Week 11 Approaches To Multicultural Curriculum Reform
- 1. APPROACHES TO MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM REFORM
- 2. COLUMBUS Discovery? Invasion? Contact?
- 3. LEVELS OF INTEGRATION OF MULTICULTURAL CONTENT Level 1: The Contributions Approach Level 2: The Additive Approach Level 3: The Transformation Approach Level 4: The Social Action Approach
- 4. LEVEL 1: THE CONTRIBUTIONS APPROACH Usually a school or district’s first attempt @ integration Easiest for teachers to integrate Inserts ethnic heroes/heroines and discrete cultural artifacts into the curriculum, selected using criteria similar to those used to select mainstream heroes/heroines and cultural artifacts. “ Foods, Fiestas, & Famous People”
- 5. LEVEL 2: THE ADDITIVE APPROACH Addition of content, concepts, themes, and perspectives to the curriculum w/o changing its basic structure, purposes, and characteristics “ book, unit, or course without substantial change” Usually results in views ethnic content from the perspectives of mainstream historians, writers, artists, and scientists because it doesn’t involve restructuring the curriculum The Tortilla Curtain
- 6. LEVEL 3: THE TRANSFORMATION APPROACH Changes the basic assumptions of the curriculum and enables students to view concepts, issues, themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives and points of view. . . Goal: infusion of various perspectives, frames of references, and content from various groups that will extend students’ understandings of the nature, development, and complexity of US society “ The emphasis, rather should be on how the common US culture and society emerged from a complex synthesis and interaction of the diverse cultural elements that originated within the various cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious groups that make up US society.” (banks calls process multiple acculturation)
- 7. LEVEL 4: THE SOCIAL ACTION APPROACH Social Action = Transformation approach + components that require decision making and taking action related to the concept, issue, or problem studied in the unit. Educates students for social criticism and social change & teach decision-making skills. “ The traditional goal of schooling has been to socialize students so they would accept unquestioningly the existing ideologies, institutions, and practices within society and the nation-state.”
- 8. COMPONENTS OF THE SOCIAL ACTION APPROACH 1. A decision problem or question. Example : What actions should we take to reduce prejudice and discrimination in our schools? 2. An inquiry that provides data related to the decision problem. What is prejudice? What is discrimination? What causes prejudice? What causes people to discriminate? What are examples of prejudice and discrimination in our nation, community, and school? How do prejudice and discrimination affect the groups below? How does each group view prejudice? Discrimination? To what extent is each group a victim or a perpetuator of prejudice and discrimination? How has each group dealt with prejudice and discrimination? (groups: White mainstream Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans)
- 9. COMPONENTS OF THE SOCIAL ACTION APPROACH 3. Value inquiry and moral analysis. Students are given opportunities to examine, clarify, and reflect on their values, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings related to racial prejudice and discrimination ( the compass ). The teacher can provide the students with case studies from various sources, such as newspapers and magazines. The case studies can be used to involve the students in discussions and role-playing situations that enable them to express and to examine their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about prejudice and discrimination.