Set of educational strategies
Multicultural education is a set of educational strategies developed to provide students with knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups. It draws on insights from multiple fields, including ethnic studies and women studies, and reinterprets content from related academic disciplines. It is a way of teaching that promotes the principles of inclusion, diversity, democracy, skill acquisition, inquiry, critical thought, multiple perspectives, and self-reflection. One study found these strategies to be effective in promoting educational achievements among immigrant students.
Objectives.
The objectives of multicultural education vary among educational philosophers and political theorists. Educational philosophers argue for preservation of minority cultures by fostering students's development of autonomy and introducing them to multiple cultures. This exposure assists students in thinking more critically, as well as, encourages them to have a more open mindset. Political theorists want to use multicultural education to motivate social action. In this approach students are equipped with knowledge, values, and skills necessary to advocate and participate in social change. Teachers then serve as change agents, promoting relevant democratic values and empowering students to act. Other goals include:
Adaptation and modification to established curriculum serve as an example of an approach to preserving minority group culture. Brief sensitivity training, separate units on ethnic celebrations, and closer attention paid to instances of prejudice, are examples of minimal approaches, which are less likely to reap long term benefits for students. Multicultural education should span beyond autonomy, by exposing students to global uniqueness, fostering deepened understanding, and providing access to varied practices, ideas, and ways of life; it is a process of societal transformation and reconstruction. "Creating inclusive campus environments is challenging, but there is also great personal reward to be gained from helping create a campus 'laboratory for learning how to live and interrelate within a complex world' and to prepare students to make significant contributions to that world."
Views.
Multicultural education and politics.
Advocates of democracy in schooling, led by John Dewey (1859–1952), argued that public education was needed to educate all students. Dewey believed in pragmatism, meaning that students learn better by a hands on approach. Dewey was convinced that reality is only what is experienced, so students must interact with their environment, including students of various races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Universal suffrage, along with universal education would make society more democratic. An educated electorate would understand politics and the economy and make wise decisions. By the 1960s, public education advocates argued that educating working people to a higher level (using tools such as the G.I. Bill) would complete the transition to a deliberative democracy. This position is well developed by political philosopher Benjamin R. Barber in "Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age", published in 1984 and republished in 2003. According to Barber, multicultural education in public schools would promote acceptance of diversity. Meira Levinson argued that "multicultural education is saddled with so many different conceptions that it is inevitably self-contradictory both in theory and in practice, it cannot simultaneously achieve all of the goals it is called upon to serve" According to Banks, "a major goal of multicultural education is to change teaching and learning approaches so that students of both genders and from diverse cultural, ethnic, and language groups will have equal opportunities to learn in educational institutions." Levinson described the rationale for multicultural education as: from learning about other cultures comes tolerance, tolerance promotes respect, respect leads to open mindedness which results in civic reasonableness and equality.
Cultural Awareness Through Food.
Academics across disciplines are interested in how food can be incorporated into education to promote cultural awareness. Dr. Charles Levkoe, an academic researching food systems, has claimed that food can be a means of promoting education about different cultures. Levkoe states that "Through food we can better understand our histories, our cultures, and our shared future." Business Professor Daniel Sterkenberg has spoken about using food to promote cultural awareness among business students. Researchers in the fields of anthropology and communications have also been working on this. Ethnic restaurants can become sites for becoming educated on other cultures. 
James Banks.
James Banks, former president of the National Council for the Social Studies and the American Educational Research Association, describes the balancing forces, stating, "Citizenship education must be transformed in the 21st Century because of the deepening racial, ethnic, cultural, language and religious diversity in nation-states around the world. Citizens in a diverse democratic society should be able to maintain attachments to their cultural communities as well as participate effectively in the shared national culture. Unity without diversity results in cultural repression and hegemony. Diversity without unity leads to Balkanization and the fracturing of the nation-state. Diversity and unity should coexist in a delicate balance in democratic multicultural nation-states." Campbell and Baird wrote, "Planning curriculum for schools in a multicultural democracy involves making some value choices. Schools are not neutral. The schools were established and funded to promote democracy and citizenship. A pro-democracy position is not neutral; teachers should help schools promote diversity. The myth of school neutrality comes from a poor understanding of the philosophy of positivism. Rather than neutrality, schools should plan and teach cooperation, mutual respect, the dignity of individuals and related democratic values. Schools, particularly integrated schools, provide a rich site where students can meet one another, learn to work together, and be deliberative about decision making. In addition to democratic values, deliberative strategies and teaching decision-making provide core procedures for multicultural education."
Meira Levinson.
According to Levinson, three groups present different conceptions of "multicultural education." These groups are: political and educational philosophers, educational theorists, and educational practitioners. She claims that they offer different, and sometimes conflicting, aims for schools. Philosophers see multicultural education as a method of response to minorities within a society who advocate for their own group's rights or who advocate for special considerations for members of that group, as a means for developing a child's sense of autonomy, and as a function of the civic good. Educational theorists seek to restructure schools and curriculum to enact "social justice and real equality". By restructuring schools in this way, educational theorists hope that society will thus be restructured as students who received a multicultural education become contributing members of the political landscape. The third and final group, educational practitioners, holds the view that multicultural education increases the self-esteem of students from minority cultures and prepares them to become successful in the global marketplace. Though there are overlaps in these aims, Levinson notes that one goal, cited by of all three prominent groups within the field of education, is that of "righting the historical record".
