Multicultural Education: What, Why and How? “When you are willing to make sacrifices for a great cause, you will never be alone.” Dr. Rincon Ed593 Teaching in a Multicultural Setting Introduction

What is Multicultural Education? Approach to teaching and learning that is based upon democratic values and beliefs, and that seeks to foster cultural pluralism, not assimilation, within culturally diverse societies and an interdependent world. Multicultural education strives to excellence in education, elimination of stereotypes, prejudice, racism; it builds knowledge about various ethnic groups and national perspectives into the curriculum.

The focus of multicultural education: Primarily ethnic groups that make part of the society Interdependence of nations on Earth, particularly as they face global issued related to the ecosystem, nuclear weapons, human rights, scarcity of natural resources Cultural perspectives associated with diverse ethnic groups, rather than a perspective based on different social variables of gender, socio-economic level, age, physical disabilities, etc.

Dimensions of multicultural education: The movement towards equity: equality of educational opportunities among identified groups, especially minorities and the economically disadvantaged The curriculum approach: understanding of the contribution of ethnic groups and cultural differences fostering tolerance. The multicultural curriculum approach strives to integrate multiethnic and global perspectives into the traditional curriculum that is primarily monoethnic and Anglo-European.

Dimensions cont… The process of becoming multicultural: understanding and learning to negotiate cultural diversity among groups The commitment towards fighting racism, sexism, and all forms of prejudice and discrimination through the development of appropriate understandings, attitudes, and social action skills. Emphasis is on clearing up myths and stereotypes associated with gender, race and ethnic groups, on stressing basic human similarities. The ultimate goal is to develop antiracist, antisexist behavior in basic everyday life.

Why is Multicultural Education essential? Multicultural education is essential because it fulfills: The need for academic excellence and equity: state mandated laws towards a national commitment to true excellence in education development of the intellectual, social, and personal growth of all students to their highest potential recognition of the potential of all ethnic groups building knowledge about various ethnic groups and national perspectives into the curriculum The existence of a multiethnic society The existence of an Interdependent World

How do we attain these objectives? By embracing important value concepts: Acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity, Respect for human dignity and universal human rights Reverence for the Earth, and Responsibility to a world community and requirements: fair-minded critical thinking must be at the heart of teaching and learning, all teachers and students are required to care about human welfare beyond themselves, their family and their friends a focus on community action so that teachers and students can become agents of change