Multiculturalism Rosemary Blank, Wynonia Burke, Donna Cratsenburg- Scott, Sheila Millen University of Phoenix MAT 501 Sebastian J. Romeo February 28, 2006
MulticulturalismOutline page 1 of 2 • Multicultural EducationTrend • Description of Trend • Working Definition • Contributing Factors • Purpose • History • Multicultural ; The “New” Trend • Affirmative Action • Multiculturalism Around the World • Multiculturismvs.Division
MulticulturalismOutlinepage2 of 2 • Multiculturalism The Student • The Student Perspective • Multiculturalism Cultural Diversity Reflected in School Population • Disciplinary Difficulties • Diversity in Special Education • Multicultural Curriculum • Debate over Multicultural Curriculum • Perspective Predictions for the Next Two Decades • What the Future Will Require • What the Future Will Require
Description of TrendWorking Definition • A progressive approach for transforming education. • Is grounded in ideals of social justice, education equity. • A dedication to facilitating educational experiences. • All students reach their full potential as learners and as social beings. • Schools are essential to laying the foundation for the transformation of society . Gorski, 1995-2006
Multicultural EducationTrendsContributing Factors Population growth and diversity • The numbers of school age children are growing at a steady rate. • Cultural and Socioeconomic differences • Working parents, Single parents, Need for child care • Motivation of children, Personal educational experience of parent • No Child Left Behind 2000-2008
Multicultural EducationTrendsPurpose • Increase cultural and racial awareness and tolerance and reducing biases. • Research on learning styles to enhance student achievement and reduce bias tensions within the classroom. • Emphasize pluralism and cultural equity in the American society as a whole.
Multicultural The “New” Trend • Civil War (1861 -1865) • Women's Rights or the Suffrage Movement (Late 19th Century – Early 20th Century) (Vote 1920) • Child Labor Laws (1938) • Civil Rights Movement (1955 – 1965) • Affirmative Action (1965) • No Child Left Behind (2000)
Affirmative Action
Multiculturalism Around the World
Multiculturismvs.Division Historian Diane Ravitch observes that nations composed of rival tribes are prone to disintegrate. To cohere, the United States must "identify and build a common culture that overrides all of our particularities." Williams, 1993
Multiculturalism: The Student Perspective • Most students interested in learning about other cultures • Teachers who teach tolerance encourage tolerance in students • Nearly half of students think schools effectively improve immigrants’ English • Students divided on perception of adequate ethic makeup of teachers
Cultural DiversityReflected in School Population • Minority population in public schools increased from 29.8% to 38.8% between 1986 and 2000 • Foreign language speakers doubled from 1979 to 1999 • Teachers feel unprepared to teach diverse student population
Disciplinary Difficulties • Inconsistent consequences for some minorities • Some cultures feel alienated • Too few multicultural teachers leads to problems (and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes)
Diversity in Special Education • Ignorance and bias lead to special education placement • High numbers of culturally linguistically diverse (CLD) students leads to challenges for teachers • Educators struggle to meet standards and remain sensitive to students’ needs • Too few special education teachers from diverse backgrounds • Made worse by overall shortage of teachers in this area
Debate over Multicultural Curriculum Supporters say diversity is about social justice • “celebrating diversity” not enough • Equalize conditions for student learning Critics say multicultural curriculum is “educationally bankrupt”. • Western ideas must be left out to make room for additions from other cultures. Noll, 2001
Predictions for the Next Two Decades • Children of color will account for 46% of nations school age children • 27% of those will be poor • Some gains made in closing racial inequality gap • Poor will continue to experience inequality in education • Continued shortage of teachers from diverse backgrounds (Collier, Combs, Cummins, Garcia, Ovando, 2002)
What the Future Will Require • Shift in attitudes of educators • Getting public to understand benefits of immigration • Develop curriculum that promotes diversity • Schools of tomorrow need to be more sensitive to cultural differences
References Age-old hostilities boil over: Iraq gets a frightening look at what civil war might look like, Time.com (2006, February 26) (Retrieved February 26, 2006) http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/26/time.iraq/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&eref=yahoo. Banks, J. A. (1994). An Introduction to Multicultural Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. New York. ( Retrieved February 24, 2006) http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/multicultural.htm Burnett, Gary (1994, June). Varieties of Multicultural Education: An Introduction. ERIC Digest 98. New York. (Retrieved February 24, 2006) http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/multicultural.htm Collier, V., & Combs, M.,& Cummings, J.,& Garcia, E.,& Ovando, C.(2002). Bilingual and ESL Classrooms: Teaching in Multicultural Context. McGraw-Hill Companies Gorski, Paul C. (1995). (Retrieved February 24, 2006) http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/resources/self_critique.html Gorski, Paul C. (1995). (Retrieved February 24, 2006)http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/initial.html Holloway, J. (2003). Managing Culturally Diverse Classrooms. Educational Leadership, 61 (1), 90-91. (Retrieved from EBSCO Host February 21, 2006) Kea, C. & Utley, C. (1998). To teach me is to know me. Journal of Special Education, 32(1), 44-47. (Retrieved from EBSCO Host February 21, 2006).
References (con’t) Multiculturalism – What Do Students Think?, Education World, Inc. (1997, December 1) (Retrieved February 21, 2006) http://www.educationworld.com Noguera,P., (1999).Confronting the Challenge of Diversity in Education .In Motion Magazine Noll, J., (2001) Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Education Issues. McGraw Hill Companies Peterson, Abby (1992). Paradoxes of multiculturalism. Acta Sociologica, 35.3, 261-263. Retrieved from EBSCO Host February 23, 2006. Sussman,Paul (2000) Conflict and hope in Northern Ireland: Breaking the cycle of violence, CNN.com (Retrieved February 26, 2006) http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/n.ireland/overview.html Sykes, Marquita. The Origins of Affirmative Action. (Retrieved February 26, 2006) http://www.now.org/nnt/08-95/affirmhs.html. Tyler, N. et al. (2004). Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and the Special Education Workforce: A Critical Overview. The Journal of Special Education, 38(1). (Retrieved from EBSCO Host February 21, 2006). Williams, David R. (1993, June) John Winthrop and the Origins of American Multiculturalism: A Plea against Balkanization. (Retrieved February 23, 1006)http://mason.gmu.edu/~drwillia/winthrop.html Yellowitz, Irwin. Child labor, The Reader's Companion to American History. (Retrieved February 26, 2006) http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_016300_childlabor.htm.
Multicultural EducationHyperlinks Handout • Hyperlinks • http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml • http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/child_behavior/moraldevchild.html • http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/multiple_intelligences.htm • http://www.whitehouse.gov • http://library.umd.umich.edu/ • http://www.sonoma.edu/users/p/phelan/433/chap10.htm • http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/articles.html • http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/practices.html • http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/ • http://www.coping.org/write/C6035humandev/Lectures/lecture11earlysocemodev.ppt • http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgibin/abstract/90512574/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0