Multicultural+Education

Multicultural Education Jessica Cabral = "Multicultural education is a field of study and an emerging discipline whose major aim is to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social-class, and cultural groups. One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire the knowledge, = = attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society and to interact, negotiate, and communicate with peoples from diverse groups in order to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good" (Banks 1995). =


 * How can Multicultural Education Benefit EL Students? **

In a study using three elementary programs for Hispanic children revealed that the math, reading, and language scores of students in bilingual and multiculturally-integrated English as a Second Language programs were significantly superior to scores of students enrolled in bilingual ESL without the multicultural integration (Fulton-Scott 1983).


 * ELL students that are taught in a multicultural education setting will greatly benefit from this type of education. By activating prior knowledge (cultural) any new curriculum introduced in the class will become easier to understand.


 * Ways of Integrating Multicultural Education in the Classroom **

One important rule to remember when integrating multicultural education is to stay away from the cliche food tastings and cultural holiday celebrations. We want to as teachers to integrate the importance of multicultural awareness in as many ways possible.

[|Folktales from Around the World]
 * Reader's Theatre- Integrate another commonly used SDAIE strategy and read and act out culturally based plays, poems, and folk tales.

[|Currency for Kids]
 * During a mathematics lesson that deals with money introduce different currencies from around the world and have shopping days using different countries currency.

[|Multicultural Education in Elementary and Middle Schools]
 * ﻿Resources **

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