Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents

G. Lea Lee, M. Lee Manning, Leroy G. Baruth

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351737418
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Éducation générale

Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents explores the foundations of diversity through cultural portraits of young people from a variety of backgrounds, and provides practical strategies for shaping and implementing a multicultural curriculum. In Part I, the authors introduce multicultural education as a concept and document the increasing cultural diversity of the United States. The text describes, in Part II, various cultural groups—including African, American Indian, and Hispanic cultures—to help pre-service teachers better understand the backgrounds of diverse learners. Part III focuses on topics that educators should consider when planning and implementing programs that teach acceptance and respect for cultural diversity. Through this series of applied chapters, teacher candidates will learn to use the most effective instructional practices with diverse learners, and to work successfully with families, school personnel, and administrators to implement a multicultural program.

Content and features new to the sixth edition include the following:

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• Every chapter opens with a real-life story that introduces the subject matter by showing the ideas in action.

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• Points to Ponder boxes urge readers to reflect more deeply on information they have just read.

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• Additional Case Studies with accompanying Questions for Discussion in all chapters enable nuanced consideration of the crucial differences between culturally specific learning styles.

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• Increased emphasis on Social Justice and White Privilege, including its effects on all people.

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• Chapter 13 has been significantly revised to include increased and updated information on sexual orientation, including transgender students.

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• Chapters in Part II now feature further expanded sections on socioeconomic status and conditions of each ethnic group.

Part I
Multicultural Education and its Response to the United States’ Increasing Diversity

Part I introduces multicultural education as a concept and documents the increasing cultural diversity of the United States. Chapter 1 examines the multicultural education movement and its role in elementary and secondary schools. Chapter 2 looks at the United States’ increasing diversity and the ways that people’s differences enrich our schools. These chapters reflect a belief that educators have a professional responsibility to teach respect for diversity as well as to teach all students the concepts of social justice, equality, and democracy.

1
Multicultural Education

Understanding the material and activities in this chapter will help the reader to:

• Define multicultural education and explain its fundamental purposes.
• List several goals, assumptions, concepts, and principles of multicultural education.
• List several myths and misconceptions about multicultural education.
• Explain briefly the historical milestones and legal precedents of multicultural education.
• Explain interdisciplinary approaches and how multiculturalism can be integrated through curricular experiences.

Opening Scenario

Toward a Comprehensive Definition of Multicultural Education

Led by Mr. Taylor, the administrators and staff at Public School (PS) 105 met to plan and implement their multicultural education program. Two goals emerged from their deliberations: (1) They want a comprehensive, all-encompassing program and (2) they want an interdisciplinary program.

Rather than address only cultural backgrounds, this group agreed that their program should direct attention to a broad range of differences: ethnicity, race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, and individual. They wanted a program that recognized the vast differences among children and adolescents, such as the many different cultures that make up the Hispanic American population, the vast differences among Asian Americans, and the diversity among African Americans.

Goal 1: A program that addresses as many differences as possible. The decision was made to examine each difference, including its influence on learning and other school-related activities, and then to look at the curriculum, instructional approaches, print and nonprint media, school policies, extracurricular activities, and the cultural composition of the administration, faculty, and staff. Although this constituted a task of some magnitude, the group recognized the advantages of having a multicultural education program that genuinely addresses diversity in its broadest definition.

Goal 2: A program that demonstrates a total commitment to an interdisciplinary effort, one in which multiculturalism permeates the school day. Although the committee recognized the legitimacy of unit approaches and that multicultural education was one subject, it also recognized that an interdisciplinary approach would be most effective for several reasons. Specifically, the interdisciplinary approach could achieve the following.

1. Provide a means of including multicultural education experiences in all subject areas—for example, showing the contributions of all cultural groups in the various disciplines.
2. Ensure broad involvement of all educators responsible for the various discipline areas.
3. Show students from culturally different backgrounds as well as majority-culture learners that the school is committed to serious multicultural education efforts.
4. Provide a wide variety of instructional approaches and learning experiences.
5. Make all school personnel feel that they are a part of the multicultural education program and responsible for its success.

The educators at PS 105 felt good about their multicultural education efforts: Everybody was involved. Teachers and administrators examined curricular and instructional practices and reconsidered school policies, and their efforts crossed disciplinary lines.

Overview

The tremendous cultural, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity in schools today calls for multicultural education programs that reflect understanding and respect for children’s and adolescents’ differences. The multicultural education movement has particular relevance for the new century because of the continuing influx of people into the United States and because of the enlightened and more humane perspective that diversity enriches, rather than weakens, a nation. This chapter examines the fundamentals and principles of multicultural education and considers the various aspects that make programs successful.

Multicultural Education for Culturally Pluralistic Schools

In this section, we describe our (the authors’) preferred definition of multicultural education and examine principles, concepts, goals, and assumptions that form the basis for responsive multicultural education programs. We then look at several myths and provide an overview of historical events and court decisions that have contributed to multicultural education.

Definition

Various groups and individuals define multicultural education in numerous ways. Some definitions address the perspectives of specific disciplines, such as education, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. Other defin itions represent the views of accrediting agencies and professional organizations that are concerned with what teachers need to teach and what students need to learn.

We think the following definition most effectively meets the goals and purposes of multicultural education for children and adolescents. Multicultural education is both a concept and deliberate process designed to do the following.

• Teach learners to recognize, accept, and appreciate differences in culture, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, religion, special needs, and gender.
• Instill in learners during their crucial developmental years a sense of responsibility and a commitment to work toward the democratic ideals of justice, equality, and democracy.

