MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

MARK JADE B. PANIS BSED 4-10

Cultural Assimilationism
Versus
Cultural Pluralism
CULTURAL ASSIMILATIONISM
Also known as mono-cultural perspective that pushes
the concept of “melting pot” to address diversity
issues by creating one homogenous culture from the
different cultural groups.

Culturally different groups must be socialized into the

dominant culture so that all can function in an
appropriate behavior.
CULTURAL PLURALISM
Also known as multicultural perspective saying that
different ethnic cultures have the right to maintain
their own identity and culture within the greater
society.

This perspective uses the “salad bowl” analogy. In

order to have a nutritious salad (society), it is
essential to include a variety of cultures.
Multicultural Education
Multicultural education uses learning about other
cultures in order to produce acceptance, or at least
tolerance of these cultures (Faas, 2011).

Ornstein and Levine (1982) defined multicultural

education as education that advocates differential
instructional approaches to teaching students with
different ethnic and racial background.
Cushner et al. (2006) also defined
multicultural education as a process of
educational reform that ensures all students
from all groups experience educational
equality, success, and social ability.

Multicultural education is a comprehensive

school reform and basic education for all
(Nieto, 2002).
7 KEY PRINCIPLES OF MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION (Nieto, 2002)
1. Multicultural Education is anti-racist education
The purpose of multicultural education is to
challenge and reject racism, prejudice, biases,
stereotyping, and all forms of discrimination in
school and society due emanating from
differences in ethnic origin/background,
religious beliefs, economic status, and gender.
2. Multicultural education is basic education
Multicultural literacy is a very essential part of
living in the 21st century.

It opens the curriculum to a variety of cultural

perspectives and experiences or inclusions of
more “voices” reflective of multiple realities of
many different people rather than a dominant
group.
3. Multicultural education is a political movement
This reveals that education is not politically neutral,
which is then reflected in the power of teachers and
school administrators to play a dominant role in the
teaching and learning process.

If this will comprehensively be implemented,

transformation and enrichment of schooling will be
achieved leading to a more critical and socially active
members of the society.
4. Multicultural education is a wide-ranging
school reform
It is a movement or reform that calls for overhauling
of school climate, physical environment, curriculum,
and relationships among teachers and students.

Multicultural education asserts the abolition of social

injustice, inequality, and oppression through a logical
critique of the system and analysis of the mechanism
used in domination, as well as power and privilege.
5. Multicultural education is critical pedagogy
Multicultural education works on basic assumption
that a realistic and wide-ranging reform can be
accomplished only through analyzing the system of
power and privilege in a given community or nation.

It critically questions, for example, “Who dominates

in school?”; “Whose culture is favored?”; “Whose
values are written and valued in school?”
6. Multicultural education is education for
social justice
Multicultural education is one approach to address
problems that ethnic groups experience within the
school system.

Class discussions must be centered on concerns that

affect culturally diverse communities, such as
poverty, marginalization, discrimination, and what
students can do to change them.
7. Multicultural education is important
for all students
Multicultural education is not only for
culturally different and disadvantaged
students but also for the students in the
dominant culture who are generally the
most miseducated about diversity.
GOALS OF MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION
1. The supreme aim of multicultural
education is to assist learners obtain
better self-understanding by looking
at themselves from the standpoint of
other cultures.
2. Multicultural education presupposes
that with the proper orientation and
understanding of diversity, respect may
follow.
3. Multicultural education provides
students with cultural and ethnic
alternatives.
4. To afford all learners with the essential
knowledge, skills, and values needed to
function within their ethnic culture,
within mainstream culture, and within
and across other ethnic cultures.
5. To lessen the pain and inequality that
members of some ethnic and racial
groups experience because of their
unique physical, ethnic, racial, and
cultural characteristics.
 DIMENSIONS OF
MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
1. Content Integration

The use of examples and content from a

wide variety of cultures to illustrate
important concepts, generalizations, and
issues within the discipline being taught.
2. Knowledge Construction Process

Refers to the way the teacher helps the

students understand and determine
rationalization and inferences within a
discipline
3. Prejudice Reduction

Lessons and activities used by teachers help

students develop positive attitudes toward
different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.
These lessons and activities include the use of
content about the different racial and ethnic
groups.
4. Equity Pedagogy

Teachers modify ways of teaching to facilitate

student academic achievement from diverse
racial, cultural, and social class groups.

Cooperative teaching enhances academic

achievement rather than competitive ones.
5. Empowering school culture and social
structure

This dimension is created when the culture and

organization of the school are transformed in
ways that enable students from diverse racial,
ethnic, and gender groups experience equality
and equal status.
GROWTH OF STUDENT
SUBCULTURE
Subculture
A cultural group within a larger culture,
after having beliefs or interests at variance
with those of the larger culture.

Sociologists define subculture as cultural

patterns that set apart some segment of a
society’s population.
Subculture can be based on a variety of
factors, including religion, race, ethnicity,
age, and sexual orientation.

Members of subcultures do not necessarily

reject the dominant culture, but they
embrace their own culture as valid and
important.
We can the example of being part of a “college
student subculture.” By becoming a college
student, you have chosen to join a particular
subcultural group with it’s own particular way
of life.

Being part of a subculture does not mean you

cannot be part of other subcultural groups or
the society as a whole.
A person’s place in the society can be looked at
on two basic levels:

★ In terms of a generic sense of culture

What it means to people.

★ In terms of a specific sense of subculture

Particular sets of norms applicable only to
the group
Tensions sometimes develop between members
of the dominant culture and one or more
subcultures, especially subcultures that directly
oppose the dominant culture.

This is called “deviant” by the dominant group.

Example of this is a homosexual subculture

(Calhoun, et al., 1994).
FUNCTIONS OF SUBCULTURE
Subcultures perform specific functions
such as:
1. Permitting specialized activity

Subcultures are essential to the division of

labor which is essential in any society which
is becoming larger and more complex.
2. Identity in Mass society

People want to distinguish themselves

from the crowd in order to feel that “I am
somebody.”
Subcultures permit this by enabling
people with a common interest, situation, or
set of experiences to stand out from the
crowd.
3. Cultural adaptation and change

Subculture serves as a source of

adaptation to society. It is a mechanism
through which cultural diffusion occurs.

This happens when the values of these

subcultures spread to the larger society.
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF
EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES
 Sociocultural influences on
development stresses that cultures differ in
their views of acceptable child-rearing
practices. As a result of these differing
beliefs, children of various cultures may
think and act differently and carry these
differences into the classroom.
 Cultural differences imply the
transmission of ideas from generation
to generation by significant members
of the older generation (parents,
teachers, religious leaders, eductional
leaders, etc.)
What is a culturally-responsive teaching?
Culturally responsive instruction covers areas
related to:

1. Inclusive content in the curriculum

2. Students’ prior knowledge that includes
their culture
3. The idea that culture is central to student
learning
 Culture is central to learning. It
plays a role not only in
communicating and receiving
information, but also in shaping the
thinking process of groups and
individuals.