Chapter Overview
The US population is becoming more and more culturally diverse. This poses new challenges, new opportunities, and new responsibilities for classroom teachers. “Cultural diversity” refers to the population’s varied ethnicities, races, languages, religions, exceptionalities, genders, sexual orientations, social classes, and ages. Although “race” and “ethnicity” are commonly used interchangeably in everyday conversation, they mean very different things. Ethnicity refers to a place of origin, often a nation (e.g., American, French, Kenyan). Race refers to categories of perceived physical differences (e.g., White, Latino); even though race has oft been treated as a biological truth, racial categories are social constructs.
Multicultural education involves the concepts, skills, and practices necessary for ensuring equity in learning opportunities and outcomes for all children. The field of multicultural education has developed over the past century; first, as the Intercultural Education Movement where reformers sought to raise respect for diverse cultural and immigrant groups, worked to improve curricula through attending to content integration, knowledge construction, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, and empowered school culture; and next, as the Intergroup Education Movement where reformers sought to incorporate critical theory in students’ learning so that they would be able to challenge disparities in their lives and communities. The chapter concludes with a theoretical framework for multicultural education that guides the development of equitable a) school policies, b) pedagogies, c) curricular materials, and d) school communities.
Learning Objectives
L01. Describe the difference between the terms “race” and “ethnicity” and what is meant by cultural diversity.
L02. Discuss demographic changes in the United States.
L03. Identify the roots and misconceptions of multicultural education.
L04. Define and analyze the goals and concepts of multicultural education.
L05. Discuss and evaluate the goals, major concepts, and models of multicultural education.
Readings & Resources
Due this Week
The US population is becoming more and more culturally diverse. This poses new challenges, new opportunities, and new responsibilities for classroom teachers. “Cultural diversity” refers to the population’s varied ethnicities, races, languages, religions, exceptionalities, genders, sexual orientations, social classes, and ages. Although “race” and “ethnicity” are commonly used interchangeably in everyday conversation, they mean very different things. Ethnicity refers to a place of origin, often a nation (e.g., American, French, Kenyan). Race refers to categories of perceived physical differences (e.g., White, Latino); even though race has oft been treated as a biological truth, racial categories are social constructs.
Multicultural education involves the concepts, skills, and practices necessary for ensuring equity in learning opportunities and outcomes for all children. The field of multicultural education has developed over the past century; first, as the Intercultural Education Movement where reformers sought to raise respect for diverse cultural and immigrant groups, worked to improve curricula through attending to content integration, knowledge construction, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, and empowered school culture; and next, as the Intergroup Education Movement where reformers sought to incorporate critical theory in students’ learning so that they would be able to challenge disparities in their lives and communities. The chapter concludes with a theoretical framework for multicultural education that guides the development of equitable a) school policies, b) pedagogies, c) curricular materials, and d) school communities.
Learning Objectives
L01. Describe the difference between the terms “race” and “ethnicity” and what is meant by cultural diversity.
L02. Discuss demographic changes in the United States.
L03. Identify the roots and misconceptions of multicultural education.
L04. Define and analyze the goals and concepts of multicultural education.
L05. Discuss and evaluate the goals, major concepts, and models of multicultural education.
Readings & Resources
- Chapter 1
Due this Week
- Discussion Post
- Answer the following questions. Post your response on FORUM in LAULIMA. Your discussion post will be due on Friday by 11:55pm.
- Reflect on your own experiences in school. What were the dominant perspectives regarding culture, race, ethnicity, gender, class, and/or sexual orientation? How were these perspectives supported or challenged by the instruction, assessment, and other practices of your school?
- Answer the following questions. Post your response on FORUM in LAULIMA. Your discussion post will be due on Friday by 11:55pm.
- Peer Response
- Respond to one of your classmates' discussion posts. Your response must be respectful, thorough, and well thought-out. Peer Responses will be due by Sunday at 11:55pm. Submit your peer response directly to the discussion post in FORUM on LAULIMA.