ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 concerns culturally responsive education and the role of diversity in schools. It begins with a reminder that teaching represents a social and political act that this truth particularly applies to social studies and the area of multicultural education. It points out the emotional nature of related discussions and the importance of considering relevant social ideologies.
The chapter then proceeds to define culturally responsive education and present the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) standards for teaching about culture and diversity and offers data that help establish educationist relevance in classrooms. It presents the goals and methods of culturally relevant teaching practice with considerable emphasis given to Gloria Ladson-Billings’ (1994) eight principles of culturally responsive practice.
The next section addresses historical patterns of diversity in American society and describes two NCSS position statements that concern President Trump’s executive order concerning immigration and concerning the Black Lives Matter movement. The following section concerns goals and methods associated with multicultural education.
Attention then focuses on bias and respect, sex and gender, LGBTQ+, social class, and Indigenous populations. A collection of issues that may arise when teachers engage students in multicultural education follows.
Finally, coverage turns to social action and questioning cultural standardization before providing discussion questions and resources.
