Mission
The mission of the Center for Multicultural Research and Education is to serve as a primary source in providing professional development support and technical assistance for university and school faculty and administrators in individual and systemic change for education that is multicultural.
Goals
-
Provide a variety of professional development programs and opportunities for K-12 and university faculty that support development of education that is multicultural.
-
Establish working partnerships with school and university faculty and administrators aimed at building effective educational institutions that are multicultural.
-
Serve as a resource center in the dissemination of research materials, articles, etc.
-
Support efforts to recruit and retain students representing diverse cultural backgrounds in the teacher preparation program.
-
Support research in building curricula that is multicultural and systemic change towards a culturally responsive pedagogy.
The Institute for Building Curriculum That is Multicultural
A model training institute is being offered to educators in a variety of formats. The basic "building block" for the institute is a three day training program that emphasizes:
Awareness of diversity issues and personal assumptions;
Knowledge acquisition about diverse cultures;
Skill development in teaching from a multicultural perspective;
Practice in developing multicultural lessons and curriculum units across content areas.
The three day institute is grounded in the NCATE Knowledge Bases of what multicultural educators should know and be able to do. Topics may include: curriculum development models for multicultural education, useful resources, creating an environment for learning by all students, the impact of values and beliefs in the classroom, culture and learning styles, individual stages of multicultural development, multicultural education and school improvement planning, assessment of student work and multicultural education.
Districts may elect to send teams of teachers and administrators to an institute that is pre-scheduled, or may request a customized version of the institute that could be delivered on-site.
Conference on Multicultural Education
The Center is a primary coordinating office in designing and sponsoring a statewide conference to bring educators together to identify and recognize good practice in multicultural education at the K-12 and university levels. The conference includes a nationally recognized expert in multicultural education, exhibits of book publishers and resource vendors, a selection of juried presentations by practitioners of emerging good practice, opportunities for networking, and a panel of students sharing their perspectives about effective teaching practice.
Providing Field-Based Assistance
Center representatives provide assistance to schools and districts in a variety of ways. These include assessments of needs; provision of technical assistance in developing grant proposals to support professional development of K-12 teachers; assistance in implementing long-term support mechanisms within schools beyond institute training, for teachers as they develop multicultural education (eg. peer consultation study teams); and formative and summative evaluations of progress developing education that is multicultural.
The JADE Project:
School Improvement and Multicultural Education
As a way of building capacity within districts, the Center is offering the opportunity for districts to develop a long-term working relationship with representatives of the Center. For districts that wish to focus on systemic change for multicultural education, the JADE Project (Joint Initiative for Affirming Diversity in Education) provides a training-of-trainers as well as assistance in building a curriculum that is multicultural. Other project components include bimonthly seminars for district liasons, on-site visitations and consultations by multicultural education experts, and a principal's forum.
Links:
Diversity Sourcelist for K-12 Educators
Affirming Diversity in the
College Classroom:
A Faculty Development Program in the SEPS
