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Multiculturalism: Some principles and issues

a
Theresa E. McCormick
a
Multicultural education specialist at Emporia State University
Published online: 16 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Theresa E. McCormick (1984) Multiculturalism: Some principles and issues, Theory Into
Practice, 23:2, 93-97, DOI: 10.1080/00405848409543097

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 Theresa E. McCormick
Multiculturalism: Some Principles and Issues
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T h e advent of the concept of education that is
multicultural, which occurred in the early 1970s,
mirrored changes in our view of society and edu-
cation. Efforts to characterize the United States as
a "melting pot" in which differences would gradually
disappear began to adjust to a perspective of our
society as a kind of "salad bowl" wherein each
group reflected its unique identity and its American
experience. While a multicultural view of society
and education has not fully taken hold, the concept"
has provided educators with a framework in which
to advocate program development and change that
is not based on a deficit model of students and
their heritage.
Dynamics of Multiculturalism in Education
If we are to grow in understanding of the mean-
ing of multiculturalism in education for the 1980s,
we must examine the dynamics of the movement
since its inception. Many educators see multicultural
education as a symptom of these times of social
change and transition from a declining industrial
society to a still undefined post-industrial society.
This transition period has not only been marked
with serious challenges to educational, political,
public, and private institutions, but also with the
decline of white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP)
domination (Greenbaum, 1974; Schrag, 1972; No-
vak, 1971).
A salient element of this transition period is
the recent thrust of education that is multicultural.
Theresa E. McCormick is multicultural education specialist
at Emporia State University.
The decline of WASP dominance has been accom-
panied by a revival of ethnic consciousness and by
demands for education that is more responsive to
the needs of students who are ethnically, culturally,
or racially different from the mainstream student.
The most powerful impetus for these demands grew
out of the civil rights and black liberation move-
ments. While it is well established that multicultur-
alism in education has antecedents dating back to
the colonial period of our history (Crouchette, 1974;
Nelson, 1977; Weinberg, 1977), the current move-
ment is clearly rooted in the turmoil of the 1960s.
During the decade of the '60s, mounting con-
cern over the biased and inaccurate portrayal of
minorities in United States history texts grew into
a powerful protest. A result of this time of upheaval
was the lasting legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., which included the demand for fair and accurate
treatment of minorities in school texts and in class-
rooms. Other forces behind the multicultural edu-
cation movement were the concerns and demands
of white ethnics (Novak, 1971). Growth of explicit
and conscious pride by white ethnic groups was
encouraged by the legitimization of the black her-
itage which resulted from the events of the 1960s.
Although sensitivity to needed changes in ed-
ucation, especially changes in relation to minority
and ethnic differences and needs, has been steadily
growing since the 1954 Supreme Court decision,
Brown v. Board of Education, actual changes have
been hard won. For example, lagging enforcement
of the Brown decision prompted the passage of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Legislation followed
 which legitimized bilingual education (Bilingual Ed-
ucation Acts of 1967 and 1974), ethnicity (The
Ethnic Heritage Studies Program Act of 1974), and
sex equity (Title IX of the Education Amendments,
1972). The legislation cited, as well as the Equal
Educational Opportunity Act of 1974, declared that
no state can deny equal educational opportunity to
any person on the basis of race, color, sex, or
national origin.
Undergirding the early thrust of multiculturalism
in education, these federal activities played a part
in slowly changing the structure and operation of
our educational systems and have helped raise the
awareness of educators to a variety of issues sur-
rounding the concepts of equity and equality in
education. During the last 15 years, public schools
and teacher education institutions have responded
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to the concerns about unfair practices and biased
materials by launching a variety of multiethnic, bilin-
gual/bicultural, and multicultural programs and
courses.
Hansen (1979) writes: "To change the U.S.
system of schooling so that the goal of equal ac-
ademic opportunity is realized, is not impossible
nor even unfeasible. Indeed such programs have
already been launched" (p. 214). According to Han-
sen, assuring the success of these programs
requires:
. . .first and foremost, recognition of the bases
of our current problems and failures. Commit-
ment to the values of cultural autonomy and
self-formulated cultural synthesis is a prereq-
uisite, for the U.S. has always been a multi-
cultural society. Because the U.S. is also a
socioculturally stratified society, with economic
and political dominance the prerogative largely
of middle and upper class Anglos, schooling
designed to convey both the dominant cultural
knowledge and that of less powerful groups is
necessary. Bicultura! schooling can establish
real options for students and provide skills re-
quired for dealing with their multicultural en-
vironment, (p. 214)
Some Principles of Multiculturalism in Education
While it is a fact that American society is made
up of diverse cultural subgroups, general acknowl-
edgment of this has come only in recent years. Out
of the reevaluation of the melting pot theory of
American society has evolved a change in attitudes
toward cultural diversity, especially evident during
the last 15 years. Thus, a cornerstone of multi-
94 Theory Into Practice
culturalism in education is cultural pluralism, an
ideology of cultural diversity, which celebrates the
differences among groups of people. As the first
Commission on Multicultural Education (of the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Ed-
ucation) stated in 1972,
Multicultural education recognizes cultural di-
versity as a fact of life in American society,
and it affirms that this cultural diversity is a
valuable resource that should be preserved and
extended. It affirms that major education in-
stitutions should strive to preserve and enhance
cultural pluralism. (Cain, 1980)
A reaction against assimilation and the melting
pot myth, cultural pluralism not only assumes that
minorities and ethnic groups have rights, but that
their life-styles are legitimate and desirable ways
of participating in society. These diverse ethnic,
cultural, and racial groups are integral parts which
strengthen the whole society. As Pratte states,
". . .cultural pluralism conceives of freedom through
diversity" (1979, p. xvi). Cultural pluralism suggests
the possibility and desirability of preservation of
significant portions of the culture and a sense of
community for the subgroups within the broad,
unifying context of the economic and political sys-
tems of the common American culture.
