Multicultural education is a set of educational strategies developed to provide students with knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups. It draws on insights from multiple fields, including ethnic studies and women studies, and reinterprets content from related academic disciplines. [1] It is a way of teaching that promotes the principles of inclusion, diversity, democracy, skill acquisition, inquiry, critical thought, multiple perspectives, and self-reflection. [2] One study found these strategies to be effective in promoting educational achievements among immigrant students. [3]
The objectives of multicultural education vary among educational philosophers and political theorists. Educational philosophers argue for preservation of minority cultures by fostering students's development of autonomy and introducing them to multiple cultures. This exposure assists students in thinking more critically, as well as, encourages them to have a more open mindset. [4] Political theorists want to use multicultural education to motivate social action. In this approach students are equipped with knowledge, values, and skills necessary to advocate and participate in social change. Teachers then serve as change agents, promoting relevant democratic values and empowering students to act. [5] Other goals include:
Adaptation and modification to established curriculum serve as an example of an approach to preserving minority group culture. [4] Brief sensitivity training, separate units on ethnic celebrations, and closer attention paid to instances of prejudice, are examples of minimal approaches, which are less likely to reap long term benefits for students. Multicultural education should span beyond autonomy, by exposing students to global uniqueness, fostering deepened understanding, and providing access to varied practices, ideas, and ways of life; it is a process of societal transformation and reconstruction. [4] "Creating inclusive campus environments is challenging, but there is also great personal reward to be gained from helping create a campus 'laboratory for learning how to live and interrelate within a complex world'[ citation needed ] and to prepare students to make significant contributions to that world." [6]
Advocates of democracy in schooling, led by John Dewey (1859–1952), argued that public education was needed to educate all students. Dewey believed in pragmatism, meaning that students learn better by a hands on approach. Dewey was convinced that reality is only what is experienced, so students must interact with their environment, including students of various races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Universal suffrage, along with universal education would make society more democratic. An educated electorate would understand politics and the economy and make wise decisions. By the 1960s, public education advocates argued that educating working people to a higher level (using tools such as the G.I. Bill) would complete the transition to a deliberative democracy. This position is well developed by political philosopher Benjamin R. Barber in Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age, published in 1984 and republished in 2003. According to Barber, multicultural education in public schools would promote acceptance of diversity. Meira Levinson argued that "multicultural education is saddled with so many different conceptions that it is inevitably self-contradictory both in theory and in practice, it cannot simultaneously achieve all of the goals it is called upon to serve" [4] : 428 According to Banks, "a major goal of multicultural education is to change teaching and learning approaches so that students of both genders and from diverse cultural, ethnic, and language groups will have equal opportunities to learn in educational institutions." [4] : 10 Levinson described the rationale for multicultural education as: from learning about other cultures comes tolerance, tolerance promotes respect, respect leads to open mindedness which results in civic reasonableness and equality. [4] : 431–432
Academics across disciplines are interested in how food can be incorporated into education to promote cultural awareness. Dr. Charles Levkoe, an academic researching food systems, has claimed that food can be a means of promoting education about different cultures. Levkoe states that "Through food we can better understand our histories, our cultures, and our shared future." [7] Business Professor Daniel Sterkenberg has spoken about using food to promote cultural awareness among business students. [8] Researchers in the fields of anthropology and communications have also been working on this. [9] [10] Ethnic restaurants can become sites for becoming educated on other cultures. [10]
James Banks, former president of the National Council for the Social Studies and the American Educational Research Association, describes the balancing forces, stating, "Citizenship education must be transformed in the 21st Century because of the deepening racial, ethnic, cultural, language and religious diversity in nation-states around the world. Citizens in a diverse democratic society should be able to maintain attachments to their cultural communities as well as participate effectively in the shared national culture. Unity without diversity results in cultural repression and hegemony. Diversity without unity leads to Balkanization and the fracturing of the nation-state. Diversity and unity should coexist in a delicate balance in democratic multicultural nation-states." Campbell and Baird wrote, "Planning curriculum for schools in a multicultural democracy involves making some value choices. Schools are not neutral. The schools were established and funded to promote democracy and citizenship. A pro-democracy position is not neutral; teachers should help schools promote diversity. The myth of school neutrality comes from a poor understanding of the philosophy of positivism. Rather than neutrality, schools should plan and teach cooperation, mutual respect, the dignity of individuals and related democratic values. Schools, particularly integrated schools, provide a rich site where students can meet one another, learn to work together, and be deliberative about decision making. In addition to democratic values, deliberative strategies and teaching decision-making provide core procedures for multicultural education." [11]
