In this article, the author states that during her experience on jury duty--spent with a melting pot of socially-conscious citizens--she reflected upon the implications for education and her own teaching practice. Three major themes centering around her understanding of multiculturalism surfaced: (1) Defining multiculturalism; (2) The cult of…

As they begin their teaching careers, many new teachers have never attended school with, or lived in neighborhoods with, people of color. About 84% of the nation's teachers are White (U.S. Department of Education, 2009), and are often from middle-class backgrounds, while only a little more than half of U.S. public school students are White. The…

Students in public schools nationwide are becoming more diverse. By 2020, students of color will account for 50% of the school population, while teachers will likely remain predominantly White and female. The cultural gap between students and teachers will continue to present numerous obstacles for students of color to succeed at school. As a…

In today's increasingly polyglot classrooms, interpersonal and inter-group conflicts often arise out of mutual misunderstandings between different collections of students, some based on language or status differences but many more generated by emotionally charged misconceptions. As such, peer mediation and peaceful solutions to student arguments…

Due to changing demographics in the K-12 student population contrasted with the homogeneous population of prospective teachers, the uncertainty about teacher preparedness to meet the needs of diverse student populations remains a controversial educational issue. Teacher educators have continued to question whether preservice teachers presently in…

Today, language-minority students comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of the total student population in America, a culturally and linguistically diverse group. A large number of bilingual students fall into the at-risk category because their cultural and linguistic backgrounds put them at a disadvantage in the American educational system…

Explores how white hegemony is socially enacted and the ways that schools, as institutions in a racially and hierarchically ordered society, tend to obscure its existence. It is argued that a primary role of multicultural education is to make whites aware of their own cultural identity and its associated values. (SLD)

Discusses the development of identity and socially biased attitudes in young children and adolescents. By the time a child is nine years old, biased attitudes tend to stay constant unless there is a life-changing event. The importance of a coherent multicultural curriculum from earliest day care is emphasized. (SLD)

Discusses the Reality Based Multicultural Model (RBMM) created for Minnesota's teacher education programs to ensure that the preservice teacher interacts with diverse student populations and demonstrates competence in each of six program components. The RBMM requires that preservice teachers complete a field experience in a culture other than…

The teacher education program at the College of Education of Wichita State University (Kansas) connects the theoretical framework for multicultural education to participatory experience in which the teacher candidates consider the interaction of a child's home culture and school culture. (SLD)

Explores distinguishing between the group-defining function and other adaptive functions of culture is to show why educators need to accommodate cultural commonalities and differences. Recognizing similarities when they exist is an aspect of multicultural education that is sometimes overlooked when concentrating on cultural discontinuities. (SLD)

A study focusing on 113 ninth graders of Mexican descent indicates that most students and their parents adhere to a strategy of additive acculturation (incorporating skills of the new culture and language), but that the school curriculum and general school climate devalue Mexican culture. (SLD)

Discusses why a broad and pluralistic conception of culture and cultural group will work to the advantage of multicultural teacher educators, particularly those who make use of some form of ethnic and cultural self-disclosure in their courses. The essay examines ethnic and cultural self-disclosure and provides examples of its use in the author's…

Viewed in the history of American public education, the current debate over multicultural education can be seen as a new word for the old problem of how to respond to the diversity of students. American public education, especially in cities, has rarely been free of this issue. (SLD)

To build a multicultural society, the most important steps are made in the classroom. School expands the child's world, but schools cannot educate or prepare children for the multicultural twenty-first century without involving parents and communities. Teachers, parents, and citizens must engage in learning together. (SLD)