Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 11120068
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED153937 AUTHOR: Garcia, Ricardo L.
TITLE: Fostering a Pluralistic Society through Multi-Ethnic
Education. Fastback 107.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1978
NOTE: 52 p.; Not available in hard copy from EDRS due to
small type size of original document
AVAILABILITY: Phi Delta Kappa, Eighth and Union, Box 789,
Bloomington, Indiana 47401 ($0.75 paperbound; quantity
discounts available)
ABSTRACT: The purpose of multiethnic education is to
prepare all students to live harmoniously in a multiethnic
society. Multiethnic education pursues these goals by
reflecting ethnic diversity in the curriculum, dealing
directly with ethnic group similarities and differences,
and helping students understand their uniqueness in a
pluralistic milieu. Although most teachers do not
intentionally discriminate against minority students, they
generally reflect majority attitudes as a result of having
been reared in middle- or lower-middle-class homes and
communities away from concentrations of minority and
lower-socioeconomic groups. Also, teachers are generally
not prepared professionally to recognize and deal
positively with ethnic differences as educational tools.
Although great impetus to equal education was given by the
1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Topeka Board of
Education and by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, progress
toward school desegregation has been slow. Teaching and
supportive staff practices continue to hinder multiethnic
harmony by tracking and ability grouping (which tends to
isolate students along cultural, racial, or economic
lines), failure to call on minority students in the
classroom, labeling minority students as slow learners, and
referring to minority students in pejorative terms. The
conclusion is that multiethnic education will grow and
prosper in the classroom if educators develop programs
which reinforce goals of human rights and social harmony.
Three effective approaches which have emerged for
multiethnic education stress human rights, intergroup
relations, and ethnic studies. (Author/DB)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: American-Indians; Asian-Americans; Bias-;
Blacks-; Civil-Liberties; Civil-Rights; Cultural-Awareness;
Cultural-Differences; Cultural-Education; Curriculum
Development; Educational-Philosophy; Elementary-Secondary
Education; Low-Achievement; Mexican-Americans; Minority
Group-Influences; Racial-Discrimination; School-Policy;
Social-Change; Socioeconomic-Influences
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Cultural-Pluralism; *Educationally
Disadvantaged; *Educational-Needs; *Educational-Practices;
*Ethnicity-; *Multicultural-Education; *Values-
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