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Multicultural literacy is just as indispensable for living in today’s world reading, writing, arithmetic, and computer literacy.

The context with which students learn needs to change: ask multicultural questions: "do all students have access to high status courses?" "are low status classes (such as bilingual classes) stuck in the basement?"

another way to promote basic education with multicultural education is by students becoming fluent in a language other than their first

Core subjects have been white-washed so that they only really cover European topics

ex. Art history classes only cover France, Italy, England… same with classical music

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Important concepts:
-Those who first promoted multicultural education believed that attention needed to be given to developing curriculum and materials that reflected these students' histories, cultures, and experiences.
-Multicultural education is inclusive. It is about all people, for all people.
-It can be argued that students from the dominant culture needs multicultural education more than others.

Examples from the book:
-European American youths often think that they do not have a culture, at least not in the sense that easily culturally identifiable youths do.
-European American youths also believe that their ways of living, doing things, believing, and acting are "normal." Anything else (religion or culture) is "ethnic" or exotic.
-People from the dominant culture often do not question, the fact that everyone, Christian or not, get days off at Christmas and Easter. Where other holidays from other religions are given little attention in our calendars and school schedules.

In spite of all of this, multicultural education continues to be thought of by many educators as education for the "culturally different" or the "disadvantaged."

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Because people just assume that school’s multicultural program will eliminate racism we stress that multicultural education MUST be consciously antiracist

Being antiracist means being mindful of how some students are favored over others in different instances

“Fear of naming” avoid confronting, in an honest and direct way, the negative aspects of history, the arts, and science
example: sanitizing heroes, MLK, only talk about I have a dream speech

To be an antiracist also means to work to combat racism

We need to move beyond guilt of the past to an invigorated state of awareness and be informed

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Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech

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Social Justice: justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society
Main ideas:

-Multicultural education with a social justice perspective also means learning to question power structures and the status quo

-Schools are supposed to maintain equality but maintain the status quo and not challenge the power and inequality is generally not discussed in schools
Examples:
-Teachers training students to think beyond a writing and to question it

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Main Ideas
1. Expansion of knowledge
2. Involves relationships with people
3. Sensitivity and understanding from teachers is more important to promoting more effective learning. Less important to just focus on facts and figures.
4. Dismantle policies and practices that make some students disadvantaged.
Examples:
Tracking
Basal Readers

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"moves beyond academic discourse to reflection and action"
Key Concepts:
-critical theory
-positive thinking
-social movement

Examples:
A classmate didn't eat at a school function barbecue because only hamburgers and hot dogs were served and he was a vegetarian. The students, with knowledge of confronting social justice, created a petition about having vegetarian options and they were then provided the next year.

"Students of all ages, even the youngest, can learn to think critically and positively about their ability to effect change through actions."

-Critical literacy is not about despair and anger but about joy and inlcusion

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Multicultural Education is not separate or a subject area to be covered, but rather permeates everything in the school.
- Climate
- Physical Environment
- Curriculum
- Relationships among teachers

"What might a multicultural philosophy mean in the way that schools are organized?"

Schools would be desegregated rather than segregated. The staff would be more representative of the nation's diversity.

Pervasiveness would not benefit only certain individuals, but rather be beneficial to students of all cultural groups

In the lunchroom, a variety of international meals would be offered . In addition, sports and games from all over the world would be played.