Transforming Your Curriculum through Multicultural Education

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Transforming Your Curriculumthrough
Multicultural Education

• So. Washington County
• January 23, 2006
• by Paul C. Gorski

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This Mornings Goals

• Build a deeper understanding of multicultural
  education as a framework for curriculum
  transformation.
• Move from a heroes and holidays conception of
  multicultural curriculum to one grounded in
  educational equity and social justice.
• Practice applying multicultural curriculum
  transformation strategies to sample curricula.

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Tentative Agenda

• Warm-up activity
• Important concepts
• Stages of multicultural curriculum development
• Key characteristics of multicultural curriculum
• Applying multicultural curriculum

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1. Warm-Up Calisthenics

• Standing Crosswalk
• The complexities of diversity
• Contextualizing the curriculum

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1. Processing the Calisthenics

• The complexity of diversity
• The privilege/repression continuum
• The experience/reality paradox

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2. Important Concepts

• Multicultural education
• Curriculum transformation
• Inclusion/exclusion
• Equality/equity

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2a. Multicultural Education

• Key question
• 3 levels
• Equity and social justice focus
• Beyond celebrating diversity

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2b. Curriculum Transformation

• Beyond the additive
• Completeness accuracy
• Content delivery
• Relevant across all grades and subject areas

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2c. Inclusion/Exclusion

• Two levels of inclusion
• Representative
• Critical
• Assessment of inclusiveness
• As inclusive as the most excluded student
  experiences it to be

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2d. Equality/equity

• What is the difference between equality and
  equity?
• Equality everyone gets the same thing
• Equity everyone gets what they need, recognizing
  a larger social and historical context of
  inequality

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3a. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 1
• Curriculum
• of
• the
• Mainstream

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3b. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 2
• Heroes
• and
• Holidays

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3c. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 3
• Representational
• Inclusion

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3d. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 4
• Structural
• Reform

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3e. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 5
• Structural
• Reform
• with
• Critical
• Inclusion

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3f. Stages of Curriculum Transformation

• Stage 6
• Equitable
• and
• Multicultural
• Curriculum

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4a. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• Delivery
• Vary instruction
• Understand power dynamics
• Challenge teacher as mastery

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4b. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 2. Content
• Complete accurate
• Avoid tokenism
• Address multicultural issues

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4c. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 3. Materials
• Vary materials
• Examine materials for bias
• Diversify images

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4d. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 4. Perspective
• Diversity perspectives
• Diversity lenses (not just from heroes)

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4e. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 5. Critical Inclusivity
• Bring in students perspectives
• Encourage questions
• Relevancy

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4f. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 6. Social/Civic
• Responsibility
• Social justice consciousness
• Environmental consciousness
• Unexpected activists
• Connect to community issues

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4g. Characteristics of Multicultural Curricula

• 7. Assessment
• Continuous reflection
• Request feedback
• Know your style

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Break Time!!!

• Outwitted
• He drew a circle that shut me out--
• Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
• But Love and I had the wit to win
• We drew a circle that took him in!

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Pauls Contact Information

• Email gorski_at_EdChange.org
• EdChange site http//www.EdChange.org
• Multicultural Pavilion http//www.EdChange.org/mu
  lticultural