CHAPTER 5

What is MULTICULTURALISM ?
According to Harrison (1984),
multiculturalism is a theory about the
foundations of a culture rather than a practice
which subsumes cultural ideas.

Multiculturalism is a systematic and

comprehensive response to cultural and ethnic
diversity, with educational, linguistic, economic
and social components and specific
institutional mechanisms.
 Whenever two or more people come
together with a shared purpose, they form a
culture with its own written and unwritten rules for
behavior. Our families, workplaces, and
communities all have cultures. These cultures
have a tremendous, though rarely recognized,
impact upon our behavior as individuals.
Changes in culture that are initiated by a
group need cultural support of members of the
group, or else they will not last long. A supportive
cultural environment is needed for lasting
change.
 Multiculturalism as a model of democratic
policy response to culture and ethnic diversity
is of to UNESCO, in so far as it corresponds to
the ideal of a culture of peace, based on
respect of diversity, as well as universally
shared values and norms.

Multiculturalism is a policy that emphasizes

the unique characteristics of different cultures,
especially as they relate to one another in
receiving in nation.
Three interrelated, but nevertheless distinctive,
referents of multiculturalism and its related
adjective multicultural are presented below :

The demographic-descriptive usage occurs

where the word multicultural refers to the
existence of linguistically, culturally and
ethnically diverse segments in the population
of a society or state.
 Ideological-normative usage of
multiculturalism generates the greatest level of
debate since its constitutes a slogan and basis
for political action.

Programmatic- political usage of

multiculturalism refers to the specific policies
developed to respond and manage ethnic
diversity.
 What is MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION ?
Banks and Banks(1995) define multicultural
education as a field of study and an emerging
discipline whose major aim is to create equal
educational opportunities from diverse racial,
ethnic, social class and cultural group.

According to James Banks(2001), the primary

goal of multicultural education is to transform
the school so that male and female students,
exceptional students, and students from
diverse cultural, social class, racial, and ethnic
groups experience an equal opportunity to
learn.
 A related goal of multicultural education
is to help all students develop more positive
attitudes toward different racial, ethnic,
cultural and religious group. One way of
achieving this goal is to transform the
curriculum by integrating these groups.
James Banks says that there are four
approaches for accomplishing this..
 LEVEL 3 :
TRANSFORMATION
Curriculum is changed, so that
student see the world from
different perspective of various
groups.
LEVEL 2 : ADDITIVE
Special units and topics about
various groups are added to,
but do not fundamental alter,
the curriculum.
LEVEL 4 : SOCIALACTION
Students make decisions
about their world and become
directly involved in social
action.
LEVEL 1 : CONTRIBUTIONS
Heroes, holidays and food
become special focus on a
particular day, recognizing the
contributions of various
groups.
 Multicultural education is
progressive approach for
transforming education
that holistically critiques
and addresses current
shortcomings, failings and
discriminatory practices in
education.
 Multicultural education
acknowledges that
schools are essential to
laying the foundation for
the transformation of
society and the
elimination of oppression
and injustice.
 Multicultural education
applies content from
these field and
disciplines to pedagogy
and curriculum
development in
educational settings.
 Despite a multitude of differing
conceptualizations of multicultural education,
several shared ideals provide a basis for its
understanding. While some focus on individual
students or teachers, and others are much more
“ macro “ in scope, these ideals are all, at their
roots, about transformation:

Every students must have an equal

opportunity to achieve her or his full potential.
Every students must be prepared to
competently participate in an increasingly
intercultural society.
 Teachers must be
prepared to effectively
facilitate learning for
every individual student,
no matter how culturally
similar or different from
themselves.
 Schools must be
active participants in
ending oppression of all
types, first by ending
oppression within their
own walls, then by
producing socially and
critically active and
aware students.
 Education must
become more fully
student-centered and
inclusive of the voices
and experiences of
the students.
 Educators, activists and
other must take a more
active role in reexamining
all educational practices
and how they affect the
learning of all students :
testing methods, teaching
approaches, evaluation
and assessment, school
psychology and
counseling.
 MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION is a concern
affecting every phase and
aspects of teaching
enabling teachers to
scrutinize their options and
choices to clarify what
social information they are
conveying overtly and
covertly to their students.
Dimensions of Multicultural Education
There are five dimensions of multicultural
education according to Banks (1997 ). They
are :

1. Content Integration
2. Knowledge Construction Process
3. Prejudice Reduction
4. Equity Pedagogy
5. Empowering school culture and social
structure
1.CONTENT INTEGRATION - it deals with
the extent to which teachers use examples and
content from a variety of cultures and groups to
illustrate key concepts, generalizations, and
issues within their subject area or disciplines.

