ABSTRACT
A little more than a decade ago, it seemed that multicultural education would become common practice in schools. After all, advocacy for it had by that timein the 1990s-a history of 30-40 years in Western countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Its core tenets seemed both obvious and unproblematic-at least, that is, with respect to its most popular variant, liberal multiculturalism. What could be wrong, surely, with recognizing, respecting, and including cultural differences as the basis for teaching and learning, as liberal multiculturalism averred? Wasn’t fostering intercultural respect and engagement among both students and teachers a worthy and important goal? Why couldn’t we all just get along better, recognizing and celebrating our ethnic and cultural differences in the classroom, and beyond?
