Multicultural Initiatives Research Articles

Multicultural Initiatives Across Educational Contexts in Psychology: Becoming Diverse in Our Approach

Educational context plays a role in promoting and maintaining multicultural competence. Whereas in the past decade psychology has considered the impact of multiculturalism in educational training; however, less attention has been paid to the institutional contexts that house these efforts. In this paper, four professional psychologists with expertise in multicultural education enumerate the barriers they encountered as they attempted to establish culture-centered educational contexts. Focusing on three specific educational contexts (a psychology department, a training clinic, and a medical setting), they provide insightful and compelling narratives that educators can relate to and apply to their own institutions. The article concludes with recommendations.<br />

Ethnic studies, citizenship education, and the public good

Since the 1990s, ethnic studies and other components of multicultural education have been criticized by neo-conservative and assimilationist scholars who maintain that school diversity initiatives weaken national identity and fail to help students attain the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in the national mainstream culture. The banning of ethnic studies courses in the Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District in the USA was a widely publicized manifestation of the neo-conservative response to multicultural school initiatives. This article describes neo-conservative critiques of ethnic studies, and argues that ethnic studies is an important component of US history that is required to help students become effective and thoughtful citizens in a democratic nation and global world.

HERITAGE: OWNED OR ASSIGNED?

Teaching heritage language is regarded as an act of social justice, but under what conditions and in what context? This article examines the educational practice of introducing heritage language to Chinese return-migrant children and Japan-born Vietnamese children. The language programs under investigation are conducted in a community education center and in an after-school setting in a public elementary school in a multiethnic neighborhood in Osaka, Japan. This study demonstrates how the local community's practice of heritage language learning dissolves the boundaries among ethnic minorities, bringing together all participants and cutting across ethnic lines. The result is empowering, but with a limited effect. At the same time, the institutionalized practice of heritage language learning at school becomes a marker for ethnic minorities and is used to maintain the boundary between ethnic minorities and Japanese, despite official discourses of minority education for empowerment. Ethnographic data show discrepancies between the views of teachers and communities about what ethnic minorities should be like and what they are hoping to find in Japan. The politics of heritage involves the legitimization of power and distinction, as well as the exclusion of those who do not have access to heritage. Situating each case within the politics of heritage, schooling, and Japan's multicultural initiatives, this article examines what is legitimized and what is excluded through teaching and learning heritage language in both cases and discusses the implications of heritage language teaching for immigrant children in Japan.

Problems with a Weakly Pluralist Approach to Democratic Education

Problems with a Weakly Pluralist Approach to Democratic Education Sheron Fraser-Burgess Introduction Pluralism embodies wide acknowledgement of various forms of difference. Appeals to pluralism involve arguments for the proliferating of differences as a social and moral ideal. Rather than being a formal political regime such as with democracy or social liberalism, in the extant political philosophy literature, pluralism brings considerations of diversity and equality to bear in philosophical analysis of traditional systems of government. As a critique, pluralism falls along a continuum, which can be conceived of as iterations of the standing of particular ways of life, with respect to constraints of both equality and justice. At one end of the spectrum, all conceptions of the human good share a prima facie equality that belie overarching moral norms as a criterion of ranking. Questions about the incumbency of individual liberty motivate movement toward the opposing end, as allowing for the most just society warrants giving precedence to such values. The source of pluralism’s critical role is its inherent demand of a cogent resolution of the moral and, at times, political tension between equality and freedom. This article considers two forms of pluralism that lie near opposing extremes of the continuum and their implication for education. According to Horace Kallen’s and John Gray’s strong pluralism, the claim to the fact of differing values, cultures, etc., has primacy. As a corollary, maintaining the integrity of the social groups as holders of those values becomes central. In conflict with liberal democratic principles, however, protecting group values may occur at the expense of individual detractors within the group or may pose a threat of harm to others outside of the group who do not share these values. On the other hand, one form of weak pluralism, Amy Gutmann’s deliberative democracy, constrains pluralism on political grounds of individual [End Page 1] freedom. Deliberative democracy subsumes the holding of all values, including those shared with a social group, to the requirements of democracy. Both theories are considered as attempts to reconcile principles of treating everyone equally with not unjustly limiting individual freedom in a democracy. I raise principled and practical issues from education that call into question whether each theory satisfactorily resolves the conflicting demands of both equality and liberty. A third alternative is proposed as a salient consideration for democratic education. I begin with the pluralism of Horace Kallen and its relationship to that of John Gray. Strong Pluralism Horace Kallen’s Cultural Pluralism In this section, I discuss Horace Kallen’s seminal account of cultural pluralism from the early twentieth century, classifying it with the strong value pluralism articulated by John Gray. Gray’s and Kallen’s pluralism have in common both the sanctioning of the fullest expression of difference and difficulties with making sense of the intuitive pull toward a criterion for the ranking of values that democracy dictates. I then consider the educational implications of Kallen’s view, particularly with respect to its actual influence upon multi-cultural initiatives of the 1970s and 1980s. Kallen coined the term “cultural pluralism” in the early twentieth century (Kallen 73). At this time, America was experiencing a great deal of social upheaval because of the huge influx of European and Asian immigrants. Movements such as nativism and Americanization fueled xenophobic sentiment. In this milieu, the full acculturation of new immigrants became a priority. In education, schooling policies penalized immigrant expressions of cultural identity, such as speaking one’s native language and practicing cultural traditions (Kallen 4). Kallen was one of the voices advocating not only that new immigrants should be allowed to maintain their cultural identity but also that a formal political solution be initiated which accommodated the predilection to do so. Nathan Glazer explains that there was at that time a general blindness to the possibility that “these groups or elements within them would not want to acculturate and assimilate but would want to preserve their corporate characters and distinctiveness even if prejudice and discrimination disappeared.” According to Glazer, such was the doctrine of assimilation for the first forty years of the twentieth century (7). [End Page 2] Kallen’s pluralism is a departure from the prevailing view in...

