• Know the importance of diversity, equality, and social justice in delivering high quality education for all students.
• Identify teaching practices that are culturally relevant.
• Understand the importance of bringing multiple perspectives to the curriculum.
  
• Describe and contrast approaches for teaching students who are learning English.
• Provide examples of teaching for social justice and discuss the role of social justice in schools and classrooms.
  

 
OUTLINE

• Diversity, equality, and social justice are the perspectives through which education that is multicultural is developed.
• Multicultural education: an educational strategy that incorporates the teaching of students from diverse backgrounds, human relations, and the study of ethnic and other cultural groups in a school environment that supports diversity and equity.
  
• Equity: the state of fairness and justice across individuals and groups; it does not imply the same educational strategies across groups but does expect equal results.

UNDERGRIDING TENETS

• Read pages 113-119. 
  
• Read the debate on pages 116-117 on, "Is school the best place to teach tolerance?"
• Equal educational opportunity: access to similar education for all students regardless of their cultural background or family circumstances.
• Schools today are expected to provide all students the opportunity to learn the skills outlined in national standards.
  

CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL AND RELEVANT TEACHING

• All schools have a formal curriculum and traditions.
• Hidden curriculum: the norms and values that define expectations for student behavior and attitudes and that undergird the curriculum and operations of schools.
• Stereotyping: the attribution of common traits, characteristics, and behavior to a group of people without acknowledgment of individual differences within the group.
• Important aspects to consider for relevant teaching: cultural context, cultures of students, and validating student voices.

CHALLENGES IN MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOMS

• Information technology: computer, software, telecommunications, and multimedia tools that are used to input, store, process, and communicate information.
• Digital divide: the difference in access to technology tools and the Internet between those with economic advantages and those without.
• The challenge of gender sensitive education. Read relevant research on page 127.
• See figure 4.2 on page 128 and figure 4.3 on page 129 regarding language diversity.
  

TEACHERS AS SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

• Read pages 130-134. 
• Summary of chapter and helpful web sites on pages 134-137.