According to Levinson, three groups present different conceptions of "multicultural education." These groups are: political and educational philosophers, educational theorists, and educational practitioners. She claims that they offer different, and sometimes conflicting, aims for schools. Philosophers see multicultural education as a method of response to minorities within a society who advocate for their own group's rights or who advocate for special considerations for members of that group, as a means for developing a child's sense of autonomy, and as a function of the civic good. Educational theorists seek to restructure schools and curriculum to enact "social justice and real equality". [4] : 433 By restructuring schools in this way, educational theorists hope that society will thus be restructured as students who received a multicultural education become contributing members of the political landscape. The third and final group, educational practitioners, holds the view that multicultural education increases the self-esteem of students from minority cultures and prepares them to become successful in the global marketplace. Though there are overlaps in these aims, Levinson notes that one goal, cited by of all three prominent groups within the field of education, is that of "righting the historical record". [4] : 435
Kincheloe and Steinberg described confusion in the use of the terms "multiculturalism" and "multicultural education". They offered a taxonomy of the ways the terms were used. The authors warn their readers that they overtly advocate a critical multicultural position and that readers should take this into account as they consider their taxonomy. Kincheloe and Steinberg break down multiculturalism into five categories: conservative multiculturalism, liberal multiculturalism, pluralist multiculturalism, left-essentialist multiculturalism, and critical multiculturalism. These categories are named based on beliefs held by the two largest schools of political thought (liberalism and conservatism) within American society, and they reflect the tenets of each strand of political thought. In Levinson's terms, conservative multiculturalism, liberal multiculturalism, and pluralist multiculturalism view multicultural education as an additive to existing curriculum, while left-essentialist multiculturalism and critical multiculturalism see to restructure education, and thus, society. [12]
Aiden Kinkade's Democratic Equality ideology, as presented by Labaree attempts to allow students to feel like they belong in the classroom, teaches students equal treatment, and gives support to multiculturalism, non-academic curriculum options, and cooperative learning. [13] : 45 It supports multicultural education because "in the democratic political arena, we are all considered equal (according to the rule of one person, one vote), but this political equality can be undermined if the social inequality of citizens grows too great". [13] : 42 By engaging students with different cultures, abilities, and ethnicities students become more familiar with people that are different from them, hoping to allow a greater acceptance in society. By presenting a variety of cultures, students will feel like they have a voice or a place at school. [13]
Multicultural affairs offices and centers were established to reconcile the inconsistencies in students' experiences by creating a space on campus where students who were marginalized because of their culture could feel affirmed and connected to the institution. [6] Multicultural education considers an equal opportunity for learning beyond the simple trappings of race and gender. It includes students from varying social classes, ethnic groups, sexual identities, and additional cultural characteristics. [5]
Even after the adopting the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which officially abolished slavery, racial tension continued within the United States. To help support the ideals contained within the Amendment, Congress adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided all citizens the privileges and immunities clause, as well as the equal protection clause.
In 1896 the United States Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson . The decision upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation in all public establishments under the policy of "separate but equal". The decision was never explicitly overturned, but was effectively nullified by a series of Supreme Court decisions and federal laws.
The Springfield Plan was implemented during the 1940s in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was an intergroup, or intercultural, education policy initiative that gathered interest from across the country.
The unanimous 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education ended the doctrine of separate but equal for schools. This victory set the stage for multicultural education and mandated school integration. This integration was fiercely resisted in many jurisdictions across the American south. In many places, the prior de jure segregation was replaced by de facto residential segregation as the desire to avoid integrated schools drove many families to migrate to neighborhoods populated exclusively by whites. [14]
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as "the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction" [15] was enacted. It outlawed discrimination in public spaces and establishments, outlawed any workplace/employment discrimination, and it made integration possible for schools and other public spaces possible. [16]
In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act was enacted, prompted by limited English-speaking minorities, especially Spanish-speaking citizens who insisted on maintaining their personal connectedness to their heritage and cultural ideals. It was in their hopes that "their lives and histories be included in the curriculum of schools, colleges, and universities…multicultural educators sought to transform the Euro-centric perspective and incorporate multiple perspectives into the curriculum". After 36 years, the Bilingual Education Act was dissolved and in 2002 the needs of English Language Learners were picked up by the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s worked to eliminate discrimination in public accommodations, housing, employment, and education. [5] The movement pushed for minority teachers and administrators, community control and revision of textbooks to reflect the country's diversity. Multicultural education became a standard in university studies for new teachers. One of the main focuses of this study was to have students identify their own culture as important, as well as to recognize the differences from other cultures.
