Multicultural Education and Critical Pedagogy Approaches

4

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY APPROACHES

SABA RASHEED ALI AND JULIE R. ANCIS

A large and dynamic body of literature addresses the characteristics of

multicultural education, and much of this literature focuses on educating

elementary, secondary, and undergraduate college students about issues of

diversity. In addition, a growing body of literature critiques this literature

and outlines alternative teacher education approaches for preparing future

professionals to work toward ending oppression and achieving social justice in educational settings (Goodman, 2000; Jennings & Smith, 2002;

B. G. Wallace, 2000). In this chapter, we describe and compare major approaches to multicultural education, discuss the role of critical pedagogy

approaches to multicultural and feminist education, and examine efforts to

integrate multicultural training within teacher training programs. We conclude by summarizing contributions to and limitations of the multicultural

education literature as well as implications for pedagogy that is multicultural

and feminist.

Special thanks to Julia Phillips who participated in the original working conference on pedagogy and

contributed a written description of the multicultural education approaches summarized in this chapter.

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APPROACHES TO MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Contemporary multicultural education has evolved and grown through

an initial phase that was influenced by the civil rights movement and involved integrating content about African Americans in the curriculum to an

emphasis on multiethnic content and to recent emphases on the interactions between ethnicity, gender, and class as foundations for theory, research,

and practice (Banks, 1995). Christine Sleeter's and Carl Grant's (1987, 2003)

widely cited model identifies five major approaches to multicultural education: (a) education for the exceptional and culturally different, (b) human

relations approaches, (c) single-group studies, (d) multicultural education,

and (e) multicultural and social reconstructionist education. The following

overview and Table 4.1 summarize the major characteristics of these approaches.

Education for the Exceptional and Culturally Different

The exceptional and culturally different approach seeks to help individuals from disadvantaged groups develop skills that support achievement

and assimilation within mainstream American schools and society. This approach, which focuses on the needs of students with disabilities as well as

culturally diverse students, is based on the human capital theory and assumes

that education is an investment that allows individuals to gain skills for successful employment and that certain groups have not achieved because their

home and cultural environments are different from mainstream American

environments (Sleeter & Grant, 2003). Emphasis is placed on "building

bridges between cultures to facilitate individual achievement and social mobility, rather than combating unequal distribution of goods and power among

racial groups" (Sleeter & Grant, 1987, p. 423). A major goal involves changing persons to fit mainstream America rather than changing mainstream

America to accommodate the needs and preferences of diverse groups. Most

teachers using this approach typically maintain high expectations for students

and believe that the traditional curriculum is useful for all students but must be

adapted to the needs of various students (Sleeter, 1999). This approach has

progressed over time from viewing culturally diverse students as culturally deprived to culturally different to, more recently, "at risk" (Banks, 1995).

The phrase equity pedagogy refers to teaching methods that support the

achievement of students from diverse backgrounds (Banks, 1995). Strategies

include making the curriculum personally relevant for students by building

on the strengths of students, teaching content in students' native languages,

identifying and filling gaps in knowledge, matching teaching styles to students' cultural preferences (e.g., cooperative learning with high degrees of

interpersonal interaction), and using immediate positive reinforcement of

small, successive accomplishments.

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ALI AND ANCIS

TABLE 4.1

Multicultural Approaches and Pedagogies

Goals

Approach

Pedagogy

Exceptional and culturally Facilitate success of

diverse students in

different

mainstream society

Human relations

Single studies

Multicultural education

Multicultural and social

reconstruction

Teach skills for

achievement and

success; adapt teaching

to learning styles of

students

Promote tolerance;

Implement activities to

facilitate positive feelings reduce stereotyping and

and relationships among prejudice; teach about

members of diverse

similarities and

groups

differences among

individuals; emphasize

cooperative learning;

create opportunities for

interaction with diverse

groups

Establish social,

Employ critical pedagogy;

economic, and political

integrate content about

power for members of

the identified group;

the identified group;

question knowledge

encourage social change assumptions; teach

that benefits members

social change skills;

of the identified group

teach about racial and

ethnic identity

development; use

teaching strategies

preferred by members of

the identified group

Create structural equality Teach all content

and a pluralistic society

multiculturally; teach

in which all have equal

bilingual skills for all;

access to power and

extend teaching outside

opportunity

the classroom; model

diversity through staff

values and composition

Promote structural and

Employ critical pedagogy;

personal equality by

provide an integrated

restructuring education

analysis of racism,

and society

classism, sexism, and

other isms; use students'

experiences as tools for

analyzing oppression;

teach social action and

empowerment skills; use

democratic decision

making

Human Relations Approach

The intergroup education movement arose in response to the events of

World War II and racial tensions in the United States and was influenced

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND CRITICAL PEDAGOGY APPROACHES

71

primarily by White liberal educators who assumed that assimilation represented the best means of reducing racial tension (Banks, 1995). Emerging

from the intergroup education movement, the human relations approach

emphasized the importance of feeling good about oneself and diverse others

and learning to relate to, respect, and communicate with those from different backgrounds (Sleeter & Grant, 2003). Teachers who adhere to this approach generally believe that American society is open and fair and that

teaching people to love, respect, and communicate with others will lead to

improved relationships among diverse groups of people.

