Gwendolyn C. Baker is a founder of multicultural education and one of its earliest theorists. While a professor at the University of Michigan from 1970 to 1977, she established one of the first programs in multicultural teacher education in the United States. In this entry, Dr. Baker reflects on her participation in the early days of the development of the field of multicultural education.

When I began my teaching career I was not aware of the wealth of experience I was taking with me. By that I mean I started to teach fourth-grade children at the same time I entered my youngest child in primary school. Most first-year teachers rarely have children of their own. In the 1960s I would guess that most had not had ...