A Reinforcing Curriculum and Program Reform Proposal for 21st Century Teacher Education: Vital First Steps for Advancing K-12 Multicultural Education

Abstract

Over the past decades, multicultural education advocates have proposed various educational strategies and teaching approaches for K-12 that have enjoyed limited application. In-service and preservice educators are still not well prepared for implementing multicultural education. In order to advance K-12 multicultural education, effective teaching and learning must start at the teacher education level. A curriculum/program reform model is needed that will move multicultural teacher education beyond the common isolated-course approach. The author proposes that Banks' (1991, 2001) Multicultural Model and Ethnonational Model, originally designed for K-12 curriculum reform, be adapted in university teacher education programs. The proposed trans-course approach allows for long-term exposure that reinforces multicultural concepts and issues, and provides continuous development of intercultural-action skills throughout a teacher education program. When school teachers have experienced the multicultural curriculum suggested by Banks and have achieved the multicultural competence that Banks (2001) and Koehn and Rosenau (2002) advocate, they will be capable of helping all K-12 students develop the kind of knowledge, dispositions, and skills required for effective and meaningful participation in the globalizing world.