Introduction
Multiculturalism relates to the perspective that ethnicities, races, and cultures, especially the minority groups, need to be acknowledged in special ways because of their differences in the dominant political cultures (Yılmaz, 2016). The cited study suggests further that the acknowledgement could be in the form of the recognition of the contributions of the minority groups towards the cultural life, demands for special legal protection, or governance for the autonomous rights of such groups of people. According to Yılmaz (2016), multiculturalism is a response to the demands of cultural pluralism that are prevalent in modern democracies and a means of compensating some cultural groups for oppression, discrimination, and exclusion in the past.
In the modern globalized world, institutions have had to deal with the issue of cultural diversity, which is one of the most debated and researched issues in socials science contemporarily. While the concepts of multiculturalism apply to almost all spheres of human life, the context of this research restricts its relevance to the education sphere. Specially, the researcher appraises literature on the effects of cultural diversity on the educational development of learners. The objective of this review of literature is quite narrowed since the study only focuses on the contributions of culturally diverse learning environments on student development. The findings of the appraisal are not conclusive enough to advocate the direct contributions of cultural diversity to the learning developments of students. For instance, the studies reviewed in this study do not report a direct contribution to the academic performance of learners in elements such as their overall grades, but do suggest positive correlations with other skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking, workplace preparations, and other outcomes.
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The Concept of Multicultural Education
The scope of the present review requires the definition of multicultural education for the fact that this term has been utilized in the description of a variety of practices through time. Therefore, it is imperative noting that this research uses the Banks (2004) framework, which is among the most used in laying ground for understanding the meaning of the term. Precisely, the cited author puts forwards five fundamental dimensions that are used in the description of multicultural education. The first of the five dimensions is that of content integration, which he uses to infer the infusion of the curriculum with content from different diverse groups. The second concerns knowledge construction and the author use the concept to denote the creation of awareness and focus on the manner in which cultural frames define the interpretation and identification of educational content.
The third element is that of prejudice reduction, which refers to the level to which administrators and teachers work actively to reduce stereotyping and prejudice within their school environments. The second last concept of the definition is that of equity pedagogy, which concerns the strategies designed to improve the academic abilities of lower-performing students as a means of increasing equality among the students. Lastly, definition encompasses the element of empowering school culture, and Banks (2004) uses it to refer to the procedures of altering the school processes and structures such that they are more empowering for each learner, which a specific focus on the elimination of institutionalized racism in the practices of the schools.
Having understood the scope of multicultural education, one can note that it points at the fact that teachers should always strive to make learning conducive for all learners through striving for equality. While the processes involved could be diverse, the central focus is on the elimination of stereotypes that make students from one background feel superior or inferior in comparison to others. The definition of multicultural education through the five elements described above resonates with that of multiculturalism, and it could be having benefits and drawbacks in the educational development of leaners, as described subsequently.
The Effects of Multicultural Education on the Educational Development of Students
The contribution of cultural diversity to the educational development of learners is of a critical concern to the policymakers in the education sector of the US and the entire world. In the modern age, universities, colleges, and other forms of schooling institutions host international students. For instance, conventionally, universities in Western Europe, Australia, Canada, and the US have experience had enrollment rates for international students. This phenomenon causes the need to study the effects of cultural diversity on the educational accomplishments of the learners, both local and international. To this effect, several researchers have studied the connection, and they report different outcomes concerning the implications of multicultural education. For instance, Wells, Fox, & Cordova-Cobo (2016) suggest that exposing learners to diversity bolsters their critical thinking skills in addition to problem solving. The authors cite this finding in relation to the case of Fisher II case held by the Supreme Court in 2015 in which the amicus curiae was tasked with advising the court on the criticality of adopting race-conscious policies with the objective of making the student bodies of American universities and other institutions of learning more ethnically and racially diverse.
The finding in Wells, Fox, & Cordova-Cobo (2016) literature resonates with the ideas advanced in (Zirkel, 2008). The latter author argues that several large-scale studies, mostly qualitative, have been done with students from institutions of higher learning with the objective of examining the effect of multicultural content in the curriculum on the development of the thinking abilities of the students, including their complexities in thought as well as critical thinking abilities. According to the author, the findings from such studies argue that both formal and informal discussions related to the issues of ethnicity and race have positive effects on the enhancement of thinking skills among the students. The research cites other researchers, such as Kim, Nagda, & Truelove, 2004; Hurtado, 2005; Lopez, Nagda, & Gurin, 2004; Gurin et al., 2002, and Antonio et al., 2004. These studies, according to (Zirkel, 2008), identify a positive correlation between multicultural education and perspective thought, which refers to the ability of the learners to perceive the different sides of issues that allows them to be better at decision making.
In Amney-Dixon (2004), the author concentrates on the implications of multicultural education on institutions of higher learning. They note the five long-term benefits of multicultural education on the learners while drawing relevance to the global goals of multicultural inclusion in educational practices. First, the author notes that multicultural education renews the vitality of the society through the richness that the different cultures that the constituent members provide while fostering the thriving of broader and more sophisticated views of the world. The second benefit of this type of education, as the author finds, is the idea that it reduces the levels of prejudice and stereotyping through the direct interactions and contacts among students from diverse backgrounds.
In addition, the study posits that the multicultural education raises the positive relationships among students and other individuals within the school settings through the call for them to accomplish common goals, the enhancement of respect, appreciation, and the commitment of the stakeholders in the education sector to ensuring equality for all students. The second last benefit that the author cites is that multicultural education raises the creativity levels of learners in association to problem solving through exposing the learners to different perspectives that would be applied in dealing with one issue that arises in the contexts of their normal learning activities. The last benefit drawn from the same study is the notion that learning in multicultural settings allows the learners to improve in their productivity for the fact that it exposes them to a variety of mental resources that would be required for the completion of the same tasks among students from the diverse backgrounds.
