MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

LECTURE 1: THE NATURE AND GOALS OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Culture

-Culture is the system of shared beliefs, values. customs, behaviors, technologies and
products that a society holds, follows, uses and produces to live in its environment and passes
on from generation to generation.

Elements of Culture

Culture can be characterized by the following four elements.

Cultural traits- refer to how group (society) communicates symbolically through its
products, rituals, laws, social structures, economic systems, etc.

Cultural patterns- wider interrelated patterns of behavior and interaction in which cultural
traits may take on different meanings, for example, cultural clothes (dress); expression of
grief (weeping when, a relative or friends die).

Transmission of knowledge- how the group teaches its children and youth; approves and
values ways of behaving. This is a key factor in the continuation of culture.

Societal structures and processes- how a group regulates, orders and limits group actions to
maintain group interrelation and function. Societal actions and norms represent culture.

Defining Multicultural Education

Multicultural education is interchangeably used with antiracist education.

Different definitions of multicultural education emphasize on institutionalizing cultural

pluralism within education systemwith principles of equality, mutual respect,respect for
cultural diversity, combating oppressive practices.

The definitions of multicultural education vary. Some definitions rely on the cultural
characteristics of diverse groups, while others emphasize social problems (particularly those
associated with oppression), political power, and the reallocation of economic resources. For
this reason, the field of multicultural education is referred to interchangeably as multicultural
education, education that is multicultural and antiracist education.

The following are the most frequently used definitions of multicultural education. we will
take only the following.

 An idea, an educational reform movement, and a process intended to change the

structure of educational institutions so that all students have an equal chance to achieve

academic success
 A philosophy that stresses the importance, legitimacy, and vitality of ethnic and cultural

diversity in shaping the lives of individuals, groups, and nations

 A reform movement that changes all components of the educational enterprise,

including its underlying values, procedural rules, curricula, instructional materials,

organizational structure, and governance policies to reflect cultural pluralism

 Institutionalizing a philosophy of cultural pluralism within the educational system that is

grounded in principles of equality, mutual respect, acceptance and understanding, and

moral commitment to social justice (Baptiste, 1979)

Generally multicultural education refers to the ways in which all dimensions and
aspects of schooling address the needs and talents of culturally diverse population to
ensure equity and social justice for all.

Goals of Multicultural Education

Pathway toward goal of multicultural education incorporates three aspects of transformation:

1. The transformation of self: Self-transformation refers to constant process of self

examination and transformation.

2. The transformation of schools and education: It refers to critical examination of all

aspects of education. School transformation of multicultural includes the following:

A. student-centered aspects of pedagogy

-Active participation of students must be emphasized in the classroom in order to make

learning active, interactive and relevant

-Emphasis should be placed on critical thinking, learning skills, social awareness and fact.

-Pedagogy must provide all students with the opportunity to reach their potential as learners.

B. Multicultural curriculum

-All subjects must be presented from diverse perspectives

-“Inclusive curriculum”: Including the voices of the student in the classroom.

C. Inclusive educational media and materials: Educational material should be

inclusive (wide-ranging) of diverse voice and perspectives.

D. Supportive school and classroom climate

-Fostering a positive classroom climate for all students.

-Examining how the overall school culture is supporting oppressive conditions. –Assessing
how hierarchies in school management produce positive teaching environments for all
teachers.

E. Continual evaluation and assessment

-Educators and researchers in education must culturally standardized tests and develop
alternative ways of measuring student “achievement,” “ability,” or “potential.”

-Continuous evaluation to measure the success of newly introduced and the already existing
programs

3. The transformation of society

-ultimately the goal of multicultural education is to contribute to the transformation of society

and to the application and maintenance of social justice and equity.

-the transformation of schools necessarily transforms a society

-educators, educational theorists, researchers and activists must continue to practice and
apply multicultural teaching and learning principles both inside and outside the classroom.

-explore and analyze structures of power that maintain the status quo.

-multicultural education uses the transformation of self and school as a metaphor

(representation) for the transformation of society.

