Running head: MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

Multicultural Education in Urban Schools; Its Importance in

Schools and Their Effect on Students
Cindy Castro
T.E.A.C.H. Academy Clark High School

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

Abstract
This paper explores the importance of multicultural education in urban schools. Its results vary
from different researchers coming from the same book and also from some websites that have
different viewpoints but support multicultural education. Kent L. Koppelman and R. Lee
Goodhart (2008) suggest that multicultural education help students and teachers together to
promote an effective learning environment. Students become more supportive of each other and
decreases stereotyping resulting in less bullying. Educators are sometimes able to strengthen
students feelings and reduce behavior problems resulting in students paying attention in class
and learning. Other articles help support these statements. This paper examines the what, why,
and how questions of multicultural education and the rising acceptance of this curriculum
throughout schools.
Keywords: Multicultural education

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

Multicultural Education in Urban Schools; Its Importance in

Schools and Their Effect on Students
Urban schools are often characterized by high rates of poverty. These communities are
surrounded by a large population of the same ethnic groups which results in an uneasy school
environment due to the non-acceptance of different race groups. Urban educators should be more
interested in multicultural education because students become more supportive of each other,
thereby creating a pleasant division environment due to the acceptance of diversity in which
promotes effective learning as Kenneth Tobin and Wolff-Michael Roth (2005) suggest. This
paper examines how adding multicultural education in urban schools benefits both the students
and the teachers.
Effects Multicultural Education has on Students and Teachers
Multicultural education advocates support interrogation, inclusion, and detracking to
create heterogeneous classrooms emphasizing skill development to gain knowledge and a better
understanding of diverse groups in American society (Koppelman and Goodhart, 2005). Due to
the limited diversity in urban schools, students usually like to surround themselves by their same
ethnic groups. There is one thing many humans do not like and that is change, which is why most
people are around with their same racial group. Tension is felt throughout a group when
members of the party do not usually associate themselves with different backgrounds but adding
multicultural education into classrooms, these students are more aware of different people and
tend to be more accepting and willing to get to know them.
Students not only learn to accept one another but multicultural education reduces
behavioral problems within students; multicultural education decreases stereotyping and

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

prejudice through direct contact and interactions among diverse individuals (Gloria M. AmenyDixon, n.d.). As students began to accept each other, bullying amongst pupils reduces and the
attention in classes increases. Students become more engaged in the classroom since they arent
worried about being judged for who they are.
Urban educators are also affected by multicultural education. Just as mentioned before
that multicultural education increases attention in classrooms, educators should take advantage of
this and really try to engage everyone into the lesson. Teachers goals are to have everyone in the
class pass and in urban communities its hard to motivate students in their education because
they are surrounded by bad examples throughout their neighborhoods. Students also tend to have
less behavior problems because they are too focused on the lesson. When there is less behavior
problem then there are less distractions.
Multicultural Education in a Classroom
Talking about multicultural education is one thing but teaching it is another. There are
special and specific things an educator should do to appropriately add multicultural education
into their classrooms. In order to apply this in a classroom one should be culturally aware to the
different racial groups in the world. Barbara Bazron, David Osher and Steve Fleischman (2005)
suggested that when an educator is asking questions to the students, they should wait a little due
to the different cultures and their different levels of comprehension; this also enhances the
classroom participation. Students who do not speak English need more time to translate what the
teacher said in their own minds. To the students, it shows them patience and shows them respect
for we are not all the same.

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

The educator should always try to get his students to talk to each other and get to know
each other better. One way to initiate this idea is to match classroom instruction to cultural
norms for social interaction to improve the development of social skills and problem-solving
abilities (Bazron et al., 2005). Dixon (n.d.) agrees with what Brazon et al. (2005) says by stating
that multicultural education increases creative problem-solving skills through the different
perspectives applied to same problems to reach solutions (Dixon, n.d.).
Preparing a classroom for multicultural education is not just about what to do with the
students but also how to decorate the classroom to make it more culturally aware. Flags of
different countries should be put or posters with kind words should be around the room as well.
This makes the student feel like they are accepted and are not an outcast which is important due
to their low self-esteem for being different. There is nothing wrong with being different.
Outcomes on Multicultural Education
There has been an increasing rate of acceptance for the addition of multicultural
education within schools. The schools who have accepted this criterion have been successful in
uniting different ethnic groups together and helping them accept each other although they are not
the same race. It has helped students become more supportive of each other and has also helped
them respect the different cultures there are.
Ed W. Clark High School, in Las Vegas, is one of the schools who have accepted
multicultural education. Clark High School is in an urban community which is highly populated
by Hispanics and African Americans. The criterion has been introduced inside a classroom, We R
Community which deals with students volunteering and helping in events while communicating
with people of different racial groups. Along with communicating with different people in

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

events, the classroom is diverse with some African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians.
According to Loyola University Maryland, the outcomes of the volunteer service clubs
increase awareness of cultures and perspective, recognize the inherent value and dignity of each
person, and even acknowledge and appreciate the differences between other communities and
ones own. A student is more prone in accepting each other through multicultural education and
has become a way to share different diverse cultures.
One other school that has implemented multicultural education is La Escuela Fratney in
Milwaukee. They have decided to insert two-way bilingual education program in which students
who are not native English speakers are not separated into different classrooms then the ones
who are English speakers. If the student ends up being split from their classroom, it causes the
child to feel like they are different and lowers their self-esteem. They become ashamed of whom
they are. Implementing multicultural education enhances students self-esteem, because students
soon learn that no matter what social class they come from, they bring something of value to the
classroom: their language (Bob Peterson, 1995). Not only do these students bring their
language into the classroom but also their beliefs in which other students get to learn about. The
classmates get to learn and respect their differences.

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

Conclusion
Multicultural education has become not only a success throughout urban schools but also
an important factor in future life. Both Clark High School and La Escuela Fratney have shown
what positive outcomes multicultural education has on students. Many other schools should as
well follow the example of these culturally aware facilities to enhance the minds of many other
students. In order for multicultural education to flourish in schools all around the world, students
and teacher need to give it a chance and gain a complete understanding of the criterion. Research
can be conducted to show the difference from urban schools who accepts multicultural education
to another urban school that doesnt to show if the criterion changes student behavior. It is
necessary to keep in mind all the good outcomes that come from having a classroom filled with
students who are highly knowledgeable about different cultures and the respect for one another.

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN URBAN SCHOOLS

References
Ameny-Dixon, G. (n.d.). Why Multicultural Education is More Important in Higher Education
Now than Ever: A Global Perspective. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from
http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic Journal Volumes/Ameny-Dixon, Gloria M.
Why Multicultural Education is More Important in Higher Education Now than Ever.pdf
Bazron, B., Osher, D., & Fleischman, S. (2005). Creating culturally responsive schools.
Educational Leadership, 63(1), 83-84.
Center for Community Service and Justice (CCSJ). (n.d.). Retrieved May 7, 2015, from
http://www.loyola.edu/department/ccsj/about/learningoutcomes
Koppelman, K., & Goodhart, R. (2005). Pluralism in Schools: The Promise of Multicultural
Education. In Understanding Human Differences: Multicultural Education for a Diverse
America (2nd ed., p. 321). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Peterson, B. (1995). La Escuela Fratney: A journey toward democracy. In M.W. Apple & J.A.
Beane (Eds.), Democratic Schools (pp. 58-82). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Tobin, K., & Roth, W-M. (2005). Implementing co-teaching and cogenerative dialoguing in
urban science education. School Science and Mathematics, 105, 313-322