Indian Education for All: a change of heart and mind

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the current status of, and provide guidance for future direction in, the implementation of Indian Education for All, a multicultural education initiative, into Montana's statewide education system.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports on and analyzes the historical foundation, current status, and practical implications of Montana's Indian Education for All initiative. The abbreviated case study utilizes a combination of focus group and individual qualitative interviews of educational leaders representing the Montana state education agency, Montana K‐12 school administration, and the Montana University and Tribal College systems.FindingsMontana educational leaders have made dramatic progress implementing Indian education into Montana's K‐12 schools and university systems. The process is complex on many levels; including political, cultural, organizational, emotional, and financial issues. Many challenges remain before statewide systemic change occurs.Practical implicationsThe study's findings have implications for world cultures and educational systems regarding the creation, organization, and implementation of a multiculturally literate and responsive education system.Originality/valueThe article provides original data regarding the varying degrees of challenge and success experienced by educational leaders in their implementation of multicultural education, with special emphasis on indigenous populations.

“Black Day to Freedom”: informal multicultural education initiative

Purpose“Black Day to Freedom” project was the culmination of five years of performance ethnography research that continues today in various forms through BeyondLabels. The title “Black Day to Freedom” came from an asylum seeker participating in a “free verse” workshop where all participants expressed their views on globalisation, social movement of people and identity. “Black Day to Freedom” his title, provides an insight into his perceptions of life and this framed a need to conduct further research into providing a voice for refugees and asylum seekers through informal multicultural education and associated visual arts expression.Design/methodology/approachThe research follows a performance ethonographic perspective into the informal multicultural education project specific to exploring expressions of identity of refugee by migrant artists.FindingsThe informal multicultural education initiative specific to exploring expressions of identity of refugee by migrant artists was highly personalised and immersive in style with both educators and learners being co‐producers. This immersive, challenging, absorbing project required a passion by all to the mode of communications (visual arts) and the subject focus of refugee identity. The key implication of the informal multicultural education initiative is the unique insights provided by the migrant voices.Research limitations/implicationsA key implication of this research into informal multicultural education practice in the context of supporting expressions of refugee indentity by migrant artists is the need for further research into pedagogy equity in the context of personalised learning design for non‐traditional learners. One key question for future studies would be how we can improve our understanding of the “bridge” between informal and formal education and as a consequence engage the non‐engaged from cultural diverse backgrounds in our educational institutions.Originality/valueProvides insights into multicultural education initiatives.

A Phenomenological Study of the Development of University Educators' Critical Consciousness

Despite the priority higher education institutions have given to multicultural initiatives, little attention has been given to examining the multicultural experiences and other life events that influence those charged with developing and facilitating these initiatives. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how multicultural educators known for their expertise in this area acquired the capacity to effectively serve in this role and to explore the kinds of experiences that facilitated these educators' visions of social justice. Participants were 20 university educators representing 14 different race/ethnicity groups, balanced by gender, and varied in sexual orientation. Using in-depth interviews with these individuals we developed a model that describes the major themes that emerged from their interviews and illustrated these themes with excerpts from their stories.

