Multicultural Education: Getting Started

Burnett, Gary. "Varieties of Multicultural Education: An Introduction." ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education: New York, NY. Jun 1994.

Mr. Burnett gives a summary of the types of multicultural education that were commonplace in 1994. The three main categories that he identifies are: content-oriented, student-oriented, and socially-oriented programs. Each of these groups has a different focus and purpose, despite falling under the same banner of "Multicultural Education." Teachers, local boards of education and the Department of Education may choose to focus more heavily on one strategy than other, but the tide of change will compel all parties to move towards at least one of these methods.

Personally, multicultural education is always a hazy topic for me. I went to fairly progressive public schools in Virginia growing up and earned an International Baccalaureate diploma in high school. That meant that my secondary education included more works-in-translation from foreign authors than original-English literature written by Americans. The history classes that I took were from a diverse perspective and focused not only on North America and Europe, but also Africa, Asia, and South America. As such, I think my own experiences were a great leap beyond what this article discussed. Additionally, the diversity of the classroom that I now teach in dictates an immutable multiculturalism. Algebra is fairly limited in intrinsic bias, so I feel that coupled with the melting pot that my students create, there is a fairly casual exchange of culture created.

Gender Bias in Education

Sadker, David. "Gender Equity: Still Knocking at the Classroom Door". Educational Leadership, Vol 56 April 1999.

This article considers a "Top Ten" of updates on gender bias in the classroom and in education in general. The purpose is to highlight a variety of sticking points in the move towards gender inequality that are often overshadowed. For example, while tax-supported tertiary education is nearly all coed, there is still a distinct gender divide present in majors. These majors feed into jobs that propagate the reality that women earn less money (due to the nature of their work, not necessarily outright discrimination). Another point made was about high school dropout rates. Boys repeat grades and drop out more often, but female repeaters on the whole are much more likely to become dropouts. The characterization that girls quietly drop out (often due to pregnancy) and do not return, boys drop out "with a crash" but are somewhat more likely to return.

I found many of these statistics and ideas very intriguing. While some of the facts highlighted areas where sexism was clearly to blame for the discrepancy, other problem areas seemed to be the result of personal choice. How do we motivate girls to even out the majors? What if they are capable, but simply still are drawn to being teachers or nurses?

I appreciated that #5 on the list also mentioned the impact of gender bias on males. The article explains that "...[m]ales are less likely to have close friends and more likely to endure alienation
and loneliness at every stage of life. It is males, after all, who experience higher mortality
rates through accidents, violence, and suicide, most of which are male role related." As we focus on traditionally disadvantaged groups, it seems appropriately egalitarian to note the struggles of the traditionally privileged as well.

Cognative Education

Haywood, H. Carl. "Thinking In, Around, and About The Curriculum: The Role of Cognitive Education." Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA



Mr. Haywood's article brought up a variety of interesting idea about the current state of educational reform. He explains that education is in an endless drive towards reform and highlighted current examples of that. The three ideas that I found most interesting are (1) that we have only recently begun to approach the goal of formal education as being occupational proficiency (2) that recent studies have show that 40% of Americans are not literate to a functional level and (3) that teaching students to think is more and more critical.

I am partial to the idea of cognitive education because I think that it is the most sustainable way to impart knowledge. It's easy to memorize facts, but if students also learn the thinking process, they are able to rediscover the answers on their own later. It also allows them to make connections to content not specifically covered. I'm not sure that I focus enough on teaching thought-processes on a regular basis. I talk about the process for solving problems, but I don't fully explore the thinking behind it.

Culturally Responsive Instruction

Jones, Shelley. "Culturally Responsive Instruction"

Jones' article discussed a new curriculum being implemented in California. Culturally responsive, standards-based instruction (CRSBI) is the new wave of pedagogy that aims not only to focus on the state standards for education, but also to fully account for the culture of the students in the classroom. The article points out that American schools are designed for white, middle-class kids (with all of the financial and cultural implications supported by that label) rather than the wide variety of students that actually matriculate. Students whose culture is not reflected in instruction (both content and style) are likely to face unfair hurdles in their journey to academic success.

I agree with the ideas expressed by Jones but, as with many educational trends, I question its viability and potentially over-idealistic nature. The focus on cultural sensitivity is important, but I worry that it invited stereotyping by instructors and could lead to just as much trouble as the current system. Asking teachers to consider what social differences exist for certain groups and to tactfully steer them back towards the mainstream is risky. How easy would it be for teachers to overgeneralize and offend students or parents? How likely is it that teachers would consistently express the concept of "code-switching" eloquently and inoffensively?

Some apects of CRSBI were very practical: the inclusion of different cultures' viewpoints in content and the use of diverse examples, for example, but I would still be hesitant about the more complex parts of the program.