Narrative of community college faculty describing student engagement

Abstract

This qualitative research study, using interviews and narrative analysis collected from community college faculty members, describes how student engagement is built through the presence of multicultural education. The study gathered the experiences of community college faculty, beginning with their backgrounds and teaching philosophy. As commonalities emerged, This study identified how community college faculty define multicultural education and the five dimensions defined by Banks (1995). Furthermore, how those five dimensions are present in those community college faculties classrooms. Multicultural education was the lens used in this research. The main research questions directing this study were: How do faculty describe their approach to engaging students in the community college classroom? and How can community college faculty implement multicultural education strategies in their classroom delivery? Findings indicated that community college faculty place tremendous value in getting to know who their students are. The opportunity to learn about the person beyond the individuals sitting in the classroom allows community college faculty to incorporate customized learning opportunities that successfully enhance classroom instruction. Multicultural education can be pivotal in the customization of the learning experiences for students in the community college environment. Overall, the main implications of this study are that faculty must intentionally make students the center of their teaching positionality and become proficient with Banks' five dimensions of multicultural education. Faculty must seek to consistently create intersections between curriculum, lecture delivery, and multicultural education. Those intersections can produce positive outcomes for both faculty and community college students' experiences. Keywords: classroom instruction, culture, culturally competent, multicultural education --Author's abstract