By Kassondra Granata
1300 out of 1800 seats were filled in Welte Auditorium as CCSU held the New England Conference on Multicultural Education Sept 27.
The NECME promoted three internationally known keynote speakers that each had a common goal: promoting multiculturalism in education.
The three speakers, James A. Banks, Lee Mun Wah, and Kris D. Gutierrez, all education specialists, voiced their opinion of how educators should teach their students.
Banks, the first speaker, known as the “father of multicultural education,” holds the title of the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies and is the Founding Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. Professor Banks is the past president of the American Educational Research Association and is widely known for his books in multicultural education and social studies education.
Lee Mun Wah is an internationally known Chinese-American documentary filmaker, author, poet, Asian folk-teller, educator, community therapist and master diversity trainer. Wah previewed his new film, “If These Halls Could Talk,” where he brought eleven college students from around the country to document it with its release date in winter 2011.
The third speaker, Gutierrez is known as Professor Emerita of Social Research Methodology at GE&IS and UCLA. Gutierrez is an a leader in education and is also Professor of Literacy and Learning Sciences and holds the Inaugural Provost’s Chair at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Gutierrez is a member of the National Academy of Education and is currently the President of the American Educational Research Association and President of the National Conference on Research on Language and Literacy. Gutierrez served as a member of President Obama’s Education Policy Transition Team and was recently identified as one of the 2009 Top 100 influential Hispanics in the nation by Hispanic Business Magazine.
William Howe, Education Consultant for the Bureau of Accountability and Improvement Division of Teaching, Learning and Instructional Leadership of the State of CT attended to oversee the conference.
After the speakers presented, Howe was very satisfied with the turnout and the feedback that he and the sponsors received.
“This conference is not just focusing on race,” says Howe. “It is focusing on class, gender, sexual orientation..any different trait that an individual can have.”
“One of the problems we have with teaching students of a second language is that we have a tendency to make them forget about their first language,” Howe stated. “That is demeaning to the students, you cannot strip them of their culture.”
After sponsoring the event for 16 years around CT, CCSU finally had the opportunity to host the conference with guests from 16 states, including Hawaii, and Japan.
“For the last couple of years we have been holding these conferences tradionally at hotels or other public areas due to expenses,” says Howe. “It’s an honor to have CCSU hold this conference here.”
The NECME will return next year on October 18th. The location is to be determined.