-Focus on ultimate social justice and equity in schools. Some of the purposes of multicultural
education help us develop the following perspectives:

1. A good self-concept and self-understanding

2. Sensitivity to and understanding of others, including cultural groups in the world

3. The ability to perceive and understand multiple , sometimes conflicting , cultural and

national interpretations of and perspectives on events, values and behavior

4. The ability to make decisions and take effective action based on multi-cultural analysis

and synthesis

5. Open minds when addressing issues etc.

Dimensions of Multicultural Education

Banks (1993) describes five conceptually distinct, but integrated and somewhat overlap in
practicedimensions of multicultural education which are used widely by education systems to
develop courses, programs, and projects in multicultural education. These dimensions are:
-Content integration

-The knowledge construction process;

-Prejudice -Equity pedagogy

-Empowering school culture and social structure

Content Integration

Any curriculum has content which is instrumental for the attainment of the educational
objectives.

-Content refers to the concepts, facts, principles, rules, skills, attitudes, etc. -Students learn in
order to achieve the intended objectives.

-In regard to the dimensions of multicultural education, content integration deals with the
extent to which teachers use examples and content from a variety of cultures and groups to
illustrate

key concepts, principles, generalizations, and cultural content into a subject area is logical -
More opportunities exist for the integration of ethnic and cultural content in some subject
areas than in others.

-The opportunities for teachers to use ethnic and cultural content to illustrate concepts,
themes, and principles are more practical in the social studies, the language arts and music
than math.

Knowledge Construction Process

-Children gather information and experience the world around using constructivism. -
Constructivism emphasizes the importance of the knowledge, beliefs, and skills an individual
brings to the experience of learning.

-Individuals make choices new ideas that fit their established views of the world. -
Multicultural teaching involves not only including ethnic content into the school curriculum,
but also changing the structure and organization of the school.

-The constructivist teachers set up problems and monitor students’ exploration, guide the
direction of student inquiry and promote new patterns of thinking.

-Multicultural teaching and learning, paradigms, and concepts that exclude or distort the life
experiences, histories and contributions of marginalized groups are challenged.

Banks identified the following types of knowledge.

Personal/ Culture knowledge consists of the concepts explanations and interpretations that
students derive from their personal experiences in their homes families and communities.
Popular Knowledge is the knowledge that is institutionalized by the mass media and other
forces
that shape the popular culture has a strong influence on the value, perceptions and behavior of
young people.

Mainstream academic knowledge The concepts, theories and explanations that constitute
traditional western centric knowledge in history and the social science and behavioral
science.

Transformative academic knowledge challenges the facts, concepts, paradigms, themes and
explanations routinely accepted in mainstream academic knowledge.

Prejudice

-Prejudice is a negative or hostile feeling or attitude toward a group or a person who belongs
to a particular group

-Prejudice is a frame of mind or an attitude which prejudges a person or group without

sufficient experience or evidence.

-Most often these prejudices can become commonly held beliefs which are usually used to
justify acts of discrimination.

-A stereotype is an oversimplified generalization negatively and unfavorablyabout a

particular group without having sufficient basis.

-Prejudice occurs when negative attitudes concerning a social group are extended toward an
individual based upon that individual’s perceived membership in the group.

-Discrimination occurs when there is an action (based on the prejudice), which denies a
person or group equality of treatment, and is rarely if ever based on facts or truths.

-Discrimination usually leads to the denial of certain rights for some groups of people.

Equity Pedagogy

Equity refers to fairness. Equity in education refers to accessibility of education as well as

provision of accessible curriculum to all students. Educational equity is very fundamental for
all students since educational excellence is unattainable for any student when certain groups
are denied a fair chance to receive the highest quality education. It is one thing to provide
access to schools for students from diverse backgrounds; it is another to build a culture where
they feel authentically included. It is yet another to ensure that they succeed

-Equity pedagogy exists when teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the
academic achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and language
groups.

Approaches to Multicultural Education

There are different teaching approaches in the system of multi-cultural education. Each
teaching approach has a unique characteristic on its implementation. They are discussed
below briefly. Try to understand these teaching approaches in terms of diversified
instructional process. Sleeter (1996) has outlined five teaching approaches in Multi-cultural
education.

Teaching the Culturally Different approach

Different approaches attempt to raise the academic achievement of students using culturally
relevant instructions.

Human Relations approach

In the Human Relations approach students are taught about commonalties of all people
through understanding their social and cultural differences but not their differences in
institutional and economic power.

The single group Studies approach

The single group Studies approach is about the histories and contemporary issues of
oppression of people of color, women, low socioeconomic groups, and gays and lesbians.