Given the preceding philosophic basis for mul-
ticulturalism in education, a major tenet becomes
apparent—the provision of educational equity for
all students (Banks, 1981; Baptiste, 1980). As Bap-
tiste says, "Multicultural education is a vehicle for
both the examination and delivery of educational
equity" (1980, p. 1). Provision of educational equity
casts multicultural education as a reform movement
which addresses inequity and discrimination which
result from the race, religion, socioeconomic status,
sex, age, exceptionality, or language of students.
Garcia's (1982) description of multicultural instruc-
tion is noteworthy. He states:
Multicultural instruction directly counters elit-
ism, sexism, and racism in American public
school teaching and learning. Multicultural in-
struction is the generic term for a broad-based
educational encounter with unjust, exclusive,
and exclusionary educational policies, pro-
grams, and practices, (p. 8)
The National Council for the Accreditation of
Teacher Education (NCATE) provided a significant
impetus for multiculturalism in education by includ-
ing a multicultural education standard (effective Jan-
uary 1979) in its revisions. In the preamble to the
 multicultural standard, this statement is made:
"Multicultural education could include but not be
limited to experiences which: (1) Promote analytical
and evaluative abilities to confront issues such as
participatory democracy, racism and sexism, and
the parity of power. . ." (NCATE, 1982, p. 14). By
requiring that teacher education programs provide
for multicultural education, NCATE has reinforced
the seminal efforts of the American Association of
Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) ("No One
Model American," 1973) to incorporate multicultur-
alism into teacher education.
Helping to answer the question, "What is mul-
ticulturalism in education?", the preamble to the
NCATE multicultural education standard also states:
" . . .multicultural education is viewed as an inter-
vention and ongoing assessment process [italics
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added] to help institutions and individuals become
more responsive to the human condition, individual
cultural integrity, and cultural pluralism in society"
(NCATE, 1982, p. 14).
As the words "education that is multicultural"
(Grant, 1978) imply, multiculturalism must be per-
vasive in teacher education and public school pro-
grams, not just a "tacked o n " element. NCATE
also emphasizes the importance of infusing pro-
gramming with multiculturalism. In fact, multicultural
education is incorporated into 14 of the standards
for evaluation of basic teacher education programs
and into five of the standards for advanced pro-
grams (Cain, 1980, p. iii).
Providing for teacher education which is infused
with multiculturalism requires total institutional com-
mitment. That is, governance, curricula, faculty, stu-
dents, resources and facilities, and evaluation,
program review, and planning must be included
(NCATE, 1982).
Similarly, in public school programs, multicul-
turalism must permeate the total educational en-
vironment. To achieve this end, a structured process
of program reform must be undertaken. As Gay
(1975) says, ". . .well-conceived, systematic, or-
ganizational plans must be employed that allow for
ethnically specific content to become integral parts
of all aspects of the school's educational programs"
(p. 176). She continues,
Materials, activities, and experiences that are
authentic, interdisciplinary, multidimensional,
comprehensive, integrative, and that employ
both cognitive and affective skills should be
used to help students understand ethnic dif-
ferences and cultural diversity, (p. 176)
Some Unresolved Issues
While education that is multicultural is rooted
in one of the highest of American ideals (educational
equity and equality for all of our citizens), its im-
plementation in schools has been problematic. When
a comparison is drawn between the daily creed of
inequality by which many individuals operate and
the broad practice of our system, the difference is
found to be negligible. While we cannot assume a
"moral outrage" on the part of mainstream Amer-
icans concerning the dichotomy between our Amer-
ican creed and our social practice, such a "rage"
can be assumed to exist on the part of minority
and ethnic groups that have suffered because of
the glaring inconsistencies in the system. Such in-
consistency has been the pattern of our national
history—from our treatment of the Native Ameri-
cans, the enslaved Africans, and the Southern Eu-
ropean and Asian immigrants, to our recent
ambivalent response to the Cuban, Haitian, and
Vietnamese refugees. It is clear that these groups,
in varying degrees, have had and still have a just
cause for a sense of moral outrage against the
system.
