Multicultural Education

Multicultural Education

The inclusion of multiculturalism into schools has become an increasingly hot topic as of late. Being a future teacher I have taken a natural interest in the topic as well. It seems that most of the push to incorporate the multicultural issue into the school system has been a reaction to the thought that the American “melting-pot” metaphor is on the decline. Knowing that the demographics of the United States is changing continuously, the main issue about the inclusion of multiculturalism is not whether to place it into the schools, but rather how to position this controversial topic into the curriculum. Many people think that the incorporation of multiculturalism must begin with the teacher education students while they are still in college. Advocates claim that college curricula must institute multicultural studies because as of now there are no requirements of students to seriously study the culturally diverse societies in which they will be teaching. Throughout the paper I will mainly discuss the responsibility of the school systems to include the multicultural aspect into their various curricula. I will also show how teachers must change and continue to change as the student demographics vary. Finally, I will give evidence of how racism is a large problem in schools when discussing everything from the racial percentages of educators to the segregation of students in various ways.

“ The inclusion of multiculturalism in the dominant curriculum in higher education was originally a response to minority student demands of the ‘Sixties and Seventies’”(Kailin, 1998, p.1). This is direct evidence that the topic has been continually pushed aside as time has gone on. Originally b...

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...k that this racism would disappear just through teacher communication. In all, school reform for a society full of multiculturalism has to mean sharing power and collectively making decisions. If this is not done, the issue of how to incorporate multiculturalism into schools will never be solved.

Works Cited

Farris, Pamela J. (1999). Teaching, Bearing the Torch. Boston: McGraw- Hill.

Kailin, Julie. (1998). Preparing Teachers For Schools and Communities: An Anti- Racist Perspective. High School Journal, 82, 1-9.

Munroe, Maurice E. R. (2000). Unamerican Tail: of segregation and multicultural education. Albany Law Review, 64, 7-63.

Sleeter, Christine E. (2000). Multicultural Education And the Standards Movement- A Report from the Field. Phi Delta Kappan, 82, 156-162.

Tucker, Michelle. (1998). Multiculturalism’s Five Dimensions. NEA Today, 17, 17-19.