Multicultural Education in Teaching

By Michelle Fredrickson

Multicultural Education

National Association of Multicultural Education definition:• Philosophical concept built on the ideals of

freedom, justice, equality, equity and human dignity• Roles schools play in developing the attitudes and

values• Values cultural differences• Challenge all forms of discrimination in schools

Beginning of Multicultural

Education

22 million Immigrants

between 1881 and

WWI

Aim to reduce

intergroup tensions

and increase academic

achievement for all

students.

Multicultural Leaders

Educators Emerge:

Rachel Davis Dubois

Service Bureau for

Intercultural Education

Benjamin Franklin High

School in Harlem

Levels of Culture

Level 4

• Conditions

• Historical, Physical, Geographical, Social, Political, Emotion

Level 3

• Mental Activity Level

• Intellectual creativity needed to cope with level 1Level 2

• Mental Context (not directly observable)

• Knowledge, Beliefs, Values

Level 1

• Surface Levels (observable and most obvious)

• Behaviors and Skills

(Mushi, 2010)

Multicultural EducationCHALLENGE:

Cultivate opportunities where

students experience

themselves as unique

individuals and part of an

integrated global society

Teacher Cultural

CompetenceExamine level of

Cultural Competence

Increase awareness,

sensitivity, and

responsiveness to

diverse classrooms

Plan and implement

evolving activities

Intercultural Competence

Beginner Awareness of Intercultural Competence

Moderate Awareness of Intercultural Competence

Sophisticated Multicultural Awareness in Teaching

(Mushi, 2010)

Beginner Awareness

Traits

Culture related

activities interfere with

curriculum

Isolated cultural

understanding

Applies stereotypes

Cultures are separate

entities

Classroom Activity Examples

Absence of cultural

related activities

Looking at pictures of a

Chinese New Year

Festival

African child asked to

recite “Kwanza Pillars”

(Mushi, 2010)

Moderate Awareness

Traits

Cultural awareness

that thinks beyond

behavior and skills

Each individual is part

of a community

Understand how

community relates to

school

Classroom Activity Examples

Practice greetings for

different languages and

explaining meaning

Sing songs in a

different language

Drawing activities

related to culture and

community

Sophisticated Multicultural Awareness

Traits

Interact at local, national and international levels

Assist learner in developing self as part of a community and global society

Integrate global contexts into curriculum and subject matter

Classroom Activity Examples

Research, examine

and discuss different

plants and animals of

the world by integrating

different world

perspectives

Partner with a

classroom in another

part of the world that is

studying a similar

subject

Conclusion• Integration of education and

culture

• Raise awareness of cultural competence among teachers

• Meaningful academic activities promote multicultural education

Resources

Banks, C.A.M. (2005). Improving Multicultural Education: Lesson From the Intergroup Education Movement. New York: Teachers College Press.

Banks, C.A.M. (2004). Intercultural and intergroup Education, 1929-1959:Linking Schools and Communities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Delano-Oriarian, O &. Meidel, T. (2013). Critical Conversations: Developing White Teacher’s for Diverse Classrooms. Journal

of Praxis in Multicultural Education, 7:1, 1-32.

May, S. (1994). Making Multicultural Education Work. Great Britain: Longdunn Press.

Mushi, S. (2004). Multicultural Competencies in Teaching: A Typology of Classroom Activities. Intercultural Education, 15:2, 180-194.