Multicultural Education Dr. Mohamed Nur-Awaleh Multicultural Education is for the Others Multicultural Education is Opposed to the Western Tradition

Multicultural Education

Dr. Mohamed Nur-Awaleh

Multicultural Education is for the OthersMulticultural Education is Opposed to the Western TraditionMulticultural Education will Divide the Nation

Misconceptions about Multicultural Education

To promote alternative choices for people, with affirmation of their race, gender disability, sexual orientation, and social class background.To help all children achieve academic success.To promote social justice and equal opportunity for all.

James banks (1993:3) says that multicultural education is 3 things

1. An idea that all students-regardless of their background should have an equal opportunity to learn at school.

2. MC is also an educational reform movement that is trying to change the schools and other educational institutions so that students from all social class, gender, racial, language. and other cultural groups will have an opportunity to learn

3. MC education must viewed as an going process.

Therefore, Multiculturalism denotes an approach to education, and a world that would move the curriculum, precepts, norms, and attitudes away from Anglo conformity and Eurocentric locus. Multiculturalism, in a pluralistic world, would create a conducive environment for "salad bowlism", instead of "melting potism". The question of attaining multicultural education remains perplexing.

Sources of Cultural IdentityCushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education (Figure 3.2)

Socializing Agents that Transmit CultureCushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education (Figure 3.3)

The Culture-Learning ProcessCushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education (Figure 3.4)

Banks’s Approach to Multicultural EducationSadker/Sadker, Teachers, Schools, and Society (Figure 4.3)

There are theoretical differences in approach to multicultural education.McCarthy and Apple (1990), Mattai (1992 argue that multicultural education maintains the status quo without addressing the real problem, which is institutional racism.Other theorists such as Thomas, Famularo (1996), Diana Ravich (1988) D'Souza (1991); Schlesinger(1992) contends that multicultural education promotes divisiveness and ethnic polarization rather than national unity

R. Mattai (1992) had this to say about nature of multicultural curriculum in U.S ”In most cases, however, attempts to introduce multiculturalism into the curriculum appear to be mere political responses, and efforts to infuse the American educational curriculum with multiculturalism are largely partisan activities engaging only those few who are committed to effecting significant educational and societal changes African-Americans, Latinos, and native Americans, many of whom presently raise serious questions about what the movement has done and, or failed to do for them"

2. (Cont.) Representative of (a) could be reading, writing, arithmetic (b) could be language, literature, social studies, history, geography and sciences (c) could be arts and craft, theatre, industrial design, technical drawing, music, health and sports. These categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, a writing project (a) could include reading of history (b) and could include recording of oral history and (c) dramatic interpretation of that history

James Bank (2001:241) offers the following guidelines in order to teach effectively in multicultural environments:

1. You, the teacher (s) are extremely important variable in teaching of ethnic content. If you have the necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills, when you encounter racist and sexist content in material or observe sexism and racism in the statement and behavior of students you can use these situations to teach important lessons about the experiences of ethnic groups in the United States. Two good sources in these areas are: Gary Howard, We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. , Sadker and Sadker (1992), Sexuality and Sexism: How Should Educators Be Prepared” In S.S. Klein (Ed). Sex Equity and Sexuality in Education. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Guidelines For Teaching Multicultural Content

Guidelines For Teaching Multicultural Content (cont.)

2. Knowledge about ethnic groups is needed to teach ethnic content effectively. Read at least one major book that surveys the histories and cultures of U.S. ethnic groups. One book that includes historical overviews of U.S. ethnic groups is James A. Banks, Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies, 6th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997).

3.Be sensitive to your own racial attitudes, behavior, and the statements you make about ethnic groups in the classroom. A statement such as "Sit like an Indian" stereotypes Native Americans.

4. Make sure that your classroom conveys positive images of various ethnic groups. You can do this by displaying bulletin boards, posters, and calendars that show the racial and ethnic diversity within U.S. society.

5. Be sensitive to the racial and ethnic attitudes of your students and do not accept the belief, which has been refuted by research, that "kids do not see colors." Avoiding the phenomenon of "colorblind" phenomenon. Walter Stephan, Reducing Prejudice and Stereotyping in Schools (New York: Teachers College Press, 1999).



6. Be judicious in your choice and use of teaching materials. Some materials contain both subtle and blatant stereotypes of ethnic groups. Point out to the students when an ethnic group is stereotyped, omitted from, or described in materials from Anglocentric and Eurocentric points of view. A useful guide for teachers of young children is Louise Derman‑Sparks and the A. B. C. Task Force (1989), Anti‑Bias Curriculum, Tools for Empowering Young Children (Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children).


7. Use trade books, films, videotapes, and recordings to supplement the textbook treatment of ethnic groups and to present the perspectives of ethnic groups to your students. Many of these sources contain rich and powerful images of the experience of being a person of color in the United States. A large collection of books and videotapes are annotated in James A. Banks, Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies, 6th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997).


8. Get in touch with your own cultural and ethnic heritage. Sharing your ethnic and cultural story with your students will create a climate for sharing in the classroom, will help motivate students to dig into their own ethnic and cultural roots, and will result in powerful learning for your students.

9.Be sensitive to the possible controversial nature of some ethnic studies materials. If you are clear about the teaching objectives you have in mind, you can often use a less controversial book or reading to attain the same objectives.


10. Be sensitive to the developmental levels of your students when you select concepts, content, and activities related to ethnic groups. Concepts and learning activities for students in kindergarten and the primary grades should be specific and concrete. Students in these grades should study such concepts as similarities, differences, prejudice, and discrimination rather than higher‑level concepts such as racism and oppression. Fiction and biographies are excellent vehicles for introducing these concepts to students in kindergarten and the primary grades. As students progress through the grades, they can be introduced to more complex concepts, examples, and activities. (If you teach in a racially or ethnically integrated classroom or school you should keep the following guidelines in mind.)


11. View your students of color as winners. Many students of color have high academic and career goals. They need teachers who believe they can be successful and are willing to help them succeed. Both research and theory indicate that students are more likely to achieve highly when their teachers have high academic expectations for them.

12.Keep in mind that most parents of color are very interested in education and want their children to be successful academically even though the parents may be alienated from the school. Do not equate education with schooling. Many parents who want their children to succeed have mixed feelings about the schools. Try to gain the support of these parents and enlist them as partners in the education of their children.


13. Use cooperative learning techniques and group work to promote racial and ethnic integration in the school and classroom. Research indicates that when learning groups are racially integrated, students develop more friends from other racial groups, and race relations in the school improve. A helpful guide is Elizabeth G. Cohen's Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom, 2nd ed. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1994).


14. Make sure that school plays, pageants, cheerleading squads, school publications, and other formal and informal groups are racially integrated. Also make sure that various ethnic and racial groups have equal status in school performances and presentations. In a multiracial school, if all of the leading roles in a school play are filled by White characters, an important message is sent to students and parents of color whether such a message was intended or not.

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Multicultural Education Dr. Mohamed Nur-Awaleh Multicultural Education is for the Others Multicultural Education is Opposed to the Western Tradition