From Deficit to Expansive Learning: Policies, Outcomes, and Possibilities for Multicultural Education and Systemic Transformation in the United States

Abstract

This chapter outlines the cultural-historical context that informs the depth and breadth of the construction of difference based on race, class, language, and ability in relation to multicultural education in the United States today. The chapter first highlights the history of multicultural movement from the early twentieth century to the present. The author examines demographic changes that underscore a need for national policies to address diversity and new populations including policies that account for immigrants who constitute an increasingly diverse and skilled global citizenry. Then, the chapter reviews the ways in which education scholars have conceptualized culture and multiculturalism in United States. The author argues educators must understand the history and cultural contexts of students’ lives in order to develop a multicultural classroom and curriculum. Lastly, the chapter presents two successful education programs for youth from historically marginalized culturally and linguistically diverse background: The Migrant Student Leadership Institute and Learning Lab, author recommends educators pursue multicultural curricula and programming as a means to foster a critical dialogue about the importance of non dominant students and communities’ active participation in a democratic and inclusive society.