The monograph that begins this volume analyzes multiculturalism as an educational policy in order to identify the broader values and interests that are served by its promotion. It begins with a historical review of Australia's post-World-War-II immigration policies. In the next two sections, the major elements of the policy of assimilation, a policy widely advocated during the 1950s and the 1960s, are presented and critically analyzed. The sections that follow examine the development of multiculturalism during the 1970s, arguing that both assimilation and multiculturalism represent the state's intervention in the reproduction of social relations to maintain hegemony and class domination. The last section looks beyond multiculturalism to identify the directions of an educational policy that might constitute a more appropriate response to the migrant presence in Australia. Four readings by different authors follow: (1) "State and Ethnicity: Multiculturalism as Ideology," by A. Jakubowicz; (2) "Racism in Society and Schools: History, Policy, and Practice," by Chris Mullard; (3) "Migration and the Dilemmas of Multiculturalism," by Tanya Birrell; and (4) "Schooling in a Democracy: Transformation or Reproduction?" by George H. Wood. An annotated bibliography is included. (TE)