The ?Global South?:Yet Another Attempt to Engage the Other

This paper deals with the concept of the Global South as another theory of alterity in the tradition of multiculturalism. It argues that the underlying problem with alterity paradigms (among which we must place the global South) is that they require a decolonization of the Other in the United States to occur in order to succeed. Using as a point of departure a multicultural initiative instituted at a large Southern state-run institution, the essay examines the weakness and failures of the alterity industry within academe. The essay then questions whether the notion of the global South can escape the limitations imposed on other recent pedagogies and theories of alterity and diversity initiatives and offer an alternative paradigm.

Fostering multicultural appreciation in pre-service teachers through multicultural curricular transformation

Schools today represent students from diverse racial, linguistic, and other cultural backgrounds. Teacher-preparation institutions have the responsibility of providing prospective teachers with the skills necessary to meet the intellectual, social, and personal needs of these diverse learners. This article examines the rationale for a multicultural curricular transformation in Teacher Education programs. The author maintains that contrary to the single-subject approach that obtains in many institutions, pedagogical approaches should be re-conceptualized to embrace diverse perceptions in content, methods and assessment tools across all disciplines. The leadership in teacher training institutions also has the responsibility of creating positive environments where multicultural initiatives can thrive. Such transformative approaches will foster multicultural appreciation in pre-service teachers and provide them with the competences necessary to effectively meet the challenges of the changing school demographics.

Identities and intersectionalities: performance, power and the possibilities for multicultural education

This paper presents some of the emergent findings from my Ph.D. research, which is connected to the large-scale, federally-funded research project on which I am an assistant. This project investigates how drama education highlights the intersections between students’ school and personal lives, and the influence of those intersections on the formation of social identities that are consistent with academic success. Taking this as a point of departure, my dissertation research asks the following question: how can drama education be used to facilitate a different understanding of social identities, in order to foster a more critical approach to multicultural curriculum and policy initiatives? In order to explore the possible answers to this question, an ethnographic case study of a Grade 9 high school drama classroom was conducted in the autumn of 2004. Given the history of ‘official’ multiculturalism in Canadian schools, and the particular colonial history and location of the study site, I was interested in whether or not those factors affected the way this school—as a social institution—influenced students’ identity-construction processes. It is my belief that the ways in which students participate in a drama class can inform our understandings of those processes (particularly because students embody multiple social identity categories, which intersect with each other in multiple ways), and that this, in turn, can better inform our approach to multicultural education.

Learning and Literacy in Medieval England and Abroad (review)