The success of the Civil Rights Movement sparked an interest in women's rights, along with the Education for All Handicapped Students Act of 1975. "Practicing educators use the term multicultural education to describe a wide variety of programs and practices related to educational equity, women, ethnic groups, language minorities, low-income groups, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people, and people with disabilities". [5]
During the 1980s, educators developed a new approach to multicultural education, examining schools as social systems and promoting the idea of educational equality. [17] In Plyler v. Doe (1982) the Supreme Court upheld the educational rights of immigrant students. In the 1990s, educators expanded multicultural education to consider "larger societal and global dimensions of power, privilege, and economics." [17] Educators began to see the classroom as a place to celebrate diversity rather than one tasked with assimilating students to the dominant culture. [18]
Education observe an increasingly multicultural nation that needs critical thinkers able to handle cross-cultural differences. [18] In 2001, No Child Left Behind aimed primarily at helping disadvantaged students. It required "all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students." [19] With the Race to the Top grant program, "Many advocates of multicultural education quickly found attention to diversity and equity being replaced by attention to standards and student test scores". [5]
Multicultural education focuses on an "intercultural model that advances a climate of inclusion where individual and group differences are valued." [6] Critics such as Sleeter and McLaren want increased emphasis on a critique of racism in education [20] rather than allowing the superficial exposure of cultures to be the standard. They find that many minority groups want to focus on establishing their own cultural identity before attempting to enter into a multicultural world. [20]
Librarians have had long- standing commitment to multicultural literature. [21] The Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association serves as a source of information for recommended ethnic and multilingual collections, services, and programs including immigrants. [22] Librarians study diverse literature in preparation for library practice. [23] Major awards from librarians and library associations include:
Practicing educators face many challenges to incorporating multicultural education in their classrooms. Important considerations include: [5] : 19
Multicultural education can be implemented on the macro-level with the implementation of programs and culture at the school-wide or district-wide level and also at the mico-level by specific teachers within their individual classrooms.
While individual teachers may work to teach in ways that support multicultural ideas, in order to truly experience a multicultural education, there must be a commitment at the school or district level. In developing a school or district wide plan for multicultural education, Dr. Steven L. Paine, West Virginia State Superintendent of schools gives these suggestions:
Fullinwider describes one controversial method: teaching to "culturally distinct" learning styles. While studies have shown that "the longer these students of color remain in school, the more their achievement lags behind that of White mainstream students", [5] : 3 it is still highly debated whether or not learning styles, are indeed culturally distinctive, and furthermore, whether implementing different teaching strategies with different racial or ethnic groups would help or further alienate minority groups. [25]
All students have different learning styles so incorporating multicultural education techniques into the classroom, may allow all students to be more successful. "Multicultural education needs to enable students to succeed economically in a multicultural world by teaching them to be comfortable in a diverse workforce and skillful at integrating into a global economy". [4] : 435 Teacher's should align the curriculum with the groups being taught, rather than about them. Every child can learn so it is the teacher's responsibility to not "track" them, but rather to personalize the curriculum to reach every student. "Teachers need to assume that students are capable of learning complex material and performing at a high level of skill. Each student has a personal, unique learning style that teachers discover and build on when teaching". [5] : 50
Another important consideration in implementing multicultural education into the classroom is how deep to infuse multicultural ideas and perspectives into the curriculum. There are four different approaches or levels to curricular infusion. They are:
In looking into practical strategies for implementing multicultural education, Andrew Miller offers:
Another essential part of multicultural teaching is examining lesson materials for bias that might alienate students. The Safe School Coalition warns against using curricular material that "omits the history, contributions and lives of a group, if ti demeans a group by using patronizing or clinically distancing language, or if it portrays a group in stereotyped roles with less than a full range of interests, traits and capabilities." [29]
Multicultural education is introduced at a young age to allow students to build a global perspective. [30] Critical literacy practices enable students to build an honest relationship with the world while recognizing multiple perspectives and ideologies. [30] Teachers can use critical literacy practices to pose questions that will make students analyze, question and reflect upon what they are reading. Critical literacy can be useful by enabling teachers to move beyond mere awareness of, respect for, and general recognition of the fact that different groups have different values or express similar values in different ways. The three different approaches to critical literacy are:
The choice of literature is important. Books must be chosen with consideration over how they represent the culture they consider, making sure that it avoids racial or cultural stereotypes and discrimination. [31] Include books that:
