Multicultural Education

My definition of multicultural education:

The United States is becoming increasingly diverse. Therefore, multicultural education is crucial in creating understanding and acceptance of all cultures. Before reading Paul Gorski's The Challenge of Defining "Multicultural Education", I thought I already had my definition figured out. However, my definition only covered a small portion of everything multicultural education truly entails. Multicultural education combines curriculum and education in the classroom to teach students how to accept, understand, dismiss prior prejudices and stereotypes, and appreciate cultures that are different than their own. Students will be prepared to work with people from different geographical areas and accept their differences and similarities.

Reflections on the challenge of defining multicultural education:

Multicultural education is difficult to define because it is viewed differently by so many people. Another challenge is that most of the definitions only include one aspect of multicultural education and leaves out the other vital aspects. Teachers and education institutions are among those who seem to not share a similar definition of multicultural education. Gorski states that "some see it as a shift in curriculum, others as a reference to teaching styles and testing practices, while others view it as a method for social transformation". With all of the different definitions, multicultural education is difficult to implement in the classroom across the board.

Challenges facing classroom teachers with implementing multicultural practices in their classrooms:

One challenge that classroom teachers face when implementing multicultural practices in their classroom is wanting to teach and explore cultures from all over the world and finding the time due to preparing the students for standardized testing. With so much time dedicated to teaching material that will be on TCAP, teachers are left with only a small window of time to allow the students to learn about new cultures. Unfortunately, the students then do not get to explore more in depth the differences and similarities of the cultures.