Education And Multicultural Education

The purpose of this study is to understand how teachers define multicultural education and implemented instruction in an urban United States classroom. Current literature for this purpose can generally be arranged into two areas, 1) The need for cultural competency instruction in schools and 2) Obstacles and support systems to implement affective instruction. Together these bodies of literature provide a background understanding of the psychological and social contexts in which the present study is set. In 1954, Chief Justice Warren remarked:

…Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days,

The demographics and diversity in schools is increasing while educators clamor to meet the need. It is estimated the number of white students enrolled in the U.S. public schools is projected to decrease by nearly 2.5 million, and white students ' share of enrollment is expected to decline to 45 percent (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). With greater numbers of immigrants entering the country it is also estimated the number of English as a second language students may account for 40% by 2040 (Berliner & Biddle, 1995).

1) The need for cultural based competency in

Board of Education decision to the No Child Left Behind act in 2002, there have been a dizzying array of unsuccessful efforts from commissions and the like to meet the needs of the diverse student population (Ardila-Rey, 2008; Gollnick, 1992). For the purpose of this study, I have chosen James Banks and Genova Gay’s definition and framework of multicultural education. Loosely defined here, multicultural education is a continual extensive process which encompasses school curriculum; it is a school wide reform in which all students have an equal opportunity to quality education. Bearing in mind the magnitude of the term “all students” and “encompassing” school curriculum, to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLD). This slowing evolving multicultural education has been defined and theorized many times over, but scholars presented here have similar views on to reach the ultimate objective. Bias and stereotype still plague society and even more so in the increasingly diverse school rooms. In 2010, the Florida Department of Education adopted Common Core Standards and a new series of benchmarks were developed in which students must demonstrate knowledge. This standards based system is not new to U.S. education, but Common Core supporters along with politicians have argued these new guidelines were needed to prepare students to compete in a global marketplace (Cody, 2012). A few of the benchmarks emphasized here for 6th grade Social