Multicultural Curriculum Theory

Multicultural curriculum theory is the broad term for strands within curriculum studies that critically examine the sociopolitical, historical, economic, and cultural contexts of education with a focus on race, ethnicity, class, and gender as well as issues of equity, social justice, and power. It evolved separately from, but connected to, multicultural education theory as theorists became concerned with inequality in schools and classrooms particularly as related to the achievement of historically disadvantaged students and the development of a democratic society. As a component of general curriculum theory, its major contribution to the field has been to highlight education issues related to marginalized students, to develop a language and terms to articulate these issues and to bring forward alternate ways to address these issues in order to create equitable environments for all students.

Multicultural curriculum theory was first brought to the center of curriculum studies discourse in the 1970s and 1980s by reconceptualist movement theorists who contested notions of curriculum as neutral and drew attention to previously neglected areas of inquiry, ones that centered on the raced, classed, and gendered nature of curriculum, teaching, and learning. It grew in prominence in the 1980s and1990s as an interdisciplinary method to study curriculum in context, policy, and practice in terms of racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, and other minority and marginalized students' education and experiences in schools and societies. It also developed as a system to explore the social construction of minority identity and disparate power relations in schools and societies. During this period, it evolved as a means to express a humanistic, social justice, and emancipatory orientation to curriculum and education. The late 1990s and early 2000s marked the beginning of a major development in multicultural curriculum theory that reflected the inclusion of the dynamics of globalization and international perspectives on issues.

Although there are variations in topics and perspectives that are identified with distinct strands of multicultural curriculum theory, there are also overarching principles and goals that provide a foundation for all multicultural curriculum theory. These principles include addressing fundamental issues of inequality in societies, institutions, and education with goals of prejudice reduction, elimination of bias and stereotyping, and empowerment of oppressed individuals and groups; recognition [Page 591]of the contingent and constructed nature of knowledge and an ensuing critique of mainstream pedagogical and other practices; and development of policies, practices, pedagogy, curriculum, and evaluation procedures that are inclusive of diverse students' experiences and learning styles. Goals of creating an equitable education system for diverse students and a socially just society through transformation of individual attitudes and beliefs with concurrent reform of institutions also unify multicultural curriculum theory.

While adhering to core principles and overall goals, within multicultural curriculum theory there are multiplicities of substrands that represent different philosophical orientations to and disciplinary perspectives on the study of multicultural phenomena, have different historical roots, utilize different methods and starting points for inquiry, and have different, though related, foci of interest. These differences have led to intense debates and a rich, nuanced discourse in the field; one prominent focus has been the relevance of theory to practical issues in schools and classrooms.

...