As much as Amney-Dixon (2004) describes the importance of multicultural education on the development of learners, it is imperative noting that the methodology of their study makes the findings almost implausible. For instance, unlike the rest of the studies reviewed this far, the author does not use any experimental designs, which is, they fail to recruit any respondents. Instead, the study draws its conclusions from the theoretical framework that seems to advocate the need for schools in the US and the world over to be inclusive in terms of race, gender, ethnic backgrounds, and other criteria, as defined by the No Child Left Behind of 2002 (Zirkel, 2008). The absence of data collected on the importance of cultural diversity in the American schools makes the findings doubtful.
According to Denson and Zhang (2010), an emerging body of research from the US demonstrates that culturally diverse institutions of higher learning appear to create richly varied experiences of education that aid the learners understand and prepare for active engagement in the modern workplace that is growing in its diversity. The researchers further note that universities with homogenous student bodies do not have the same levels of accomplishment in their preparation of students for the challenges that await in the workplace. However, it should be noted that the study also warns that the existence of a diverse student body is not a sufficient condition for the maximization of the educational benefits in itself. Rather, the value of such a composition relies on efforts by the management of the institutions of higher learning to encourage the students to take part in activities that relate to diversity within the schools (Chang, 2001).
Extant literature on the value of multicultural educational background suggests its association with several positive outcomes. For instance, Denson (2009) and Chang (2002) suggest that the diversity-related activities improve intergroup attitudes while Chang et al. (2006) suggest that the same activities are positively related with intergroup understanding. Further studies suggest that multicultural education is associated positively with self-confidence (Kim, Astin, & Chang, 2004), intercultural competence (Treleaven et al., 2007), and learning and democratic outcomes (Hurtado, 2001). Berger, Williams and Zuniga (2005) also find that this type of educational background improves the action-oriented democratic features among the students while Nelson et al. (2005) report that the same type of education is related with social engagement outcomes. It is imperative noting that most of the outcomes reported in the cited studies in their paragraph are among the values that most of the universities in the US and around the world strive to instill in their leaners.
The attainment of the positive outcomes in the development of student learning is not a guarantee. For example, Dronkers and Van der Velden (2013) posit that for the creation of greater diversity of the school populations implies that such schools have more students with the potential and capabilities that differ from one another. For this reason, they suggest three mechanisms that would create positive effects of diversity on the educational outcomes of the students. The first of the three is that ‘good’ students may help the weaker ones through either acting as role models or through the provision of direct assistance. In addition, the authors suggest the second mechanism of the realization of the positive outcomes of multicultural education, which is the idea that the weaker learners have greater chances of encountering challenging curriculum in diverse schools since the teachers focus on teaching such content to the better learners. The last mechanism students with better capabilities improve themselves more in diverse schools settings than do their counterparts from the non-diverse schools because they get time to explain the subject matter to fellow students, often the weaker ones. However, while the identified mechanisms would be true, it is imperative noting that the same study suggests that they might result in negative outcomes, as the authors indicate through three other mechanisms.
Diverse schools could realize negative outcomes in the learning development of students if it can be perceived that homogenous schools raise the chances of the educators to engage and concentrate on teaching specific skills to the learners (Dronkers & Van der Velden, 2013). The same authors contest that teaching and learning in homogenous schools would be more advantageous to the learners since the teachers do not spend a great deal of their time and resources on bridging the cultural gaps among students, which leaves more time for academic excellence. The last mechanism that would make multicultural education beneficial to the learners is the fact that the stakeholders in homogenous schools have more respect for each other than do those in the diverse ones, which enhances the effectiveness of the teaching and learning strategies adopted in the schools.
Whether multicultural diversity benefits the academic excellence of the learners is yet to be determined in literature. The reason for this conclusion is the fact that reviewed studies do not use measures of academic excellence of the leaners, such as score tests and GPA points. The nearest to the two measures of academic performance and others is found in Taras and Rowney (2007), who argue that multicultural learning settings improve the language proficiencies among immigrant students in the US because of the effectiveness of group work facilitated by such contexts. In addition, it is critical noting that most of the studies included in this review, as well as the existing body of knowledge appear to have ignored studying the contribution of multicultural education to the learning outcomes of students in lower levels of learning since most of them concentrate on higher education, in colleges and universities. Therefore, concluding about the direct contributions of cultural diversity within the schools in the US on the development of the educational outcomes of the learners is cumbersome since not a single study compares such outcomes between diverse and homogenous schools. Another issue with the existing studies is the facts that they have dubious methodologies because most of them do not collect data from students and institutions of learning; rather, they rely on theoretical frameworks describing the relationship.
Conclusion
Reviewed studies suggest that exposing learners to multicultural education has benefits, at least in theory. For instance, it is conclusive that such educational backgrounds are useful in the preparation of learners for challenges in the diverse workplace of the present day, improve the group outcomes of the learners, bolster critical thinking and problem solving skills, and enhance the creation of inclusive environments. It is also critical noting the existence of diverse student body environments is not a guarantee in itself of the positive outcomes of diversity. Instead, the teachers should strive to make students engage in activities that promote diversity. Extant literature also fails to capture the direct contribution of diversity to academic performance through comparing such metrics as GPA and test scores.
Proposal for Future Research
It is notable that most of the studies on multicultural education focus on higher learning. In fact, all the studies included in this literature review concentrate on such settings of learning. At least, using the findings of the literature review provides insight into the need for future research. First, the current emphasis on institutions of higher learning would also be useful in arguing the need for future research to focus on lower levels of learning. Secondly, it would be important for researchers to measure the contributions of multicultural education on academic performance of students through reporting on the connection of such settings on the GPA scores.
References
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