Event: 3

rd
Annual Multicultural Education Conference
Location: Chandler Gilbert Community College
Date: October 11, 2014
Hours: 5.5 hours

It was gratifying to be able to attend this years annual Multicultural Conference, Multicultural
Education: Principles and Practices. The spectrum of speakers and their topics was of great
value as a future teacher. The knowledge acquired through this conference helps me better
understand diversity and how I can better meet my students needs. The Conference started with
three well informed panelist, expertise in the field of education, Patricia M. Young, Ray Chavez,
and Dr. Mathew Whitaker. They addressed key point on diversity in schools and the need to
meet all the students need to help them succeed in life. I was inspired by the words of Mr. Ray
Chavez when he spoke about his personal experience as a teacher and now principle at an urban
school. He encourages teachers to talk more about diversity within the staff and classrooms. One
specific thing that he mentioned that is very important and encouraging to me, was how teachers
can use the Pedagogy to include the study of the childrens culture into the subjects without
affecting the common core standards. This allows students to feel connected and valued by the
teacher, school, and society. The conference consisted of three session were each one offered a
selection of classes to attend, all based specifically on the conference theme. Understanding
Muslim Students: Fostering an Inclusive Environment was taught by Ms. Azra Hussain who
was very informative on the customs of the lives of Muslims. She spend some time going over
the roots of the Muslim religion to help us better understand their customs and why some
students follow them and others dont. She went over the reason why teenage boy and girls
wont touch someone of their opposite gender, not even a handshake. Now I know that it has to
do with respect to their bodies and how sacred it is for them to only be touch by their future
spouse. She also mentioned the importance of avoiding using word such as us and them.
These word only promote more separation between students. Spirituality and Education was
presented by Rev. Dr. Helen Hunter. She went over the finding on her research conducted on
high school African American males, on whether their lives are influenced by religious/faith
based practices. The hypothesis was that increase church involvement didnt improve academic
increase but did lower the dropout rate on African American boys. The final results was that
family was the most important of all. Surviving Genocide: Race, Ethnicity, Immigration
Thriving after Great Loss was an inspiring message on the great resistance of a human being
fighting to live by Agnes Umuligirwa (Aggie Umu). She is a survivor of Rwandas civil war and
has made it her mission to share her story to help others understand refuges suffering and to
advocate on behalf of other refugees, especially women. The method she used to unfolded her
life story while allowing us students to feel for a moment what it was like to walk in her shoes,
was a great teacher experience in my life. The closing words of Ms. Kim Covington only
increased my desire to continue my career as educator, knowing how great a role we teacher
poses in helping our future generation succeed. Her words spoke clearly about the pain children
suffer when they are discouraged by others, but more significant were her word on the hope that
kindles in a childs heart when someone cares. Participating in this conference took me a step
closer in understanding more about diversity, the significance behind getting to know each
students and building a connection.