Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society

by Donna M. Gollnick, Philip C. Chinn

This respected text for courses in Multicultural or Multiethnic Education provides students the tools necessary to teach effectively in today’s diverse classrooms. “Pluralistic” is defined as having multiple aspects or parts. The classroom of today has students from multiple backgrounds, cultures, and races. Within those differing groups students have their own individual differences. Their home situations may be very different. They may be from a different social class. Each teacher also comes to the classroom with their own cultural background and past experiences that will effect how they will handle different situations. The goal of this book is to help students to apply what they have learned and in turn to prepare their students to live in our heterogeneous culture. Eight micro-cultures that teachers may encounter in the classroom are examined in They · Ethnicity and race · Class and socioeconomic status · Gender and sexual orientation · Exceptionality · Language · Religion · Geography · Age Some of the features of the book are the ABC News Video Insights boxes that explore current issues in multicultural education today, Focus Your Cultural Lens Debates that ask the reader to take a position on controversial school issues with for and against statements to consider, and the Pause to Reflect feature which lists questions and activities to promote self-awareness and ownership of past experiences and how they may affect a teacher in the classroom. The Critical Incidents feature gives both real and hypothetical situations that occur in schools and encourage the reader to examine their feelings about them.

Genres: Education, Textbooks, Teaching, Professional Development, Read For School

464 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1982

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most blatantly biased textbook I have ever read. Period. But perhaps I should appreciate the fact that the authors make their biases very clear, rather than letting them masquerade as fact...(which all textbooks do, of course, some just more subtly than others).

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit outdated but incredibly helpful for building a multicultural mindset in classrooms. It can feel a bit overwhelming at first, especially since the authors could not possibly touch on every cultural association out there, but it’s a great guide for easing someone new to culture or looking to incorporate their students’ cultures more intricately into the curriculum.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure if this author is being deliberately biased or is just naive. To think that young, impressionable minds are getting this fed to them in introductory education classes in worrisome. If they believe what this book preaches, they will dome themselves to disillusionment and perhaps a short career in education.

[d4 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not especially helpful. Maybe enlightening for someone who has never taken a sociology course, but otherwise, not really. I found the chapter on gender especially too narrow.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a lot of information and how it’s broken up is organized. I felt some of the information seemed biased but served as a good refresher and foundation of what makes education multicultural at the surface level. Some of the court cases were interesting to read and it’s not as dry as other texts I’ve had to read for grad school or professional development.

[Tammy Ligon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not a thrilling read, it was informative and very well researched offering valuable information to those on their way to becoming educators.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent for a textbook, but dated. Can't help that when the field of play is in constant motion. Still, it raises some good topics for discussion.

[Sarah Shodrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this for grad school. Boring as hell

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a textbook, so naturally the writing is a little dry, but it is highly informative and serves as an excellent introduction for educators. It covers topics such as ethnicity and race, class and socioeconomic status, gender, age, exceptionality, and sexual orientation, to name a few. The text seeks to prepare educators for teacher examinations and the variety of students and situations that will be encountered in the classroom.

Because this book stresses the importance of understanding multiculturalism in a world that is becoming more and more multicultural, it naturally comes off as progressive and perhaps liberal. Even if you disagree with certain matters, this text can still be useful to learn new things about a variety of people and society as a whole.

[Ronni · Rating 1 out of 5]

By "read" I mean paid for and opened a few times. I did not enjoy the book and quit doing the required reading early in the course. Maybe I shouldn't even add it to my bookshelf, though it is certainly sitting on a bookshelf in my house IRL...

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this as a textbook for a Multicultural Education book or for any teacher or pre-service teacher who wants to learn about ME.

[Amber]

2 copies available

[Amber]

1 copy available

[Immanythings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book just need to read the current version for the relevancy of the material

[Soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of Pearson textbooks, but this one was okay. It's a decent basic introduction to multicultural education and some of the various identities that go into it. A lot of folks reviewing it find it to be "biased" by which I assume they mean that it's too liberal for them. I don't know if it's possible to write a textbook on multicultural education from a right-wing or conservative viewpoint and be true to the research. The book is mainly useful to those who don't already have a background in the social sciences. Those of you who do will find it to largely be a review, and maybe even a little old-fashioned, especially the sections on gender and sexual orientation. Overall this book was decent, especially for a Pearson book, but in my opinion there are better choices.