Multicultural Education: James A. Banks

Paper Summary:

Opponents of multicultural education today often have many misconceptions. This paper examines how James A. Banks addresses many of these concerns, mostly affecting teachers and others influencing education. It looks at how he states that many think that multicultural education is especially for the victimized minority groups and how he also focuses on the idea that multicultural education is opposed to western tradition. The paper also discusses how he deals with the concern that multicultural education will divide the nation and how he addresses concerns teachers have in employing a multicultural curriculum.

From the Paper:

"The second type of knowledge is popular knowledge. These are values and knowledge that are enforced by the mass media and popular culture. Banks borrows a term from Carlos Cortes in describing this, and names it the "societal curriculum" (2000, p. 113). This includes movies and television, which studies have proven to be very influential in childhood. The American Psychological Association recently studied the effect of television on children's behavior. The link between behavior and television occurs in the same ratio as smoking does to cancer. (Garbarino, 2001, p. 58) This alarming rate shows the immense influence that watching television has on students."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Banks, J. A. (1996). Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Banks, J. A. (2000). Multicultural Education: Development, Dimensions, and Challenges. In Noll, J. W. (Ed.). (2000). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Educational Issues. 10th Ed. Guilford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.
• Banks, J. A. (1987). Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
• Banks, J. A. (1990). Teaching Strategies for the Social Studies. New York: Longman.
• Garbarino, J. (2001, January). Power struggles: Early Experiences Matter. Child Care Information Exchange, 55-58.

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