Venica Blythe
Diversity and Achievement EDU507.90
Prof. Joseph Paige
The Case for Multicultural Education
Who am I? I am a Female, I am Black, I am Jamaican, and I speak Patois (Jamaican dialect). All the things I just mentioned are just a fraction of who but these same things have been used on numerous occasions to form a stereotype against me. I am also a mother, wife, and an educator. None of the things that I have listed will by itself adequately tell you who I am, but as I stand before you today I want you to understand fully my purpose for being here. My name is Venica Blythe and I am here to promote multicultural education in all our schools curricula. Being an educator for well over a decade I have come to realization that there is a great need for Multicultural Education (ME) Banks (1994) recommended a multicultural curriculum that would teach minority ethnic groups how to free themselves from psychological captivity, stress social action, acquire humanistic dispositions toward all ethnic groups, realize power and ethnic identity without being chauvinistic and ethnocentric, and acquire the national identity and skills necessary to participate completely in the society.
What is Multicultural Education? Multicultural Education (ME) can be defined as developing a curriculum that will incorporate all facets of the varied races and cultures that are found within any classroom. Such content will be taught through instruction designed for the cultures of the several different races in an educational system. Bennett (2011) estimates that "by the year 2020, children of color will exceed forty-five percent of the school-age population in the united Stated" (p.16). It is because of such numbers why policy-makers and administrators can no longer pretend as if there is no need for educating both the students and the teachers. An ME will help to foster a reduction of fear and ignorance that exists in many races
References: Banks, J.A. (1994). An Introduction to Multicultural Education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Banks, J.A. (1995). Multicultural education: Historical, development, dimensions, and practice. In J.A. Banks and C.A. McGee-Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 3-24). New York: MacMillan. Bennett, C. (2011). Comprehensive Multicultural Education: Theory and Practice. (Seventh Edition) Boston: Pearson. Bennett, C. I. (1990). Comprehensive Multicultural Education: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Daniels, L., Magness, G., & Siegel-Magness, Sarah (Producers), & Daniels, L. (Director). (2009). Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire [Motion picture]. United States: Lionsgate. Gabelko, N. H., & Michaelis, J. U. (1981). Reducing adolescent prejudice: A handbook. Gollnick, D. M. and Chinn, P. C. (1998). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society (fifth edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lynch, J. (1987). Prejudice reduction and the schools. New York, NY: Nichols. Sleeter, C. E., & Grant, C. (2006). Making choices for multicultural education: Five approaches to race, class, and gender (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.