Should Multiculturalism Permeate The Curriculum

The definition of multiculturalism in the Webster's Dictionary is: "of or relating to a social or educational theory that encourages interest in many cultures within a society rather than in only a mainstream culture" (1984). There are many reasons why multiculturalism should be integrated into the curriculum of America's schools. Multicultural education is an idea that seeks to develop the same opportunities for all students; it is not geared solely for the benefit of those from different racial, ethnic, and social-class groups, but it is also designed to help the middle to upper class white Americans (Banks, n.d.). The goal of multicultural education is to restructure schools, so that all students will achieve the knowledge, proper outlook, and abilities required to function in a diverse nation and world (Banks, 1993). It is important for multicultural education to permeate the curriculum in all grades and aspects of the educational system.

A problem with multicultural education is that people tend to simplify. It is a complex and multidimensional concept (Banks, 1993). James A. Banks, a professor and Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, uses the following five dimensions to describe the field's major components: 1) content integration, 2) the knowledge construction process, 3) prejudice reduction, 4) an equity pedagogy, and 5) an empowering school culture and social structure (Banks, 1993). Content integration deals with teachers and how they use information from different cultures to explain key concepts and theories for a certain subject (Banks, 1993). This aspect of multicultural education is mostly taught in schools today, and for this reason teachers in the subjects of biology, physics, and mathematics think that multicultural education is irrelevant to them (Banks, 1993). Teachers from these subjects do not regard multicultural education as important to them because this aspect is being taught alone when in reality all aspects of multicultural education should be taken into consideration. Knowledge construction involves the process in which social, behavioral, and natural scientists create knowledge in their subjects. James Banks believes that, "A multicultural focus on knowledge construction includes discussion of the ways in which the implicit cultural assumptions, frames of reference, perspectives, and biases within a discipline influence the construction of knowledge" (1993). The prejudice reduction aspect of multicultural education deals with how students view others and it helps develop a more positive racial and ethnic attitude (Banks, 1993). Equity pedagogy exists when teachers use techniques and teaching methods that facilitate students from diverse racial, ethnic, and social groups (Banks, 1993). Empowering school culture and social structure means that the culture and organization of the schools have to change, so students from diverse racial, ethnic, and social-class groups will all have a sense of equality and a sense of empowerment (Anderson, MacPhee, & Govan, 2000). As you can see, there is a lot more to multicultural education than just teaching students how to be tolerant towards different cultures.

The curriculum of today's schools has negative consequences for all; it affects students that identify with the curriculum, and it also affects students from non-dominant groups (Gorski, 2000b). Today's mainstream curriculum is Eurocentric and male-centric; it does not teach the experiences, voices, contributions, and views of non-dominant individuals. This affects students from non-dominant groups because it undermines their beliefs and perspectives, and it may separate students who are already having trouble adapting to a different culture (Gorski, 2000b). According to Gorski, this curriculum is harmful for students who identify with the curriculum because it,

Reinforces their false sense of superiority, gives them a misleading conception of their relationship with other racial and ethnic groups, and denies them the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge, perspectives, and frames of reference that can be gained from studying and experiencing other cultures and groups. (2000a).

A ramification of today's mainstream curriculum is that it produces negative cultural diversity, which causes different social, ethnic, and cultural groups to view themselves as separate identities and not as a whole (Hyman, 2003). Multicultural education and the incorporation of it into the mainstream curriculum will produce positive cultural diversity among future generations. This inclusion suggests that groups will coexist harmoniously, secure in their distinctive social, ethnic, religious, and gender patterns. This means that people from different cultural groups will live as one, sharing different levels of the community's economic, social, and political hierarchies but still respecting each other's individuality (Hyman 2003). According to results from a multicultural program developed at Purdue University, the "High Hopes Program", found that multiculturalism was effective in promoting self-awareness, cultural empathy and reduced racism (Morris, Pomery, & Murray, 2001).

The job of America's schools is to prepare all students to be effective democratic citizens, and the first step is to recognize the rapid demographic changes and student diversity in the United States (Anderson, MacPhee, & Govan, 2000). The following quote illustrates the importance of multiculturalism,

An important goal of multicultural education is to help students acquire the knowledge and commitments needed to make reflective decisions and to take personal, social, and civic action to promote democracy and democratic living. Opportunities for action help students to develop a sense of personal and civic efficacy, faith in their ability to make changes in the institutions in which they live, and situations to apply the knowledge they have learned. (Banks, n.d.)

Schools have the responsibility to provide students with an education that will allow them to manage problems that arise in a diverse world. Transforming the curriculum multiculturally will help expose biases, stereotypes, inaccuracies, and marginalization in curricular content, pedagogy, and academic policies (NIU, n.d.).

A study done by Fulton-Scott using three elementary programs for Hispanic children revealed that the math, reading, and language scores of students enrolled in multicultural courses did significantly better that those that were in regular classes (Webb, 1990). Other relevant facts due to the incorporation of multiculturalism were found by a research project that used 217 different institutions to determine how different students are affected