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Approaches to Multicultural Education in Preservice Teacher Education Philosophical Frameworks and Models for Teaching Personal Perspective Approaches to Multicultural Education in Preservice Teacher Education Philosophical Frameworks and Models for Teaching Earl Bradford Smith Introduction a society with no distinct majority—one cally, linguistically, and socioeconomically characterized by multicultural enclaves, diverse students (Banks, 2000). Today’s startling classroom diversity enormously mixed, encompassing an array Few cases have come before the reflects a major United States demographic of races, cultures, and languages never nation’s Supreme Court that so directly af- shift. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, before seen in schools. fected the minds, hearts, and daily lives of by the year 2040, White non-Hispanics will Teachers face multiple and complex so many Americans as the 1954 landmark make up less than half of the school-aged issues that challenge many of their tradi- Civil Rights case of Brown v. Board of population. By the year 2010, Hispanics tional educational practices and assump- Education of Topeka (Ethridge, 1979). The are projected to account for 43% of United tions. For example, majority-minority cases’s outcome barred the segregation of States population growth. The Hispanic relations, long a focus of concern in urban students by race in public schools. This deci- school-aged population is predicted to in- classrooms, are at the very least reconfig- sion continues to be important to the educa- crease by 64% over the next 20 years. The ured and may, in fact, be moot. In many tion reform movement for two reasons: (a) proportion of school-aged population that schools, there is no longer a majority group; Constitutionally sanctioned racially diverse is Asian non-Hispanic was estimated at 4% in others, the traditional White dominant, classes exist as a result of integration, and in 2000 and is projected to rise to 6.6% by Black minority nature of the racial com- (b) The preparation of teachers to effectively 2025. On the other hand, the percentage of position may instead be Latino-Black or and respectfully teach all students is an the school-aged population that is African- Chinese-Latino. absolute necessity. American or Native American is predicted We are still searching for what works to remain stable (2000). Focusing on Teachers in school classrooms and for effective pro- Nieto (2004) wrote that this increase grams to prepare teachers for working with in ethnic diversity has caused many educa- Teachers must understand students’ diverse learners. Over the years our school tors to recognize the need to expand their home lives, too. The hardships faced by systems have struggled to be successful at knowledge of multicultural education in youngsters in urban housing projects, for educating the large numbers of students the public schools. The success or failure example, or the struggles between gen- who are not from the dominant culture. of multicultural education depends upon erations in otherwise strong immigrant As the percentage of diverse students the effective preparation of teachers and families profoundly influence a student’s grows, it becomes increasingly important administrators. These teachers must be motivation and ability to succeed in school. to sensitize teachers to the importance of competent in the courses they teach if their Moreover, the cultural norms students culture and how it impacts the teaching students are to be academically successful bring from home add new subtleties to and learning process. (Ogbu, 1992). Further, teachers must be such issues as those stemming from so- cioeconomic class and gender. Regardless non-biased and have an understanding A Cautionary Note and sensitivity toward the various cultures of the reform initiatives invoked to focus reflected in the student population. Admin- the country’s attention on how poorly However, I must add a precautionary istrators should recognize and reinforce some of our nation’s schools are educating note: Even though we are talking about throughout the curriculum the increasing our children, teacher preparedness has culture, it is important to remember that diversity in society as it relates to race and consistently emerged as a central issue in children are individuals and cannot be ethnicity (Razik & Swanson, 2001). educational reform initiatives that began made to fit into any preconceived mold of The greatest wave of immigration ostensibly with A Nation at Risk (National how they are “supposed” to act. The ques- since the turn of the century, combined Commission on Excellence in Education, tion is not necessarily how to create the with escalating birth rates, is creating 1983) and continues with No Child Left perfect “culturally matched” learning situ- Behind (United States Committee on ation for each ethnic group, but rather how Education and the Workforce, 2002). to recognize when there is a problem for a Earl Bradford Smith is an administrator The preparation of America’s teach- particular child and how to seek its cause with the West Allegheny School District, ers has remained the driving force behind in the most broadly conceived fashion. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the most recent educational reforms that Knowledge about culture is but one and an adjunct professor began in the early 1980s. These changes tool that educators may make use of when with Robert Morris University, have emphasized the need for all teachers devising solutions for a school’s difficulty University of Phoenix, to have the attitudes, knowledge, and skills in educating diverse children. Effective and Point Park University. to work effectively with racially, ethni- teachers in a diverse world need an edu- SPRING 2009 45 Personal Perspective cation that enables them to attain new to create better classroom activities for Rights Movement had a significant influ- knowledge, paradigms, and perspectives particular students and tailor instruction ence on educational institutions, as ethnic on the United States and the world, and to their needs. The relationship between groups—first African Americans and then to deal effectively with both the challenges teacher and student involves not just other groups—demanded that the schools and opportunities of diversity. There is instruction, but interaction. When inter- and other educational institutions reform increasing diversity as well as increasing action fails because of teacher mispercep- curricula to reflect their experiences, his- recognition of diversity in nation-states tions of student behavior, instructional tories, cultures, and perspectives. throughout the world. Racial, cultural, failure will often follow. Ethnic groups also demanded that ethnic, language, and religious diversity is The increasing diversity within the the schools hire more minority teachers increasing in schools in the United States nation’s schools provides both opportuni- and administrators, so that their children as well as in other nations. This diversity ties and challenges. Diverse classrooms would have more successful role models. provides an excellent context for students and schools make it possible to teach Ethnic groups pushed for community to acquire the multicultural understand- students from many different cultures and control of schools in their neighborhood ings and skills needed to function ef- groups how to live together cooperatively and for the revision of textbooks to make fectively in their local communities, the and productively. However, racial preju- them reflect the diversity of all peoples in nation, and the world. dice and discrimination are challenges the United States. that arise when people from diverse groups Constructing a Curriculum come together. The School as a Social System It is significant to construct a curricu- It is necessary to conceptualize the lum that supports student teachers with Maximize and Minimize school as a social system in order to imple- full acknowledgement of differences in race, Teachers need to acquire knowledge ment multicultural education successfully. culture, and gender to interrogate their and skills that maximize the opportunities Each major variable in the school, such as experiences, understand schools as sites diversity offers and minimize its challenges. its culture, its power relationships, the cur- for struggles over power, and become better Teacher education programs should help riculum and materials, and the attitudes prepared to teach in an increasingly mul- teachers attain the knowledge and behaviors and beliefs of the staff, must be changed in tiracial and multicultural society (Wein- needed to work effectively with students ways that will allow the school to promote stein, Tomlinson, & Curran, 2004). These from diverse groups, as well as help students educational equality for students from opportunities must always be connected to from mainstream groups develop cross-cul- diverse groups. To approach school reform larger understandings of the histories of op- tural knowledge, values, and competence with a multicultural perspective, we need pression and privilege, and must always be (Moule, 2004; Merryfield, 2000). to begin with an understanding of multi- couched in understandings of institutional Multicultural education supports cultural education within its sociopolitical and organizational racism. teachers to understand and appreciate context (Nieto, 2004). The purpose of this analysis is to dem- cultural differences and similarities, and to Such a sociopolitical context under- onstrate how implementing a multicultural recognize the accomplishments of diverse scores
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