Multicultural Education
By Vangie, Philip, Jenny, and Janelle
University of Arizona
Why do we need multicultural
education?

Jim Cummins (3) writes, “In many societies
throughout the world, students who experience
the most persistent and severe educational
difficulties tend to come from communities that,
over generations, have been discriminated against
and viewed as inherently inferior by the dominant
societal group…
Why do we need multicultural
education?

…Schools reflect the values and attitudes of the
broader society that supports them and so it is
hardly surprising that in the United States
students from African American, Latino/Latina,
and Native American communities have
experienced extensive devaluation of their
cultures and languages within the school
context.”
What is multicultural education?







Complex program
Encourages critical thought
Affirms student identity
Develops cultural competence
Highlights different perspectives
Builds on student strengths
Sets high expectations
What are the goals of
multicultural education?







Educational equity
Empowerment
Cultural pluralism
Intercultural/interethnic/ intergroup
understanding
Freedom
Expanded knowledge
Informed and inquisitive multicultural
perspective
What are some objections to
multicultural education?



Revisionist approach to history
Emphasis on group achievement over
individual success
Anti-assimilationist
What are some criticisms of
multicultural education?
Poorly planned or incomplete programs…
 Essentialize different cultures
 Supplemental “tourist” curriculum
 Promote tolerance over transformation
Tolerance vs. Transformation






Prejudice is individual
Facts and interaction will
help
Multicultural education
only for minority
students
Holidays and food
“Other” cultures
Appreciation, enjoyment,
and tolerance






Prejudice institutional as
well as interpersonal
Racism means of control
Anti-bias education for
all students
Communities involved
with curriculum and
everyday activities
Self-identity
Empathy for others
How can we apply multicultural
education’s guiding principles?
Systemic level






Power, influence, and authority
Connections with race/ethnicity
Factors in decision-making
Reforms to deep structure
Teacher training and recruitment
De-tracking
What Native Schools and School
leaders can do

Educate teachers



Ensure ongoing support



on Native American history
on community issues
Matching white teachers with supportive &
knowledgeable tribal leaders
Mentoring processes should be detailed and
rigorously implemented
Create a culture of safety
Necessary components for
success




Deep support from local community
Funding
Leadership
Thoughtful and open dialogue
Culturally Appropriate Schools



Increased relevance
Need for balance
Difficult to teach Native children when
teachers know little about the history,
culture, and communities in which they
teach
Culture, Community, &
Education





Emphasize community, culture, and tradition
Native beliefs and value systems
Acculturation—blending traditional values &
principles with current & appropriate educational
concepts, technologies and content
Applying what they learn in the classroom to the
communities in which they live
Studies supporting culturally linked school
programs
How can we apply multicultural
education’s guiding principles?
Practical level



Curriculum
Teaching strategies
Materials
Areas to Inventory









Vision, planning, and school improvement
Administrative leadership
Parents and community
School wide behavioral climate and policies
Instructional practices
Assessment
Professional development
Facilities
Resources
How can we develop a
multicultural curriculum?





Challenge the hidden curriculum
Knowledge and experience of students
Diversity and complexity
Politics of possibility and hope
Teach topics within context
Culturally Appropriate
Curriculum



Experience world through culture
Experience school through culturally
sensitive lens
Cannot separate school culture from our
own culture
How can we develop
multicultural teaching strategies?







Cooperative, active learning
Variety of instructional methods
Multiple perspectives
Intercultural/bilingual education
High expectations
Integrated units
Student and collective agency
Lessons from the Maori



Good teaching has a positive effect on the
psychological, socio-cultural, and
sociolinguistic development of the student.
Rules of practice
Practical principles
Images
What White Teachers can do to
Strengthen Native Learning







Find mentors
Get educated
Know and participate in the community
Question personal knowledge of historical “facts”
Create materials
Expect measured success
Push for training
Classroom Environment: What
we do know



Most native children learn best when
hands-on, experiential teaching & learning
approaches are used.
A positive relationship exists between
students’ academic learning and their
strong sense of cultural identity.
Informal and flexible learning
environments
How can we best use materials
for multicultural education?





Check all materials for bias
Variety of materials
Variety of sources
Teacher, student, or community-created
materials
Explicitly discuss differences
Difficulties of Implementation

Mismatch between NCLB programs and
the research base on Native American
learning
Conclusion

The benefits of establishing multicultural education can
be great; as described by Manu’atu (p. 9), “The learning
environment becomes familiar to all the participants.
Using [students’] ways of communicating and
representing the world means establishing a situation that
enables meaningful communication between the student
and the context, the text, the tutor and the student, the
student and the other students, the students and parents.
Besides, including the [students’] personal lived
experiences in the educative process brings forth their
apprehension of subject-content under study.”
Sources




Airini (1998). What Is Good Teaching? Lessons from Maori
Pedagogy. ERIC Document Number ED427917.
Cummins, Jim. Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment
in a diverse society. Ontario: California Association for Bilingual
Education, 1996.
Davidman, Leonard; Davidman, Patricia. Teaching with a
multicultural perspective: A practical guide. New York: Longman
Publishers, 1997.
Lee, Enid; Menkart, Deborah; Okazawa-Rey, Margo, eds. Beyond
Heroes and Holidays: A practical guide to K-12 anti-racist,
multicultural education and staff development. Washington, D.C.:
Network of Educators on the Americas, 1998.
Sources




Learn-Ed Nations Inventory, A Tool for Improving Schools with
American Indian and Alaska Native Students published by the
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2002.
Manu'atu, Linita; Kepa, Mere (2001). A Critical Theory to Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL): The Promising
Focus for Indigenous Perspectives. ERIC Document Number
ED465273.
Starnes, B. (2006). What we don’t know can hurt them: White
teachers, Indian children. Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 384-392.
Yazzie, Tarajean (1999). Culturally Appropriate Curriculum: A
Research Based Rationale. ERIC Document Number ED427906.