A presentation for one of my classes that focuses on accepting and integrating students from all cultures in the classroom.

1. Presentation By:
Donnelle Bivens, Kirsten Bergin, Kellie Childers,
Kelly Laccinole, Jamie Pursley, and Ashton Walker
ELED 4292 Multicultural Education: Instructing Urban Learners
UNC Charlotte

2. Developmental Models of
Ethnic & Racial Identity
 Ethnic Identity:
 Social meaning of belonging to a particular ethnic group
 Racial Identity:
 Race is socially defined on a basis of physical criteria.
 Ethnic Group is socially defined on a basis of cultural
criteria.

3. 5-Stage Model of Racial Consciousness
(Cross, 1991 & Spring, 2004)
 Pre-Encounter:Negative stereotypes
become part of a person’s identity. (Self-
Fulfilling Prophecy)
 Encounter: Questioning the negative
stereotypes from the previous stage.
 Racial Profiling: constructing a set of behaviors
based on race, and using that to determine guilt.

4. 5-Stage Model of Racial Consciousness
(Cross, 1991 & Spring, 2004)
 Immersion-Emersion:discard ethnic self-hatred, and
take on new identity
 Immersion:complete immersion in a person’s ethnic
culture
 Causes people to see importance of
contributions to greater society. (Ex. Influence
of Italian art on Western art)
 Internalization:people become “fully multicultural” and
adopt view of culture that is accepting and critical.
*There is also another model by Banks (1988) that focuses on more of a global
society.

5. Intercultural Competence
 Interculturally competent people have three things in
common:
 They are able to manage the psychological stress that
accompanies most intercultural Interactions
 They are able to communicate effectively across
cultures-verbally and nonverbally
 They are able to develop and maintain new and
essential interpersonal relationships

6. Intercultural Competence
 Interculturally competent individuals are able to:
• solve problems and take appropriate risks
• shift their frame of reference as required
• recognize and respond appropriately to cultural
differences
• listen empathically
• perceive others truthfully
• maintain nonjudgmental approach to communication
• gather appropriate information about another culture

7. Bennett’s Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity
Model provides a framework for understanding individual
development and awareness along a continuum from highly
ethnocentric to highly ethnorelative

8. Ethnocentric Stages of the DMIS
 Denial
 inability to see cultural differences
 reflective of individuals who isolate or separate
themselves in homogenous groups
 “stupid questions syndrome” have ideas about
stereotypic knowledge
 Children are socialized to believe that their view is
the view of the world, instead of learning that their
view is only one view of the world

9. Ethnocentric Stages of the
DMIS
 Defense
 Recognition of cultural difference coupled with negative
evaluations of those whose culture is different from
one’s own
 When forced into contact with others, individuals
become defensive
 Prefer to separate themselves from others because they
don’t have categories for dealing with difference

10. Ethnocentric Stages of the
DMIS
 Minimization
 Discovery of commonality
 Begin to recognize and accept superficial
cultural differences (eating customs) but
continue to believe that all humans are
essentially the same
 Believe that physical traits do not matter as
long as they treat everyone the same
 Believe all people have the same needs
because they ignore influence of culture

11. Ethnorelative Stages of
DMIS
 Acceptance
 Ability to recognize and appreciate cultural differences in
terms of values and behaviors
 Categories of difference are consciously expanded and
elaborated, with an understanding that others are “not
good or bad, just different”
 Begin to seek out cultural difference
 May respect and value cultural differences but not
necessarily agree with all they see

12. Ethnorelative Stages of
DMIS
 Adaptation
 More flexible and competent in their ability to
communicate across cultures
 Driven by a need for action and cognitive empathy
 2 forms of adaption exist
 Cultural
 Behavioral
 Conscious intention with flexible and permeable category
boundaries

13. Ethnorelative Stages of
DMIS
 Integration
 Internalization of bicultural or multicultural frames of
reference
 Can identify and move freely within more than one
cultural group
 Able to facilitate constructive cultural contact between
cultures and tend to become cultural mediators
 Rare and difficult level to achieve

15. Identifying
 Ethnic Identity  Racial Identity
 You identify yourself as  Physical
belonging to a social characteristics identify
group with whom you you as belonging to a
have cultural specific group, such
commonalities as:
 Customs  Skin color
 Shared language  Facial features

16. Growing Ourselves
 People can grow from being ethnocentric
to becoming ethnorelative and open
minded.
 Through these steps and recognizing
one’s state of mind, we can become the
culture that we as teachers wish to foster:
an understanding and welcoming
community in which cultural differences
are seen merely as spectrums of the
same rainbow.

17. Summary
 “Intercultural development is how they develop
their ability to understand and interact more
effectively with people different from themselves.
The developmental model of intercultural
sensitivity (DMIS) was introduced as one means
to understand how people can grow from being
ethnocentric to becoming more ethnorelative in
their orientation.”
 Most students and teachers will go through the
DMIS model and it is important that one is given
the support to understand what to do in certain
situations.

18. References:
 Cushner, K., McClelland, A., & Safford, P.
(2012). Human diversity in education: An
intercultural approach. (Seventh ed.). New
York: McGraw Hill.