Multicultural Education
"Multicultural education is a field of study and an emerging discipline whose major aim is to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social-class, and cultural groups. One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society and to interact, negotiate, and communicate with peoples from diverse groups in order to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good"(Banks & Banks, 1995, p. xi).
Purpose of Multicultural Education
According to the National Association of Multicultural Education (n.d.) multicultural education includes variety of strategies teachers use to assist students “develop a positive self-concept by providing knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups”(Ordway, 2021). These strategies aim to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes so students are prepared to work in a rapidly evolving global workforce (Ordway, 2021). Koppleman (2011) recognized that a culturally diverse or multicultural education include students with different ethnic and racial background and students of different nationalities/countries who come to the US to gain quality education. Focus need to be on acknowledging students’ differences and adapting curricula to meet the needs of students. Therefore, multicultural education pedagogy requires teachers to re-evaluate their curriculum and include resources that provide equal opportunity to all the students irrespective of their sex, color, race, and ethnicity (Banks & Banks 2009; Alghamdi, 2017).
In order to include multicultural education in classroom teachers can start by acknowledging and emphasizing importance of cultural and linguistic differences among students. By recognizing these differences, teachers can help students to become more confident and not feel ashamed because they are “different” from the majority population. Instructors who utilize strengths of students are able to create opportunities that lead to better educational outcomes (Oritz, 2012; Alghamdi, 2017). This can be demonstrated by additive approach to teaching in bilingual education where instructors work with students to develop secondary language skills but not “at the expense of primary language.” Usage of this approach allow students to continue learning, speaking, reading and writing in native language while acquiring and developing secondary language at the same time (Oritz, 2012; Alghamdi, 2017).
Advantages of Multicultural Education
Advantages of multicultural education classroom include engaged students, friendly and inclusive environment, and better educational outcomes. Adoption of multicultural teaching approach builds confidence and collegiality between students and teachers which in turn results in better scores on national and regional exams. Furthermore, participating in classroom tasks allow students to learn from one another by sharing different views and thinking from different cultural experiences (Oritz, 2012, Alghamadi, 2017).
Dimensions of Multicultural Education
GMT20211016-232928_Recording_1920x1080.mp4Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content
As we know that our society is becoming more diverse, it is important that schools strive toward developing a more inclusive curriculum in schools. James A. Banks, a very well known author in the field of Multicultural Education offers four approaches to integrating multicultural content into the curriculum. Please review this article “Approaches to Multicultural Curriculum Reform” written by James A. Banks that describe in detail the different levels of integration of multicultural content.
Please watch this video to learn about how educators can transform their course content by following James A Banks: Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content Model.
Sample of Multicultural Education Lesson Plan