Joe Kincheloe and Shirley Steinberg.
Kincheloe and Steinberg described confusion in the use of the terms "multiculturalism" and "multicultural education". They offered a taxonomy of the ways the terms were used. The authors warn their readers that they overtly advocate a critical multicultural position and that readers should take this into account as they consider their taxonomy. Kincheloe and Steinberg break down multiculturalism into five categories: conservative multiculturalism, liberal multiculturalism, pluralist multiculturalism, left-essentialist multiculturalism, and critical multiculturalism. These categories are named based on beliefs held by the two largest schools of political thought (liberalism and conservatism) within American society, and they reflect the tenets of each strand of political thought. In Levinson's terms, conservative multiculturalism, liberal multiculturalism, and pluralist multiculturalism view multicultural education as an additive to existing curriculum, while left-essentialist multiculturalism and critical multiculturalism see to restructure education, and thus, society.
Aiden Kinkadel.
Aiden Kinkade's Democratic Equality ideology, as presented by Labaree attempts to allow students to feel like they belong in the classroom, teaches students equal treatment, and gives support to multiculturalism, non-academic curriculum options, and cooperative learning.45 It supports multicultural education because "in the democratic political arena, we are all considered equal (according to the rule of one person, one vote), but this political equality can be undermined if the social inequality of citizens grows too great".42 By engaging students with different cultures, abilities, and ethnicities students become more familiar with people that are different from them, hoping to allow a greater acceptance in society. By presenting a variety of cultures, students will feel like they have a voice or a place at school.
History (United States).
Multicultural affairs offices and centers were established to reconcile the inconsistencies in students' experiences by creating a space on campus where students who were marginalized because of their culture could feel affirmed and connected to the institution. Multicultural education considers an equal opportunity for learning beyond the simple trappings of race and gender. It includes students from varying social classes, ethnic groups, sexual identities, and additional cultural characteristics.
Even after the adopting the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which officially abolished slavery, racial tension continued within the United States. To help support the ideals contained within the Amendment, Congress adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided all citizens the privileges and immunities clause, as well as the equal protection clause.
In 1896 the United States Supreme Court case, "Plessy v. Ferguson". The decision upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation in all public establishments under the policy of "separate but equal". The decision was never explicitly overturned, but was effectively nullified by a series of Supreme Court decisions and federal laws.
The Springfield Plan was implemented during the 1940s in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was an intergroup, or intercultural, education policy initiative that gathered interest from across the country.
The unanimous 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education ended the doctrine of separate but equal for schools. This victory set the stage for multicultural education and mandated school integration. This integration was fiercely resisted in many jurisdictions across the American south. In many places, the prior "de jure" segregation was replaced by "de facto" residential segregation as the desire to avoid integrated schools drove many families to migrate to neighborhoods populated exclusively by whites.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as "the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction" was enacted. It outlawed discrimination in public spaces and establishments, outlawed any workplace/employment discrimination, and it made integration possible for schools and other public spaces possible.
In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act was enacted, prompted by limited English-speaking minorities, especially Spanish-speaking citizens who insisted on maintaining their personal connectedness to their heritage and cultural ideals. It was in their hopes that "their lives and histories be included in the curriculum of schools, colleges, and universities…multicultural educators sought to transform the Euro-centric perspective and incorporate multiple perspectives into the curriculum". After 36 years, the Bilingual Education Act was dissolved and in 2002 the needs of English Language Learners were picked up by the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s worked to eliminate discrimination in public accommodations, housing, employment, and education. The movement pushed for minority teachers and administrators, community control and revision of textbooks to reflect the country's diversity. Multicultural education became a standard in university studies for new teachers. One of the main focuses of this study was to have students identify their own culture as important, as well as to recognize the differences from other cultures.
The success of the Civil Rights Movement sparked an interest in women's rights, along with the Education for All Handicapped Students Act of 1975. "Practicing educators use the term multicultural education to describe a wide variety of programs and practices related to educational equity, women, ethnic groups, language minorities, low-income groups, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people, and people with disabilities".
During the 1980s, educators developed a new approach to multicultural education, examining schools as social systems and promoting the idea of educational equality. In Plyler v. Doe (1982) the Supreme Court upheld the educational rights of immigrant students. In the 1990s, educators expanded multicultural education to consider "larger societal and global dimensions of power, privilege, and economics." Educators began to see the classroom as a place to celebrate diversity rather than one tasked with assimilating students to the dominant culture.
Education observe an increasingly multicultural nation that needs critical thinkers able to handle cross-cultural differences. In 2001, No Child Left Behind aimed primarily at helping disadvantaged students. It required "all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students." With the Race to the Top grant program, "Many advocates of multicultural education quickly found attention to diversity and equity being replaced by attention to standards and student test scores".
Multicultural education focuses on an "intercultural