MULTICULTURALISM

- Definition
- the state of a society or the world in which there exists numerous
distinct ethnic and cultural groups seen to be politically relevant or a
program or policy promoting such a society. (John Clayton, in International
Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition), 2020)
-
CRITICAL MULTICULTURALISM
- politically more left
- disturbs hierarchy, stereotypes of society
(https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/critical-multiculturalism/)
- rejects the other-ing of marginalized groups by deconstructing the dominant narrative
- highlights structural inequities for the purpose of redistributing power more equitably
across society
- provides a framework of thinking that leads to a more just and equitable society
- confronts race, class, gender, and other normative biases
- aim is to improve educational, economic, and social outcomes for everyone, not just
the dominant group.
- (https://www.permanentculturenow.com/exploring-models-of-education-critical-
multiculturalism/)

Critical Teaching Styles

Within critical multiculturalism, adopting a Critical pedagogy can help students to develop a
consciousness of freedom, to recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to
power and the ability to take constructive action based on this knowledge.
In order to serve each and every student we must build meaningful relationships with
students, assess how our materials and curriculum are or are not reflecting cultural,
linguistic, gender, socioeconomic, and exceptional diversity, and be willing to ask why
certain systems and structures exist. ( Hopkins-Gillispie, D. , 2011
https://www.maailmakool.ee/wp-content/uploads/hopkins-gillispie-multiculturalism.pdf)
Critical multiculturalism in education

Critical multicultural education encourages students to see in a variety of ways so that they
may begin to understand the complex web of intersectional and intercultural relationships in
the United States today. Contemporary scholars have called for a modification of traditional
multicultural education toward a critical multiculturalism that seeks to promote democratic
initiatives in curriculum, pedagogy, and social relations in the schools (McLaren, 2003).
Critical multiculturalism promotes understanding and participating in a diverse society and
supports the efforts directed toward attaining social, cultural and emotional harmony. Critical
multiculturalism suggests that, as teachers/learners, we each give ourselves to the process
of transformation through our own personal means and in dialog with others (Freire, 1998).
Transformation requires teachers to be “impatiently patient” and to become actors in our own
development as human beings (Freire, 1994). Slowly, patiently, and with agency,
transformation congeals around the central theme of developing a political economy of
historical agency (Freire, 1998).