Introduction
It is evident that the process of globalization is widely recognized in the contemporary world. Accordingly, with the growing amount of connection in the area of international relations, the demand for the improvement of multicultural education is increasing significantly. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the concept of multicultural education in order to develop a profound understanding of it. The following aspects in the identified area of concern will be elaborated: the role and required skills of multicultural educators as well as their impact on students, equity in the classroom and education, and the development of multicultural curriculum.
Teaching Skills Required for Multicultural Education
First of all, it is essential to state that a qualified multicultural educator should be a professional teacher in the broad sense of these words. According to Howe and Lisi (2013), the qualities of an effective teacher could be categorized into six characteristics: (1) expectancy of equally high performance from every student, (2) employment of collaboration as an educational process, (3) being connected to families and community, (4) employment of various instructional strategies to meet the students’ needs, (5) the inclusion of his or her student cultural background and experiences in the learning process, and (6) reflection on personal improvement. However, a multicultural educator should possess additional skills such as a profound understanding of how culture impacts on learning abilities and communicational style of a student from ethnic or racial minorities. Also, it is mentioned by Howe and Lisi (2013) that key roles and responsibilities of multicultural teachers are the following: (1) being a “cultural organizer,” (2) being a “cultural mediator,” and (3) being “orchestrators of social contexts for learning” (p. 69). These are the primary skills that a multicultural educator should possess.
Multicultural Education in Curriculum
It is possible to mention two primary premises that are expressed by Nieto (2010) regarding the development of learning and educational programs. The authors suggest that learning is constructed actively and dynamically, and also learning “emerges from and builds on experience” (Nieto, 2010, p. 37). He also assumes that educational processes are largely affected by cultural differences and the context in which it occurs (Nieto, 2010). Nieto (2010) states that overall, education appears to be an integral part of any community as well as society and culture at large. Thus, it is evident that multicultural education should hold an important place in the curriculum of any educational institution.
Equity
Equity is another considerably important factor that relates to the topic under discussion. In order to investigate this question, it is possible to reference to Banks (1998), who stated in his interview that there are five dimensions in multiculturalism: content integration, knowledge construction, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, and “empowering school culture and social structure” (p. 3). By equity, he means equal opportunity for students from various social, racial, and gender groups to achieve equally high results (Banks, 2015).
Improving Student Learning and Preparing Students for Improving Society
It is evident from previous sections that one of the greatest concerns in multicultural education is the focus on students. Grant and Portera (2010) assume that the contemporary world is globalized to a vast extent, the society’s values are polyphonic and fragmented, and thus an apparent educational crisis arises. Therefore, the authors suggest that multicultural education would have an immensely positive influence on students, who will be able to improve society in accordance with newly emerging social conditions (Grant & Portera, 2010).
References
Banks, J. A. (1998). Multiculturalism’s five dimensions. Web.
Banks, J. A. (2015). Multicultural education, school reform, and educational equality. In Opening the doors to opportunity for all: Setting a research agenda for the future, (pp. 54-63). Washington, DC: American Institute for Research.
Grant, C. A., & Portera, A. (Eds.) (2010). Intercultural and multicultural education: Enhancing global interconnectedness (Routledge research in education). New York, NY: Routledge.
Howe, H. W., & Lisi, P. L. (2013). Becoming a multicultural educator: Developing awareness, gaining skills, and taking action. New York, NY: Sage.
Nieto, S. (2010). The light in their eyes: Creating multicultural learning communities: tenth anniversary edition (multicultural education). (10th ed.). Teachers College Press.