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Using the Internet to Develop Curriculum with a Multicultural Perspective -- Multicultural Summer Institute, Prince William County Public Schools, June 2000

Working Definition of Multicultural Education

Multicultural education is a progressive approach for transforming education that holistically critiques and addresses its current shortcomings, failings, and discriminatory practices. It is grounded in ideals of social justice, education equity, and a dedication to facilitating educational experiences in which all students reach their full potential as learners and as socially aware and active beings, locally, nationally, and globally. Multicultural education acknowledges that schools are essential to laying the foundation for the transformation of society and the elimination of oppression and injustice.

The underlying goal of multicultural education is to affect social change. The pathway toward this goal incorporates three strands of transformation:

  1. the transformation of self;
  2. the transformation of schools and schooling;
  3. the transformation of society.

Standards for a Multicultural Curriculum

  1. accuracy and completeness
  2. engagement of divergent perspectives
  3. development of creative and critical thinking skills
  4. inclusion of different voices
  5. accessibility to varying learning styles
  6. student-centeredness
  7. directed toward social awareness

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Presented by Paul Gorski and Christine Clark
June 26, 2000