Research suggests that young children's racial attitudes mirror those

found in American society (e.g., Phinney & Rotheram, 1987), and thus, reducing students' prejudice and instilling democratic racial attitudes are of

great importance (Banks, 1995). Students learn about problems associated

with stereotyping and receive accurate information that challenges societal

biases. Teaching strategies include content integration about diverse groups,

prejudice reduction activities, positive reinforcement of multicultural stimuli,

vicarious interracial contact, and cooperative learning experiences. Information about contributions of people from diverse groups is presented so all

students, especially those who are members of marginalized groups, feel

positively about themselves and their reference groups. Finally, students are

also given opportunities to work with diverse others through cooperativelearning exercises, role-playing, social skills, training, and participation in

community projects.

Single-Group Studies

Providing in-depth educational experiences about specific oppressed

groups is a priority for single-group-studies perspectives (Sleeter, 1999; Sleeter

& Grant, 2003). Catalysts for single studies approaches included (a) efforts

during the first half of the 20th century to disseminate information about the

African American experience in America and (b) the emergence of Black

studies and ethnic studies programs (1960s and 1970s) that focused on teaching

about the history, experiences, and perspectives of African Americans and

members of other racial and ethnic groups (Banks, 1995).

Goals of single studies and ethnic studies programs have included

(a) content integration, which involves providing information about diverse

groups or illustrating ideas and concepts by using examples relevant to members of diverse groups, and (b) efforts to gain economic, social, and political

power for group members. These strategies address the knowledge construction process, such as why the perspectives of a group have been excluded,

why inequality exists, and how traditional education perpetuates inequality.

Those who adopt this perspective assume that education is not neutral, that

the unspoken assumptions underlying traditional Eurocentric educational

approaches need to be revealed, and that knowledge of one's own history is a

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ALIANDANCIS

source of power (Sleeter, 1996). In recent years, material related to racial

and social identity development models (e.g., Cross, 1991; Hardiman & Jackson, 1997; Tatum, 1992, 2002) has been integrated with this model to support students' positive identity within a racist society. Knowledge of racial

identity development allows students to recognize, articulate, and transcend

their emotional responses to learning about racism or other oppressions

(Tatum, 1992).

Strategies associated with single-studies approaches include (a) examining the significance of starting points or assumptions about knowledge,

(b) critiquing socially constructed "natural" or binary categories associated

with identity (e.g., Black vs. White), (c) restructuring the canon of knowledge, (d) exploring the strengths and resilience of specific oppressed groups,

(e) fostering a positive collective identity among members of a group, and

(f) empowering and liberating group members from injustice (Sleeter, 1996).

The use of critical pedagogical approaches (see chap. 1, this volume) and

teaching strategies consistent with learning styles valued by many members

of specific groups is embedded in this approach. For example, Afrocentric

teaching strategies may be used to maximize African American students' learning, and feminist pedagogy strategies may be used to support girls' and women's

learning.

Multicultural Education Approach

Advocates of this approach use the phrase multicultural education to describe methods that promote human rights, social justice, equal opportunity,

cultural diversity, and the equitable distribution of power for oppressed groups

(Gollnick, 1980; Sleeter & Grant, 2003). The multicultural education perspective, which is among the most widely discussed approaches in the educational literature, calls for education that transforms mainstream America into

a culturally pluralistic society in which all people have equal opportunity for

success. Curriculum content is reorganized to incorporate knowledge of diverse American racial and ethnic groups, genders, and social classes. Those

who endorse this model recommend the total reform of schooling for the

benefit of all students. Teaching strategies associated with the single-studies,

human relations, and teaching the culturally different approaches are relevant to this model.

Information about diverse groups is integrated throughout the curriculum to ensure that all subject matter is consistently taught from a multicultural

perspective (Sleeter, 1999). Educators propose that all students should become bilingual and recommend changes in evaluation criteria and the decreased use of standardized testing. School personnel provide extracurricular

activities that are equally accessible to all students regardless of gender,

ethnicity, ability, or class, and parents and the community are encouraged to

be involved in school life. Persons from diverse groups, rather than those

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND CRITICAL PEDAGOGY APPROACHES

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