Multicultural Education: What, Why and How

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Multicultural EducationWhat, Why and How?

• Dr. Rincon
• Ed593 Teaching in a Multicultural Setting
• Introduction

When you are willing to make sacrifices for a
great cause, you will never be alone.
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What is Multicultural Education?

• Approach to teaching and learning that is based
  upon democratic values and beliefs, and that
  seeks to foster cultural pluralism, not
  assimilation, within culturally diverse societies
  and an interdependent world.
• Multicultural education strives to excellence in
  education, elimination of stereotypes, prejudice,
  racism it builds knowledge about various ethnic
  groups and national perspectives into the
  curriculum.

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The focus of multicultural education

• Primarily ethnic groups that make part of the
  society
• Interdependence of nations on Earth, particularly
  as they face global issued related to the
  ecosystem, nuclear weapons, human rights,
  scarcity of natural resources
• Cultural perspectives associated with diverse
  ethnic groups, rather than a perspective based on
  different social variables of gender,
  socio-economic level, age, physical disabilities,
  etc.

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Dimensions of multicultural education

• The movement towards equity equality of
  educational opportunities among identified
  groups, especially minorities and the
  economically disadvantaged
• The curriculum approach understanding of the
  contribution of ethnic groups and cultural
  differences fostering tolerance. The
  multicultural curriculum approach strives to
  integrate multiethnic and global perspectives
  into the traditional curriculum that is primarily
  monoethnic and Anglo-European.

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Dimensions cont

• The process of becoming multicultural
  understanding and learning to negotiate cultural
  diversity among groups
• The commitment towards fighting racism, sexism,
  and all forms of prejudice and discrimination
  through the development of appropriate
  understandings, attitudes, and social action
  skills.
• Emphasis is on clearing up myths and stereotypes
  associated with gender, race and ethnic groups,
  on stressing basic human similarities.
• The ultimate goal is to develop antiracist,
  antisexist behavior in basic everyday life .

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Why is Multicultural Educationessential?

• Multicultural education is essential because it
  fulfills
• The need for academic excellence and equity
• state mandated laws towards a national commitment
  to true excellence in education
• development of the intellectual, social, and
  personal growth of all students to their highest
  potential
• recognition of the potential of all ethnic groups
  
• building knowledge about various ethnic groups
  and national perspectives into the curriculum
• The existence of a multiethnic society
• The existence of an Interdependent World

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How do we attain these objectives?

• By embracing important value concepts
• Acceptance and appreciation of cultural
  diversity,
• Respect for human dignity and universal human
  rights
• Reverence for the Earth, and
• Responsibility to a world community
• and requirements
• fair-minded critical thinking must be at the
  heart of teaching and learning,
• all teachers and students are required to care
  about human welfare beyond themselves, their
  family and their friends
• a focus on community action so that teachers and
  students can become agents of change