Transcript Chapter 3: Multicultural Education in a Sociopolitical

Soo oK and Amar
02/09/2010
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Multicultural Education Definition
 Sonia Nieto (1996) defines multicultural education as
antiracist basic education for all students that permeates
all areas of schooling, characterized by a commitment to
social justice and critical approaches to learning.
 Multicultural education challenges and rejects racism and
other forms of discrimination in schools and society. It
accepts and affirms differences in race, ethnicity, religion,
language, economics, sexual orientation, gender, and other
differences that students, communities, and teachers
encompass. It should permeate the curriculum and
instructional strategies used in schools, as well as
interactions among teachers, students, and families in
school and outside of it
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Sociopolitical context
 As Nieto stated in her book’ decisions about education
are never politically neutral. Rather, they are tied to
the social, political, economic structures that frame
and define our society.
 Sociopolitical context of society includes laws,
regulation, policies, practices, traditions and
ideologies.
 Multicultural education or any education can not be
understood if it was divorced from the practices and
the policies of schools and from the structures and
ideologies of society.
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 “ Fairy Land” multicultural education : the
multicultural education disassociated from the lives of
teachers, students and communities.
 The main question is : How does sociopolitical context
shape schools in the U.S and all over the world ?
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Important Assumptions
 Identity, Difference, power, and privilege are all connected:
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- Race, ethnicity, social class , language use, gender, sexual orientation,
religion… etc.
- one’s identity frames how one experiences the world.
- Identities always carry some baggage; they perceived in particular ways by a
society and by individuals within the society.
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- Multicultural Education needs to move beyond diversity to be affective.
it should take into account the social, political and economic context for both
teachers and students.
 Teachers are not the villains.
 Multicultural education is Inclusive of many differences.
 Quality public is a cause worth fighting for.
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Defining the Sociopolitical context
of Multicultural Education
 A significant concept of sociopolitical context
concerns the unexamined ideologies and myths that
shape commonly accepted ideas and values in a
society.
 * Myths about immigration and difference.
 * Educational structures.
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a. Personal and society level : “smog in the air” - BD
b. School-level policies and practices.
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Goals of multicultural education
 Tackling inequality and promoting access to an equal
education.
 Raising the achievement of all students .
 Giving students an apprenticeship in the opportunity
to become critical and productive members of a
democratic society.
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Key Terms
 Equal Education and Equitable Education :
 “Equity is the process; equality is the result” –EL
 Social Justice:
 1. challenging and confronting
misconceptions , untruths, and
stereotypes that lead to inequality and discrimination.
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2. providing all students with the resources necessary to learn to
their full potentials.
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3. drawing on the talents and strengths that students bring to their
education.
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4. creating a learning environment that promotes critical thinking.
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 Achievement Gap:
 the circumstances in which some students ( primarily those from
racial, culturally, and linguistic marginalized and poor families)
achieve less than other students.
 Deficit theories and their stubborn durability.
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U.S. school and society
 The rate of the U.S. population
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2000
2050 (%)
White
69.4
50.1
African American 12.7
14.6
Latino
12.6
24.4
Asian
3.8
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18 % of the total U.S. population speak a language other than English at
home.
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. The rate of the total U.S.
student population
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1970
2003
White
79
60
African American
14
16
Hispanics
6
18
Asian and other races 1
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: 31% of those enrolled in U.S. elementary and secondary schools were foreign born
or had at least one parent who was foreign born.
Teachers have become more monolithic, monocultural, and monolingual.
The rate of public school teachers:
White
nearly
90%
African American
6%
Other racial background 5%
One implication of tremendous diversity described above
- teachers , regardless of their own identities and experiences, need to be prepared to effe
ctively teach students of all backgrounds.
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Back to Basic
 - Cultural literacy
 A list of terms and concepts that every educated perso
n should know
 not to mention rich multicultural history
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 - Critical literacy
 critique of Hirsh and the simplistic ideas behind the c
ultural literacy model
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NCLB( No Children Left Behind)
law in 2001
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- requires that each state have an annual testing program of children in reading and math
Scores are rising – reducing instructional time in other subject for reading and math
Effects of NCLB
High drop rate- failed the state’s high-stakes exam
Exit exams decrease high school completion rates.
The law is leaving behind more children that it is saving.
Teacher’s Responsibility within NCLB
- How powerful learning and imagination can be promoted even within a testing context.
Standard – driven curriculum
Standard- conscious curriculum
- uses the standard as a tool rather than as either the starting point or the ideology for th
e development of big ideas.
 Develop standards-based curricula that are both creative and critical
 Use the standards to develop curriculum that is inspiring, demanding, and multicultural.
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