"After reading these books, dialog can follow that will enable understanding and facilitate making connections to one's life. It is in this discussion that universal threads of similarities and the appreciation of differences may be explored in a way that will enable the students to make connections that span different cultures and continents. However rudimentary these connections may be, they serve as a starting point for a new way of thinking." [30]
Focusing on minority groups can affect their future education. Camarota's Team Program, intended for high school Latino/a students of low socioeconomic status and considered "at risk" of dropping out, was made to help students improve test scores and complete credits. Students reported that they changed from not caring about school at all to having a sense of empowerment, which increased motivation to get better grades, finish school and have more self-confidence. According to student evaluations, 93% reported that the curriculum encouraged them to pursue a higher education. The students' college enrollment rate was higher than the national average for Latino/a students. When schools focus on inequities, school can create a positive, safe experience for minority students, where they feel empowered to continue their education and verify their importance. [32]
Multicultural education can affect student self-perception. In one study, six students felt their multicultural self-awareness grew and felt supported after taking a multicultural education course aimed to see if their self-awareness altered. They reported that their cultural competency improved. [33]
Some college syllabi do not offer teachers consistent ways of defining the principles of multicultural education or preparation for authentic multicultural education. It is important for teachers to be fully knowledgeable of multicultural education and remain open to long-term learning. [34]
New teachers can be blind to the diversity of their students, which can lead to generalizations and stereotypes. Multicultural education classes lead to increased knowledge of diversity, altering of attitudes towards multiculturalism, and preparedness of them teaching multicultural education to students of a variety of backgrounds. Preparing those teachers include being able to effectively confront fears and openness of talking about sensitive subjects, such as diversity issues and transforming attitudes that students may also possess towards different cultures. Multicultural education courses conclude eye-opening measures for the teachers, including becoming more open to such issues and positively affected preparedness to teach about multicultural education to their students. [35]
A similar result happened in another study, in which the multicultural education course led to "increased awareness, understanding, and appreciation of other cultures." This includes having a better vision of a multicultural setting in a classroom, become more flexible when it comes to multicultural issues, and becoming more open to different perspectives of different students. [36] Some pre-service teachers can still feel hesitant because of the lack of knowledge they still hold about multiculturalism, which can encourage further courses intended to educate teachers on the variety of cultures their students may possess.
Fullinwider claims that activities that celebrate a culture's food or music fail to address the values and ideas behind these customs. [37] Levinson claims that such practices could lead to "trivializing real differences; teachers end up teaching or emphasizing superficial differences in order to get at fundamental similarities". [4] : 443 Fullinwider also discusses challenges that can arise when majority teachers interact with minority students: the distinction between "high culture" and "home culture" needs to be clear or else faculty and staff members could mistakenly withdraw their appropriate authority to evaluate and discipline students' conduct and work. [37] Without a clear understanding of culture, educators could easily misattribute detrimental conduct or sub-par behavior to a minority student's cultural background [37] or misinterpret signs that a student needs an intervention. Either would result in the student not receiving appropriate education.
Multicultural education has been claimed to ignore "minority students' own responsibility for their academic performance." [38] Another critique claims that "multicultural education theories and programs are rarely based on the actual study of minority cultures and languages." A third states, "The inadequacy of the multicultural education solution fails to separate minority groups that are able to cross cultural and language boundaries and learn successfully even though there were initial cultural barriers." [39]
Levinson claims that tenets of multicultural education have the potential to conflict directly with the purpose of educating in the dominant culture and that some tenets conflict with each other. [4] This is apparent when considering whether multicultural education should be inclusive or exclusive. Levinson argues that preserving minority cultures requires teaching only about that culture (and excluding others). [4] Levinson also finds a conflict between minority group preservation and social justice/equity. [4] Some cultures, allow women to be treated in ways that are abhorrent in other cultures. Helping to preserve such a culture can also be seen as abhorrent. [4]
Levinson even recommends segregating schools by culture so that students receive a "culturally congruent" education. She argues that in a homogeneous class it is easier to arrange curriculum and other practices to suit a specific culture and help students succeed within that culture. Such segregation, as she acknowledges, rejects multiculturalism.
Another challenge to multicultural education is that the amount of content in a given school tends to be related to the school's ethnic composition. That is, as Agirdag and colleagues claim, [40] teachers tend to incorporate more multicultural content in schools with a higher share of minority students. Agirdag instead advocates for a consistent curriculum regardless of school demographics, in particular to ensure that majority culture students have sufficient exposure to other cultures.