2.KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

– it describe how teachers help students to
understand, investigate, and determine how the
biases, frames of reference, and perspectives
within a discipline influence the ways in which
knowledge is constructed within it.
3. PREJUDICE REDUCTION – it describe
lessons and activities used by teachers to help
students to develop positive attitudes toward
different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.

4. EQUITY PEDAGOGY - it exists when

teachers modify their teaching in ways that will
facilitate the academic achievement of students
from diverse racial, cultural, and social class
groups.
5. EMPOWERING SCHOOL CULTURE
AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE – is created
when the culture and organization of the school
are transformed in ways that enable students
from diverse racial, ethnic, and gender groups to
experience equality and equal status.
The Growth of Student Subcultures
Sociologists define subculture as cultural
patterns that set apart some segments of a
society’s population. Subcultures can be based
on age, ethnicity, residence, sexual
preference, occupation, and many factors.

A subculture group can develop around any

number of social activities( family, work,
education, religion, geographic region, and so
forth.
 Subcultures can be based on variety of
factors, including religion, race, ethnicity, age,
and sexual orientation. Gay male and lesbian
subcultures have flourished in large urban
areas and in smaller towns where there are
meetings and organizations to support their
social and political activities.
 Every individual participates in numerous
subculture groups. The norms and sometimes
the values that apply in one group may be
different to the norms that apply to another.
The norms that apply when you are at home
with your family may be very different from
those that apply when you are out with your
friends.
 Some groups of people share a particular way
of life and we term these smaller groups’
subculture. Although we will be looking in
much more detail at the idea of subculture
groups, we can use the example of being part
of a “college student subculture”, to illustrate a
couple of other sociological ideas.
 First, by becoming a college student you
have chosen to join a particular sub-cultural
group with its own particular way of life(
attending classes, learning, meeting your
friends, doodling aimlessly in class ). However,
just because you are a part of other subcultural
groups or indeed the society as a whole.
 Secondly, we have started to introduce the
idea that an individual’s place in society can be
looked at on two basic levels :

1. In terms of a general sense of culture.

2. In terms of a specific sense of subcultures.
 Sometimes subcultures develop that are
not just distinct dominant culture, but that are
oriented toward challenging that culture or
deliberately trying to change it. Sociologists call
them countercultures. ( Farley, 1990 ).

A countercultures exists when subculture

adopts values and beliefs that are predominantly
in opposition to those of larger society.
 Functions of Subcultures

Subcultures perform specific functions such

as :

1. Permitting specialized activity

2. Identity in mass society
3. Cultural adaptation and change
Cultural Dimensions of Learning, Teaching
and Educational Processes
As our nation continues to change,
teachers as well as the students interact with
others from quite different background from their
own in the classroom. The manner in which we
respond to others who seem different can have
a serious impact on success in school, work,
and harmonious relationship with others. It is
important to remember that different is not
“deficient”. Cultural differences imply the
transmission of ideas from generation to
generation by significant members of the older
generation.
What is a culturally-Responsive Teaching ?
Culturally Responsive Instruction
covers areas related to :
Inclusive content in the curriculum that
reflects the diversity of society. In effect,
students from diverse backgrounds see
themselves and their experiences in the
curriculum.

Students’ prior knowledge, including

their culture and language.
 The idea that culture is central to student
learning because there is strong evidence that
cultural practices thinking process.

Culturally Responsive Teaching encompass

elements such as :
Communication of high expectations
Active teaching methods that promote student
engagement
Teacher as facilitator
Positive perspective on parents and families
of culturally and linguistically diverse students
 Culturally responsive teaching acknowledges
cultural diversity in classrooms and accommodates
this diversity in instruction. It does this in three
important ways.
1. By recognizing and accepting student diversity, it
communicates that all students are welcome and
valued as human beings.
2. By building on students’ cultural backgrounds,
culturally responsive teaching communicates
positive images about the students’ home
cultures.
3. By being responsive to different student learning
styles, culturally responsive teaching builds on
students’ strengths and uses these to help student
learn.
4. Cultural sensitivity
5. Reshaping the curriculum so that it is
culturally responsive to the background of
students.
6. Culturally mediated instruction that is
characterized by the use of culturally
mediated cognition, culturally appropriate
social situations for learning, and culturally
valued knowledge in curriculum content.
7. Small group instruction and academically –
related discourse