11th Annual Multicultural Education Conference to be held at SUNY New Paltz
NEW PALTZ — The State University of New York at New Paltz will host the 11th annual Multicultural Education Conference, titled “Creating Equitable School Communities: Academic Excellence for All,” from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Nov. 4, in the Student Union Building.
This annual conference brings together educators, students, parents and community members to gather fresh insights and to make connections with others who are working to create equitable schools that will enable all young people to achieve. This year’s conference focuses on developing school cultures that are inclusive of all students and successful in counteracting bias and discrimination.
Keynote speaker Edward Fergus, director of research in the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, will address the field of multicultural education and its successful focus of attention on the need to incorporate the culture of groups that have historically been excluded from the curriculum. He will describe how less attention has been devoted to developing school cultures that are inclusive and effective at countering the debilitating effects of racial stereotypes.
Dr. Fergus’ publications and work with educators focus on topics such as race and ethnic relations in American society, conditions that promote student achievement, identity among Latino/a students, immigrant students and urban school reform. He is the author of “Skin Color and Identity Formation” (Routledge 2004).
There will also be an afternoon performance of “Spoken Word Performance,” by the SUNY New Paltz SLAM Poetry Team. The team consists of five students: Michelle Gantt; Eden Connelly; Lee Riley; Sharon Anne Axelrod; and Angel Aviles. This energetic presentation will consist of original expressions of culture, politics, spirituality and many other social issues. This poetry team is currently ranked first in New York state and Canada Region of the Association of College Unions International and ninth in the nation. Spoken word can be used in an educational setting to enable young people to express a range of emotions in a positive format, develop confidence for speaking and enhance proficiencies in language.
Examples of some of the workshop sessions offered throughout the day include: “Creating Conditions to Raise Student Achievement”; “What is it like to be a Teacher of Color?”; “Replacing Stereotype Threat with Identity Safety”; “Spoken Word as a Channel for Creative Expression”; and “A Path to Organizational Transformation for Schools.”
The registration deadline for the conference is Oct. 21, and the workshops will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information on specific workshops, call Nancy Schniedewind at (845) 257-2827 and to register, call Jennifer Piren at (845) 257-3033.