, Critical Inquiry

Art

Stuhr, P. L. (1994). Multicultural art education and social reconstruction. Studies in Art

Education A Journal of Issues and Research, 35(3), 171-178.

Use cooperative learning strategies, democratic classroom practices and critical

inquiries to help students understand other cultures

Counselor training

Watt, S. K. (2007). Difficult dialogues, privilege and social justice: Uses of the privileged

identity exploration (PIE) model in student affairs practice. College student affairs

journal, 26(2), 114-126. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ899385.pdf

Practitioner considerations when facilitating difficult dialogues about privilege,

diversity and social justice

Critical Pedagogy Approach

Teacher Education & Sociology

Montgomery, K. (2013). Pedagogy and privilege: The challenges and possibilities of teaching

critically about racism. Critical Education, 4(1), 1-22. Retrieved from

http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/182323

Detailed description of a four-part classroom activity for teaching about white

supremacy, including materials and resources


Appendix C

Additional Phase details

Phase I. Seeking and forming collaborative partnerships and sponsors.

Initial implementation will consist of recruiting partners to collaborate with site design

and development of the plan idea. By site design, I am not referring to the relatively simple

process of designing a Home Page, but rather the broader concepts of content selection,

instructional design, original material creation and organizing for impact. Collaborative partners

are essential to the success of the project. These individuals will provide expertise, diversity of

perspective, and diversity of thought from across the spectrum of educators of adults. These

individuals will ensure that content is credible and meets the needs of both practitioners and

individuals. These individuals must actively promote the project within their disciplines and

related sponsor entities for this project to succeed.

Phase II. Developing the infrastructure and creating, collecting and compiling materials.

Once collaborative partners are obtained, the next step is to establish and populate the

Equi↔librium cloud infrastructure using collaborative partner group work product.

Figure C1 Phase II concept


The initial Equi↔librium site design (Appendix A) is simple and accessible and also serves as a

natural structure for organizing collaborative partners into organic working groups. This initial

site navigation design includes the following substantive subpages:

1. Self-exploration of transformative multicultural educational material primarily geared

towards adults.

a. On-line learning activities available by links to related sites.

b. Exploration materials developed for this site.

c. Materials for sharing and encouraging dialogues.

d. A place to suggest action and request suggestions (“What can I do?” and “Here is my

action plan”).

e. A place for sharing stories about the effect of embedded norms and covert racism in

everyday lived experiences (e.g. tell us your story of discovery about privilege and

power).

2. Transformative multicultural educational material geared towards adult education and

training professionals and post-secondary educators.

a. Cross-disciplinary adaptable Learning activities that build on critical thinking skills,

written and oral communication skills, problem-solving skills and self-directed

learning with examples of adaptation for specific areas of focus.

i. A place for education and training professionals to add material and other

examples of cross-disciplinary adaptation.

ii. A place for questions, comments and discussion.


3. Resource repository containing reference materials, including audio-video material and links

to other topical material on the web.

4. Repository of teaching and learning objects, such as lesson plans and learning activities

geared towards adults, and organized by sector, such as General Adult (cross-disciplinary),

Workforce training modules, Continuing education, Professional development, Post-

secondary area of study, and Individual Exploration.

5. Discussion forum(s) by general topic – facilitated.

Phase II is also necessarily concerned with developing marketing and promotion plans for pre-

and-post Phase III implementation to include the following:

a. Develop a search engine strategy

b. Set up companion social media sites

c. Establish reciprocal links on related sites

d. Create YouTube material and presence

e. Network with other educators

f. Seek third-party sponsors

Phase III. Equi↔librium “goes live.”

Once Equi↔librium becomes publicly accessible:

1. Site membership would be made available as an option and will require registration.

a. Visitors who self-identify as wanting to take action by promoting the site’s

mission to others, and/or assisting with site design and maintenance, and/or

contribute reference materials, links or proposed learning objects; and


b. Visitors who self-identify as educators. Educator site members will also be asked

to contribute time as discussion and forum facilitators, and/or curators of learning

object, materials, and resources repositories.

2. All visitors will be invited to participate in facilitated discussion, on-line learning

activities and contribute their own stories and learning objects.

a. Visitors who wish to contribute stories or posts do not need to be members, but

will be asked to affirm that they are an adult over the age of 16, provide an e-mail

address for validation purposes, and select a screen name to validate the post.

There will be an option for the story post to be anonymous.

b. Visitors who wish to contribute learning objects and materials do not need to be

members but will be asked to affirm that the contributed material is open access

with attribution or meets the educational purpose copyright exemption

3. The focus of Equi↔librium collaborative partners and sponsors shifts to promoting the

resource and defining and instituting structures and processes for growth and

sustainability.


Appendix D

Outline of additional Site Planing and Sustainability considerations

1. Cloud location

a. Third party supported and location

b. Independent site and location

c. Co-location

2. Site design and maintenance

a. Site member portal

b. Public portal

c. Collaborative Partner portal

3. Site content and maintenance

a. Educator

b. General public

4. Access

a. Open

b. Curated

c. Mixed

5. Marketing, Growth and Promotion

a. Educators

b. Post-secondary institutions

c. Adult and Continuing Education Associations

d. Government

e. Workforce Training and Professional Associations


f. General Public

g. Social Media

6. Sustainability

a. Non-profit entity umbrella

i. Board of directors and officers

1. Funded

a. Contributions

b. Grants

c. Volunteer assistance to research and develop new content

2. Non-funded

a. Active Volunteer members

b. Existing institutional umbrella

i. Operating Structure

1. Budget

2. Outside funding

3. Volunteer assistance to research and develop new content

a. Volunteer structure

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