Multicultural and Global Education
Multicultural and Global Education
Numerous factors influence how multicultural (MCE) and global (GE) issues are brought into the classroom. District textbook selection, expectations of
administrators, the community at large, and the preparation of teachers in the field all play important roles. How social studies teachers conceptualize both MCE. and GE and how these conceptualizations affect their classroom instruction are factors that need to be considered. Because teachers are gatekeepers of instruction, it is important to study how and why teachers make certain instructional decisions about including multicultural and global content. One key aspect in this is how teachers conceptualize what they are teaching.
This essay first considers some of the commonalities and differences between MCE and GE. Second, it provides an analysis of four social studies teachers' perceptions of MCE and GE. Third, it considers how GE is addressed by one teacher in the classroom.
Rationale
This study focuses on a suburban school in a predominantly affluent and white community with a student population that is reflective of that community. One reason for choosing a suburban school instead of a rural school is the national trend of white students increasingly receiving their education in the suburbs or in private institutions. One preliminary finding from a pilot study showed that many teachers conveyed that MCE is only needed when the student body is diverse. This pilot study examined the attitudes of two teachers who taught in a high-income, predominantly white Catholic school.
The teachersa fourth-grade teacher in her second year of teaching and a veteran seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacherwere interviewed twice during the course of a month. They believed, for instance, that students of color need heroes they can identify with while their white students did not have this same need. When asked how they incorporated multicultural content, the fourth-grade teacher remarked: "Nope, I don't do MCE. Look at my students. They are all white."
In contrast, scholars emphasize the importance of white students examining multicultural issues. Because this demographic's segregated home life and school environment does not provide them with substantive contact with diverse groups, it is largely through their curriculum that these students gain knowledge of people who are not in their same ethnic or social group, particularly regarding the issues these citizens face. Furthermore, students in suburban schools are likely to become leaders in government and business; because leaders set policy based on perceptions, the issue of a good understanding of multicultural and global issues is particularly pertinent. Before engaging in a discussion of teachers' views of what MCE and GE are and on whether and how they should be taught, a more careful analysis of the meaning of MCE and GE is necessary.
Implication
What does all of this mean for teacher education and for practicing teachers and administrators? Clearly, some of the teachers in this study did not really see MCE as something that applied to their busiess essay project. Because of this, GE was considered more worthy of attention. I would argue that although GE is and should be a fundamental component of the social studies curriculum, it should not supplant MCE. Teachers who use MCE and GE interchangeably run the risk of minimizing both fields. Both need to play a central role, and although they hold similar values, they are different and have different objectives.
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