We (Joanne and Rachael) met at Kent State University in the Spring of 2016 during a multicultural education course in which Joanne was the instructor and Rachael, a student. The class was wonderfully diverse. Four of the eleven students were white. One student was Native American. Three were from Senegal. Two students were African American. One student immigrated from Russia. One of the students was born to deaf parents and had deaf grandparents. For four of the students, English was a second language. During the course, we had interesting and sometimes very tense conversations about topics including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, culture, politics, economics, and education.
Out of these conversations emerged an understanding that multiculturalism can and should be interwoven into the very fabric of all aspects of education. Multiculturalism is not an independent entity; something to do or to add to the curriculum. Rather, it is an approach or a lens through which all teaching can flow. A multicultural approach to teaching requires teachers to acknowledge that diversity exists in the world, to help students understand that not all people live in the same way, and to create opportunities to explore differences in a way that makes each of us stronger.
Our conversations continued well after the course was over. Sharing a passion for equity and social justice, we believe that multicultural education provides a way for teachers and students to create classrooms of acceptance, caring, and respect. It was this passion that propelled us to produce this book as a guide for teachers to promote multicultural ideals while working within the confines of mandated curriculum.
While compiling this collection, we realized that we needed a balance between structure and creativity. We wanted each author to approach the chapter from their own unique vantage point yet we wanted the finished product to be a cohesive work. Therefore, each chapter follows the same general outline by addressing curricular goals that describe the intended learning outcomes, including annotated lists of texts in both print and non-print forms, and providing instructional ideas which help to deepen understanding, compare and contrast varying perspectives, and offer multiple entry points to the main themes being addressed. However, there are some variations within each of these subheadings that allowed the authors to tailor the texts and their uses to accommodate their teaching styles and situations. While each chapter contains a ready-to-use text set, we hope that you, our reader, will see the value in using creativity to customize your own text sets that meet your teaching needs.
Another unique feature of this collection is the wide ranging experiences of the contributing authors. They hold educational degrees from bachelors through doctoral levels. Some of the sets were written by pre-service teachers who are preparing to embark on a teaching career. Others were written by teachers who have been in the classroom anywhere from 1 to 36 years. College and university professors have contributed sets using their research expertise and their perspectives as teacher trainers. Drawing on a vast array of experiences and education levels promotes a variety of writing styles and gives the reader multiple frames of reference to the information provided.
This is a book written for teachers, by teachers! It provides a vehicle to enhance a multicultural approach through texts and media accompanied by hundreds of instructional ideas that can be used, shaped, or adapted to the needs of the students, the content area, and the teacher. As educators, we wanted teachers to see that they have some flexibility and control over how they approach their classroom. We find a great deal of encouragement in individual teachers who are making efforts to connect to their students and be inclusive of the multiple perspectives that reside in each and every classroom. By using these text sets or creating your own for your students, we hope that you are able to adopt or extend an understanding of multiculturalism in your classroom for you and your students.