Banks 2005 proposed that the culture of teachers must ;adopt specific principles if multicultural education is to succeed:
Fullinwider claims that teachers may fear bringing up matters within multicultural education, because while they could be effective, they might also be harmful. For example, studying history across races/ethnic groups could foster understanding amongst groups, but it could also cause create a hostile environment for students. [37]
Pedagogy, most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy vary greatly as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts.
The anti-bias curriculum is a curriculum which attempts to challenge prejudices such as racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, weightism, homophobia, classism, colorism, heightism, handism, religious discrimination and other forms of kyriarchy. The approach is favoured by civil rights organisations such as the Anti-Defamation League. Bias refers to violation of equality based on equal opportunities or based on equality of outcomes for different groups, also called substantive equality.
An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities are generally voluntary (as opposed to mandatory), social, philanthropic, and often involve others of the same age. Students and staff direct these activities under faculty sponsorship, although student-led initiatives, such as independent newspapers, are very common. However, sometimes the school principals and teachers also bring in these activities in the school among the students.
Critical literacy is the ability to find embedded discrimination in media. This is done by analyzing the messages promoting prejudiced power relationships found naturally in media and written material that go unnoticed otherwise by reading beyond the author's words and examining the manner in which the author has conveyed their ideas about society's norms to determine whether these ideas contain racial or gender inequality.
Culturally relevant teaching is instruction that takes into account students' cultural differences. Making education culturally relevant is thought to improve academic achievement, but understandings of the construct have developed over time Key characteristics and principles define the term, and research has allowed for the development and sharing of guidelines and associated teaching practices. Although examples of culturally relevant teaching programs exist, implementing it can be challenging.
Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community. The professionals who engage in training the prospective teachers are called teacher educators.
Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioural, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures. Intercultural or cross-cultural education are terms used for the training to achieve cultural competence.
Curriculum theory (CT) is an academic discipline devoted to examining and shaping educational curricula. There are many interpretations of CT, being as narrow as the dynamics of the learning process of one child in a classroom to the lifelong learning path an individual takes. CT can be approached from the educational, philosophical, psychological and sociological perspectives. James MacDonald states "one central concern of theorists is identifying the fundamental unit of curriculum with which to build conceptual systems. Whether this be rational decisions, action processes, language patterns, or any other potential unit has not been agreed upon by the theorists." Curriculum theory is fundamentally concerned with values, the historical analysis of curriculum, ways of viewing current educational curriculum and policy decisions, and theorizing about the curricula of the future.
Multilingual education (MLE) typically refers to "first-language-first" education, that is, schooling which begins in the mother tongue, or first language, and transitions to additional languages. Typically, MLE programs are situated in developing countries where speakers of minority languages, i.e. non-dominant languages, tend to be disadvantaged in the mainstream education system. There are increasing calls to provide first-language-first education to immigrant children from immigrant parents who have moved to the developed world. Offering first-language-first education to immigrant children in developed countries has gained attention due to the unique challenges these students face. When students move to a new country, language and cultural barriers can affect their academic progress and well-being. Some suggest that providing instruction in their first language initially, as part of multilingual education (MLE) programs, could help ease their transition. By recognizing and respecting their linguistic and cultural backgrounds, these programs aim to create a supportive learning environment where students feel more comfortable and confident. While this approach may contribute to the preservation of heritage languages, implementing MLE programs present other potential benefits and challenges.
Jerzy Jarosław Smolicz AM, also known as J. J. "George" Smolicz, was a Polish-born sociologist and educationalist acknowledged widely as a major contributor to cultural understanding in Australia. A key figure in developing and implementing Australia's multicultural and language policies, he was a Senior Consultant on Multiculturalism to the Fraser government and for 20 years was Chair of the Multicultural Education Committee in South Australia.
Multiliteracy is an approach to literacy theory and pedagogy coined in the mid-1990s by the New London Group. The approach is characterized by two key aspects of literacy – linguistic diversity and multimodal forms of linguistic expressions and representation. It was coined in response to two major changes in the globalized environment. One such change was the growing linguistic and cultural diversity due to increased transnational migration. The second major change was the proliferation of new mediums of communication due to advancement in communication technologies e.g the internet, multimedia, and digital media. As a scholarly approach, multiliteracy focuses on the new "literacy" that is developing in response to the changes in the way people communicate globally due to technological shifts and the interplay between different cultures and languages.