Similarly, public schools have exhibited a pat-
tern of inconsistency between stated humanistic
ideals and actual practice—from the early denigra-
tion of the immigrant child's difference, the denial
of the use of any language except English, the
segregation of black children, the labeling of cul-
turally different students as deficient or culturally
disadvantaged, to the present placement of inor-
dinate numbers of minority students in classes for
the learning disabled or emotionally impaired. As a
result of these practices, minorities and other con-
cerned groups have made a close scrutiny of public
schools in an attempt to rectify these inequalities.
When the historical goals of education are re-
viewed, they are found to be rhetorical rather than
actual, especially as they relate to minorities. Spe-
cifically, there is a conspicuous lack of goals related
to multiculturalism. Berry (1979) writes that the
multicultural principle is missing from the "Seven
Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education" of 1918
and from the "Seven New Cardinal Principles of
1978" (p. 745). Considering the many changes in
our society and in social and cross-cultural under-
standings since 1918, Berry finds it curious that
the "new" principles (Gross, 1978) do not propose
a stronger cross-cultural or multi-racial principle.
It is generally conceded that education ema-
nates from and serves the purposes of society
(Pratte, 1979, p. 20; Gold, 1977, p. 25). Noting the
Volume XXIII, Number 2 95
 ambiguity toward diversity which has marked our
nation's history (Greeley, 1971, p. 12), it is not
surprising that implementing multicultural concepts
in education has been, and remains, problematic.
Considering the current economic recession and
the accompanying political and social unrest, the
cautionary comments of Gold in the late 1970s to
educators concerning some "pressure points"—
which could impede the implementation of multi-
cultural policy in schools and society—hold as much,
or more, credence today as they did then (Gold,
1977). Especially relevant, according to Gold, is the
persistent belief that the United States represents
a homogeneous, Anglo-Saxon culture. Political
pressure points include the continuation of discrim-
ination and segregation in education and housing
and the view of ethnicity as divisive and evil. Also
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of concern are the enduring prejudices against some
ethnic, racial, and religious groups—all creating in-
tense social pressures on schools (pp. 18-26).
An immediate instance of massive social pres-
sures between groups exists in Cicero, Illinois, where
the Justice Department has recently intervened.
U.S. Attorney Dan Webb describes the situation in
Cicero as "perhaps 'the most egregious, aggra-
vated case of race discrimination' his office has
ever prosecuted" ("Jim Crow Lives," 1983). An
example of this overt racism is the experience of
two black families who tried to enroll their children
in Drexel Elementary School in the fall of 1980:
. . .A crowd of glaring white parents fore-
warned, confronted the five children on their
first day of school. The principal declared that
he could not guarantee their safety. The
youngsters did not return after the first week,
and no black has dared to register since. ("Jim
Crow Lives," p. 19)
The circular effect of the problems which ethnic
minorities face in our society makes the education
link extremely significant when changes are con-
sidered. For example, inadequate education leads
to low paying jobs which lead to living in poor
neighborhoods generally having substandard
schools—and thus, the discrimination cycle comes
full circle, to be repeated in the next generation.
Residual societal problems, such as those in
Cicero between white ethnics and blacks, are piv-
otal considerations for educators committed to im-
plementing multiculturalism. Although some gains
have been made in implementation, the field of
education that is multicultural reflects the conflicts
and problems inherent in the whole society, and
96 Theory Into Practice
educators share in this general state of uncertainty.
Just as in society, social change in education is
often accompanied by conflict and stress.
Since educators must deal with the present
realities in society and in schools, perhaps a view
of conflict as a "normal" state of affairs, rather
than as an aberration, would be conducive to mul-
ticultural implementation. Although many practition-
ers and theorists do not ascribe to a conflict theory
in their work nor recognize its potential as a tool
for growth, social conflict—the "push and pull"
between diverse groups—is a pervasive phenom-
enon in American society (Newman, 1973).
Arciniega (n.d., p. 78) accurately notes the stress
introduced into education organizations when se-
rious reform measures are initiated, but he, like
Newman (1973), views the conflict situation as one
which sets off the change process. Thus social
conflict is seen, not negatively, but as the normative
state of intergroup relations. If one applies this idea
to education, then it can be postulated that the
problems and conflicts surrounding the implemen-
tation of multiculturalism in education provide points
of entree for change rather than points of retreat.
Instead of retreat, educators must entertain the
possibility of change and growth evolving from con-
flicting situations in schools and, at the same time,
hold fast to the ideals of multiculturalism. Educators
can gain strength (and perhaps exhilaration) from
being involved in a process of education which
seeks to enable all students to become contributing
members of our changing society.
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