Nearly two decades ago, Mulvihill (2000) maintained that multicultural education has always been a contested terrain because of tensions and debates over what the field includes and does not include. Although theories of multicultural education have been developed, they have not always taken into account the debates surrounding the terms gender and sex or the multiple feminist theories that focus on the more critical aspects of social justice. In fact, some believe multicultural education’s influence as a change agent depends on the tensions it creates and on its success in working to resolve conflicts among various groups. In her article, Mulvihill (2000) looked at some of the tensions between gender studies and multicultural education, such as understanding gender as a category of analysis, theoretical constructions of feminism, and building an educational agenda for social justice.

Principles

Appropriate multicultural education requires more than simply providing cultural information about ethnic groups. Several fundamentals necessary to the promotion of effective multicultural education allow learners and teachers of various cultures to maintain integrity and dignity.

First, students need curricular materials appropriate to their cultural backgrounds. These materials should enhance students’ self-concept, engage student interest in classroom learning, and provide examples, vocabulary, and models that relate to students’ cultural backgrounds. Second, major curricular focuses should include skills in analysis and critical thinking. Third, materials, activities, and experiences should be authentic and multidimensional to help students understand ethnic differences and cultural diversity. They should include both cognitive and affective skills.

Points to Ponder 1.1 Determining Differences to Include in Multicultural Education

Consider the differences and characteristics we included in our definition. Some might disagree with nontraditional views on sexual orientation, ability/disability, and gender. What do you think? Do people whose views are nontraditional have a culture of their own? For example, each person has his or her own cultural background, but wouldn’t he or she also have a culture of sexual orientation, a culture associated with a disabling condition, or a culture associated with being either male or female? How inclusive do you think multicultural education should be?

Concepts

It is especially important for teachers to understand three concepts of multicultural education, because it is the educator’s concept of the term that determines his or her program’s direction and issues.

First, multicultural education is a product in which there is emphasis on the study of ethnicity—for example, the contributions or characteristics of a group of people. This concept, which addresses teaching about different ethnic and cultural groups, may be best described as ethnic studies.

Second, multicultural education emphasizes the role of oppression of one group by another and the oppressors’ atonement or compensation for past injustices. Dealing primarily with targeted oppressed groups (and possible solutions to their problems), this concept considers multicultural education a concern only of minorities.

The third concept views multicultural education as a teaching process that emphasizes the intrinsic aspects of culture and its influence on teaching and learning processes. Such a concept of multicultural education recognizes the belief that to obtain what one is entitled to requires a fair system and an equal chance to acquire social and academic skills. It incorporates that (1) certain historical facts and events must be taught and (2) an adequate understanding of present conditions, as well as general human behavior, comes about with knowledge of historical facts.

Goals

Points to Ponder 1.2 Surveying for Gender Bias

Visit several elementary or secondary schools to determine gender bias. Prepare a survey that examines (but is not limited to) such items as teacher–student interactions, instructional methods, grouping strategies, questioning strategies, and classroom environment. What evidence do you see that teachers recognize and address gender differences? Are boys and girls being treated equally and equitably? How might multicultural education address the bias in treatment of boys and girls (if, in fact you find evidence of bias)?

Effective multicultural education programs have well-defined goals—ones for which educators can plan and implement multicultural experiences. Readers will recall that educators at PS 105 in the Opening Scenario agreed to two major goals: A comprehensive program and interdisciplinary efforts. While goals vary with respective school environments, several goals should provide a foundation for all effective multicultural efforts.

First, a basic goal of all multicultural education should be the development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to function in a culturally diverse society and to promote social justice for all people. Sometimes called cross-cultural or multicultural skills, these three attributes (knowledge, attitudes, and skills) lead to an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of all types of diversity. Developing these skills also helps people better understand their own and others’ differences.

Second, an important goal is to change the total educational environment so that it promotes a respect for a wide range of differences, enables all cultural groups to experience equal educational opportunities, and promotes social justice for all learners.

A third goal should be educators’ enlightenment of the social, political, and economic realities encountered in a culturally diverse society. For example, students benefit when teachers respect differences and similarities; understand intracultural and individual differences; develop a better understanding of the impact of social injustices of students’ motivation to learn and willingness to demonstrate positive behavior; and develop a positive attitude toward one’s own cultural background.

Again, goals will vary with each respective school situation. For example, while one school might choose to adopt broad goals, another school might choose to have more specific goals, such as these: (1) Teach from multicultural perspectives to promote positive gender, racial, cultural, class, and individual identities as well as promote the recognition and acceptance of membership in many different groups. (2) Encourage social relationships to promote openness to and interest in others’ differences and a willingness to include others in school and social activities. (3) Work to provide positive, healthy family–school relationships (which is a major focus of this text) and to promote the inclusion of immediate and extended families and caregivers.

Assumptions

Several assumptions underlie multicultural education and are, in fact, the philosophy on which this book, Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents, is based.

Assumption 1

Cultural diversity is a positive, enriching element in a society because it provides individuals increased opportunities to experience other cultures as well as to understand their own. Rather than perceive it as a weakness to be remediated, educators should view cultural diversity as a strength with the potential for helping individuals better understand their own cultures. Similarly, as people reach higher levels of understanding and acceptance of other cultures, we hope that they will achieve similar heights of understanding and sensitivity in areas such as racism, sexism, and classism.

Assumption 2

Multicultural education is for all students. Some people believe that multicultural education is only for minority children and adolescents based on the odd notion that only minority youngsters need multicultural education. This notion completely fails to recognize that majority cultures can benefit from a better understanding of cultural differences and, eventually, of their own cultural backgrounds.

Assumption 3

Teaching is a cross-cultural encounter. All teachers and students have their own cultural “baggage”—their backgrou...