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News & Events
Spotlight on Research
The Center for Multicultural Education: Fostering Unity Within Diversity
The rich diversity of the United States population creates a unique challenge for educators. How can schools recognize and value the heritage of many different cultures while fostering ideas that unify us as a nation? How can schools provide an equal opportunity for all of their students to achieve?
Since 1992, the Center for Multicultural Education at the UW has been researching these and related questions concerning equity issues, intergroup relations and academic achievement. The Center hosts a wide variety of activities that examine the challenges in multicultural education, including:
- Research related to race, ethnicity, class and education that improves teaching practice, disseminates findings and develops guiding principles.
- Creating publications for educational practitioners that examine research and scholarship in the field. Titles include Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, Second Edition and Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives.
- Hosting lectures and conferences that focus attention on topics related to race, ethnicity, class, languages and education.
- Graduate study with top university scholars that prepares educators for working in an increasingly diverse nation and world.
- Courses in multicultural education that offer opportunities to build a broader and deeper understanding of the issues confronting our world and the skills to address them.
What is Multicultural Education?
The Center’s Director, Dr. James A. Banks, describes multicultural education as an idea, an educational reform movement, and a process. As an idea, multicultural education can be defined as the presence of equal educational opportunities for all students. The achievement of this goal often requires transforming school environments to reflect the diverse cultures and groups within the community. Multicultural education then becomes an ongoing process of evaluation and adjustment.
How can schools implement the goals of multicultural education? As a guideline, the Center has developed the publication Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society. It is based on the research of a panel of interdisciplinary scholars and outlines 12 essential principles for creating an equitable multicultural environment, including guidelines for teacher and student learning, intergroup relations, and assessment. It also contains a checklist for schools to use to determine if they are being consistent with the principles. Over 12,000 copies of Diversity Within Unity have been distributed, and the principles are being used by school districts throughout the United States.
As population demographics continue to shift, it becomes more important than ever to find effective ways to provide a good education for students from different backgrounds. According to Dr. Banks, "The increasing diversity within the nation’s schools provides both opportunities and challenges. Diverse classrooms and schools make it possible to teach students from many different cultures and groups how to live together cooperatively and productively."
Center Publications Set the Standard
The Center has an impressive body of publications that have defined the guiding principles of multicultural education as it has grown and evolved. Dr. Banks has written or edited 20 books in multicultural education and social studies education, and written over 100 articles, contributions to books, and book reviews for professional publications during his illustrious career.
A landmark publication for the Center is the Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, Second Edition, edited by James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks. Published in 2004, the Handbook is divided into 12 parts that clarify the meaning and boundaries of multicultural education. Topics include trends and developments, ethnic groups in historical and science research, language issues, academic achievement, higher education, and international perspectives on multicultural education. The first edition was published in 1995 and received the 1997 Multicultural Education Book Award from the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME).
Another publication, Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives, edited by Dr. Banks, presents perspectives from scholars and civic educators on how multicultural nation-states can balance unity and diversity and respond to globalization. They discuss how civic education can be reformed so that it will advance democracy as well as be responsive to the needs of cultural, ethnic, immigrant, language and religious groups.
Enriching the College and University Community
Through the Symposium Lecture Series, researchers and scholars are invited to the UW to engage in discussion on issues related to racial, ethnic, language, and cultural diversity and education. These lectures are well attended by the College of Education community, school administrators, and members of the wider university community.
"I have benefited beyond measure from the Center’s work," says Joseph W. Scott, Professor of Sociology. "I have learned many new facts, paradigms, and theories. I have been introduced to new books, many of which I have purchased and used in my classes."
Each summer the Center invites distinguished scholars to teach short courses on their topics of specialization. This program provides opportunities for teacher education and graduate students to interact with eminent scholars from other universities. It also greatly enhances the teaching and research opportunities for students on the University of Washington’s three campuses.
Going Global
Recently, the Center’s work has taken on a global dimension. They have developed a new set of guidelines for implementing citizenship education programs that focus on democracy, diversity and globalization. The new publication, Democracy and Diversity: Principles and Concepts for Educating Citizens in a Global World, was released at an invitational conference in April, 2006.
Each superintendent in the state of Washington was invited to the conference and asked to bring a team of administrators who are responsible for curriculum development and change. Heads of independent schools and their staffs as well as teacher educators in the Puget Sound region were also present at the conference. The Center is hoping for implementation of the guidelines in the United States, as well as other countries around the world.
Future Plans
When asked how the Center will change in the future, Dr. Banks responds, "The Center will continue to change and respond to current developments. We started with domestic ethnic groups, and now we’re doing work on a global level. Recently, there’s been concern about sexual orientation, which provides the Center a new direction to explore. Even though the groups we serve may change, the basic ideas of educating people to get along and closing the achievement gap will continue to be our goal."
For More Information
To find out more about the Center for Multicultural Education and their publications, visit their website at http://depts.washington.edu/centerme/home.htm.
On the College of Education website, you can read a profile of Professor Banks, as well as read an article about Center graduates.
Spotlight on Research