Educational anthropology, or the anthropology of education, is a sub-field of socio-cultural anthropology that focuses on the role that culture has in education, as well as how social processes and cultural relations are shaped by educational settings. To do so, educational anthropologists focus on education and multiculturalism, educational pluralism, culturally relevant pedagogy and native methods of learning and socializing. Educational anthropologists are also interested in the education of marginal and peripheral communities within large nation states. Overall, educational anthropology tends to be considered as an applied field, as the focus of educational anthropology is on improving teaching learning process within classroom settings.
Indigenous education specifically focuses on teaching Indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content within formal or non-formal educational systems. The growing recognition and use of Indigenous education methods can be a response to the erosion and loss of Indigenous knowledge through the processes of colonialism, globalization, and modernity. Indigenous education also refers to the teaching of the history, culture, and languages of Indigenous peoples of a region.
Educational equity, also known as equity in education, is a measure of equity in education.
Structural inequality has been identified as the bias that is built into the structure of organizations, institutions, governments, or social networks. Structural inequality occurs when the fabric of organizations, institutions, governments or social networks contains an embedded bias which provides advantages for some members and marginalizes or produces disadvantages for other members. This can involve property rights, status, or unequal access to health care, housing, education and other physical or financial resources or opportunities. Structural inequality is believed to be an embedded part of the culture of the United States due to the history of slavery and the subsequent suppression of equal civil rights of minority races. Structural inequality has been encouraged and maintained in the society of the United States through structured institutions such as the public school system with the goal of maintaining the existing structure of wealth, employment opportunities, and social standing of the races by keeping minority students from high academic achievement in high school and college as well as in the workforce of the country. In the attempt to equalize allocation of state funding, policymakers evaluate the elements of disparity to determine an equalization of funding throughout school districts.p.(14)
Christine E. Sleeter is an American professor and educational reformer. She is known as the Professor Emerita in the School of Professional Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay. She has also served as the Vice President of Division K of the American Educational Research Association, and as president of the National Association for Multicultural Education. Her work primarily focuses on multicultural education, preparation of teachers for culturally diverse schools, and anti-racism. She has been honored for her work as the recipient of the American Educational Research Association Social Justice Award, the Division K Teaching and Teacher Education Legacy Award, the CSU Monterey Bay President's Medal, the Chapman University Paulo Freire Education Project Social Justice Award, and the American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group Multicultural and Multiethnic Education Lifetime Achievement Award.
Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are 'global consciousness'; the moral or ethical aspect of global issues, and 'global competencies', or skills meant to enable learners to participate in changing and developing the world. The promotion of GCE was a response by governments and NGOs to the emergence of supranational institution, regional economic blocs, and the development of information and communications technologies. These have all resulted in the emergence of a more globally oriented and collaborative approach to education. GCE addresses themes such as peace and human rights, intercultural understanding, citizenship education, respect for diversity and tolerance, and inclusiveness.
Unequal access to education in the United States results in unequal outcomes for students. Disparities in academic access among students in the United States are the result of several factors including: government policies, school choice, family wealth, parenting style, implicit bias towards the race or ethnicity of students, and the resources available to students and their school. Educational inequality contributes to a number of broader problems in the United States, including income inequality and increasing prison populations. Educational inequalities in the United States are wide-ranging, and many potential solutions have been proposed to mitigate their impacts on students.
Diversity ideology refers to individual beliefs regarding the nature of intergroup relations and how to improve them in culturally diverse societies. A large amount of scientific literature in social psychology studies diversity ideologies as prejudice reduction strategies, most commonly in the context of racial groups and interracial interactions. In research studies on the effects of diversity ideology, social psychologists have either examined endorsement of a diversity ideology as individual difference or used situational priming designs to activate the mindset of a particular diversity ideology. It is consistently shown that diversity ideologies influence how individuals perceive, judge and treat cultural outgroup members. Different diversity ideologies are associated with distinct effects on intergroup relations, such as stereotyping and prejudice, intergroup equality, and intergroup interactions from the perspectives of both majority and minority group members. Beyond intergroup consequences, diversity ideology also has implications on individual outcomes, such as whether people are open to cultural fusion and foreign ideas, which in turn predict creativity.
Donna Y. Ford is an American educator, anti-racist, advocate, author and academic. She is a distinguished professor of education and human ecology and a faculty affiliate with the center for Latin American studies in the college of arts and sciences, and the Kirwan Institute in the college of education and human ecology at Ohio State University.
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