Reviewed by: Learning and Literacy in Medieval England and Abroad Melissa Raine Rees Jones, Sarah , ed., Learning and Literacy in Medieval England and Abroad, ( Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 3), Turnhout, Brepols, 2003; cloth; pp. 222; €55; ISBN 2503510760. In his introduction, Derek Pearsall explains that this collection forms part of the thirtieth-anniversary celebrations of the Centre for Medieval Studies at York (where, according to the preface, most of the contributors completed their postgraduate work). Pearsall believes that the essays demonstrate the 'generosity and openness to interdisciplinary and multicultural initiatives' that characterise 'the York experiment' (p. 1). He regards literacy 'in all its multiplicity of senses and valences' (p. 2), as 'the subject of nearly all the essays here, implying that the exceptions belong to the broader term of 'learning'. However, while the essays are indeed diverse in approach and subject matter, the collection's weakness is that a number of its contributions display only a cursory interest in either learning or literacy. The most engaging essays in the collection live up to Pearsall's estimation. John Arnold investigates the relationship of power to literacy and orality in the records of the Cathar Inquisition, using Foucault to describe the exercise of power by inquisitors, and de Certeau to speculate on possible tactics of resistance by non-literate peasants. He also provides a concise and thought-provoking discussion of scholarship on orality and literacy from Jack Goody and Walter Ong through to recent critiques and reformulations of this binary. Linda Olson considers the relationship of women religious to Augustine's Confessiones, and finds in instructions by Goscelin, Aelred and Anselm that their female pupils were not excluded from the model, available to male readers of this text, of 'personal devotional literacy in which reading is a predominantly internal process laden with affection and undertaken to enhance the spiritual progress of the individual' (p. 92). Olson further connects the mode of interiority encouraged by the Confessiones with the affective piety predominantly associated with women in the Middle Ages. Joyce Hill examines the means by which the Anglo-Saxons struggled to master Latin. She focuses on the work of Aelfric, providing a careful discussion of the textual histories of the Grammar, Glossary and Colloquy, including much detail on the misleading nature of modern editions. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton examines the signatures and names of women owners or readers in six manuscripts of Piers Plowman, and argues that the poem 'brought to women a kind of reading most were not doing before', which she further characterises as 'a new kind of politically and ecclesiastically controversial reading' (p. 122). Debbie Cannon [End Page 272] makes the case that London custumal manuscripts, along with generically similar 'commonplace books', provide evidence of non-pragmatic use of literacy skills amongst London citizens in the early fourteenth century, contradicting some long-held assumptions by modern scholars that for the middle classes, literacy was closely concerned with conducting business during this period. Stacey Gee considers book collections available in pre-Reformation parish churches, whose 'libraries' have been generally overlooked in modern studies in favour of larger institutional collections. Her findings suggest that changes intended to improve clerical learning that are now attributed to the Reformation were already underway in the medieval period. Katherine Zieman's exploration of gender, literacy and authority is perhaps the high point of the collection. Zieman argues that the liturgy is too often dismissed as mere recitation, when in fact 'the uses and purposes of liturgical performance within medieval culture [...], particularly in England, were often fraught and contested' (p. 98). Zieman goes on to demonstrate that women religious were closely associated with 'liturgical literacy'; thus, they were especially implicated in explorations of 'the ambiguous relationship between skill and performance, and between performance and understanding' (p. 106). She makes her case using not only texts directed at women religious, but also through compelling readings of Chaucer's 'Prioress' Tale' and his 'Second Nun's Tale'. The concepts of literacy and learning are not always adequately developed in other contributions. Janet Burton argues that the Historia Selebiensis Monasterii 'throws considerable light on the cultural and intellectual milieu in which its monk-author was writing' (p. 50) at Selby...

Lessons for culturally competent evaluation from the study of a multicultural initiative

AbstractBringing together individuals from cultural backgrounds with varied values and norms for expressing conflicting ideals can elevate the tensions inherent in participatory evaluation. As the authors of this chapter found out, even the most deliberate attention to cultural issues does not guarantee a smooth ride.

Book reviews

Book reviews

A Continuing American Dilemma

FOR MOST Americans, December 7 is a date serves as a reminder of the beginning of a horrific conflict thrust us forever onto the world stage. World War II changed our economy, our society, and what we thought of ourselves and of our values. Few Americans, however, realize December 7 -- especially this year -- needs to be remembered for an event shook up society as much as, if not more than, the war. On day 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court began three days of final hearings on Brown v. Board of Education. arguments presented to the Court provided the last chance for the stalwarts of segregation and the proponents of racial equality to state their legal cases. chamber of the High Court filled with emotion. Making his last appearance before the Court, 80-year-old John Davis of South Carolina pondered the effect on children if classrooms in Clarendon County, S.C., were predominantly of children. Would they be any more serene? he asked. He ended with tears on his cheeks. Thurgood Marshall, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, argued arcane legal questions. (He once told a colleague wearily sometimes get awfully tired of trying to save the white man's soul.) His last words to the justices, whom he later join as the first Supreme Court justice, dispensed with legalese and addressed Davis' point. I got the feeling on hearing the discussion yesterday, he said, that when you put a white child in a school with a whole lot of colored children, the child fall apart. . . . Those same kids in . . . South Carolina . . . play in the streets together, they play on their farms together, they go down the road together, [but] they have to be separated in school. segregation laws were nothing but black codes, Marshall said. only way the court could uphold them be to declare Negroes are inferior to all other human beings. For Chief Justice Earl Warren, sitting on the Supreme Court just a few days after his appointment, the momentous debate was followed by months of careful negotiations. During time, the majority opinion, obvious at the regular Saturday morning session held after the hearings closed, was shaped into a unanimous decision, delivered on May 17 of the following year. memos the justices wrote to one another and to clarify their own thinking reveal a general consensus knowledge and values had changed since the doctrine of separate but equal was established in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896. justices were also well aware of potentially violent reactions to a Supreme Court decision end segregation. Neither the North nor the South had adapted its racial practices to reflect the values professed since the Civil War, Justice Robert Jackson wrote in a memo. The race problem, he argued, would be quickly solved if some way could be found to make us all live up to our hypocrisies. country has been dealing with its hypocrisies on the race issue for the last 50 years. It has been wracked by further lawsuits, dumbed-down curricula, desegregation plans often directed by federally appointed masters, multicultural initiatives, resegregation, compensatory education, and, most recently, the No Child Left Behind Act. Essentially, this new law is the latest attempt to erase the effects of prejudice and discrimination from the education system, though some of its supporters never describe it as such. …

