Cross-Cultural Research and Multicultural Education: 1970-1980

Abstract

During the decade of the 1970s multicultural education emerged as a field of intellectual concern in the United States. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) established multicultural education as a specific standard against which teacher preparation programs would be judged. The NCATE Standards define multicultural education as &dquo;Preparation for the social, political, and economic realities that individuals experience in culturally diverse and complex human encounters&dquo; (1977, p. 4).For individuals interested in the activities of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in assisting NCATE to reflect an emphasis on multicultural education, an excellent summary is provided by Mohr (1977).It can be argued that any approach to multicultural education, as defined by NCATE, needs to include an awareness that not only do individuals from different cultures share specific similarities but also that separate cultures generate or inculcate measurable, observable, and often important differences in their members. Much of the philosophical literature justifying the need for multicultural education glosses over all but the most obvious cultural differences (e.g., Black English ; the alleged Hispanic lack of time consciousness; the lack of assertiveness or mathematical skills in women . The research literature indicates that many It is the purpose of this article to summarize the cross-cultural research of1970 to 1980 in order that those educators interested in multicultural education can become aware of these differences. more subtle differences exist between various cultures and that some if not many of these differences have potential impact on the school curriculum.It is the purpose of this article to summarize the crosscultural research of 1970 to 1980 in order that those educators interested in multicultural education can become aware of these differences. A second purpose is to illustrate the variables and methodologies which are available to individuals interested in cross-cultural research as it impacts on multicultural education.