Multiculturalism and Education

Diversity and its Impact on Schools and Society

By Thomas J. La Belle & Christopher R. Ward

Subjects: Education Policy And Leadership
Series: SUNY series, Frontiers in Education
Paperback : 9780791419403, 222 pages, July 1994
Hardcover : 9780791419397, 222 pages, July 1994

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Table of contents

Introduction

Part I. Multiculturalism: History and Contemporary Perspectives

1. Multiculturalism and Education: Historical Developments in the United States

2. Multiculturalism: The Controversy and Context

Part II. Nation, State, Community, and Family in Multiculturalism and Education

3. The Nation-State and Multicultural Identities

4. The State, Community, Family, and Formal Education in Societal Integration

Part III. Schools and Multicultural Education

5. Schools as Centers of Diversity in Teaching and Learning

6. The Influence of Values on Educational Policy and Practice

Part IV. Multiculturalism, Education, and Change

7. Education and Alternative Strategies for Social, Economic, and Political Change

8. Approaches to Multiculturalism and Educational Pedagogy

Notes

References

Index

Description

This book introduces multiculturalism and its relationship to education and schooling, while also highlighting current approaches to multicultural education and placing them in a broad comparative and international context.

Through a comparative view that is both domestic and international, the book explores ethnicity, race, class, and education (kindergarten through higher education) as they interact to integrate populations, while also serving vested interests and enhancing group identity and status. The authors position multiculturalism as a political and social phenomena that affects and interacts with education and its institutions. To do this, they draw upon international cases as well as the history of segmentation and integration in the United States.

Thomas J. La Belle is Provost at West Virginia University. Christopher R. Ward is Administrative Officer for Generations Together, University Center for Social and Urban Research, at the University of Pittsburgh. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Administrative and Policy Studies, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, where he teaches Educational Anthropology.

Reviews

"This book is very useful. Because it is unique—a sound, balanced, political and theoretical work rather than a 'cookbook' on how to do multicultural education. It stands out from the many other books now appearing on the subject. It is a thoughtful, knowledgeable treatment of a topic that is too often treated, by authors, in a superficial or simplistic manner. " — Maxine S. Seller, University of Buffalo