Critical Race Theory, Multicultural Education, and the Hidden Curriculum of Hegemony

Embracing a critical race theory perspective, the researcher argues for a revisiting of the role of the hidden curriculum in education, particularly as it pertains to multicultural education. Using the concept of hegemony as a tool for analysis, the author explicates the ways in which the hidden curriculum enables educational institutions to argue in support of multicultural initiatives while simultaneously suppressing multicultural education's transformative possibilities. Through its failure to appreciate the challenges posed by the hidden curriculum, multicultural education gets appropriated as a "hegemonic device" that secures a continued position of power and leadership for the dominant groups in society. The author calls on those who conduct research on multicultural education to turn their attention to the ways in which the hidden curriculum keeps multicultural education stagnant.

Assessing Multicultural Initiatives in Higher Education Institutions

As educational institutions engage in promoting multiculturalism on campuses, it becomes essential to assess the quality and success of those initiatives. In this paper, the plan being implemented at Northern Illinois University to assess multicultural initiatives is described. The plan is to ensure that faculty, staff, and students participate and benefit from multicultural curricular and related program, courses and curricula continue to be multiculturally transformed, multicultural curricular transformation and support program needs are being met, students obtain and demonstrate the necessary multicultural competencies, and the campus is supportive of multicultural initiatives at all levels of the university. The paper describes the range of multicultural initiatives pursued in higher education institutions and the considerations necessary in assessing such initiatives. The plan described in this paper makes use of existing assessment mechanisms and as well as a few new ones designed and implemented in several phases. The results and findings from the assessment along with recommendations for improving the initiatives are discussed in this paper. The paper concludes with a discussion on the real challenges of the plan and issues to consider when assessing multicultural initiatives in a higher education institution.

How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy (review)

Have three decades of integration and multicultural initiatives in higher education delivered a better education to all students? Do we know what a multicultural campus should look like, and how to design one that is welcoming to all students and promotes a learning environment? Through a unique qualitative study involving seven colleges and universities considered national models of commitment to diversity, this book presents the views and voices of minority students on what has been achieved and what remains to be done.

More harm than good? Multicultural initiatives in human service agencies

Abstract The social work code of ethics clearly articulates a commitment to social justice, which includes engaging in organizational practices that promote cultural diversity. This article reports findings from a qualitative study on multicultural initiatives in human service agencies. Particular attention is focused on whether efforts were compromised and, if so, what the consequences might be. Interviews with practitioners and consultants, and supporting agency documents, revealed four themes that compromise multicultural initiatives: an absence of vision, piecemeal activities, community neglect and client objectification, and lack of accountability. Implications include resource loss, staff reactivity, and working on borrowed time. Jeopardized multicultural initiatives present serious ethical dilemmas, as they impede the profession's ability to fulfill mandates regarding social justice and diversity. Recommendations are offered for agency personnel in order to engage in more successful multicultural efforts.

More Harm than Good? Multicultural Initiatives in Human Service Agencies

More Harm than Good? Multicultural Initiatives in Human Service Agencies

Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program

In 1987, the Japanese government inaugurated the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program in response to global pressure to 'internationalize' its society. This ambitious program has grown to be a major government operation, with an annual budget of $400 million (greater than the United States NEA and NEH combined) and more than six thousand foreign nationals employed each year in public schools all over Japan. How does a relatively homogeneous and insular society react when a buzzword is suddenly turned into a reality? How did the arrival of so many foreigners affect Japan's educational bureaucracy? How did the foreigners themselves feel upon discovering that English teaching was not the primary goal of the program? In this balanced study of the JET program, David L. McConnell draws on ten years of ethnographic research to explore the cultural and political dynamics of internationalization in Japan. Through vignettes and firsthand accounts, he highlights and interprets the misunderstandings of the early years of the program, traces the culture clashes at all levels of the bureaucracy, and speculates on what lessons the JET program holds for other multicultural initiatives. This fascinating book's jargon-free style and interdisciplinary approach will make it appealing to educators, policy analysts, students of Japan, and prospective and former JET participants.