Education Reference Guide: Multicultural & Diversity Education (PDF)

The volume begins with Belinda B. McFeeters’ overview of the achievement gap and the potential contributors to
underperformance, including teachers’ biases, labeling which causes students to undervalue their abilities and teachers
to lower expectations, and the social influences which increase psychosocial stress and lower students’ self-esteem.
Sandra Billings examines critical pedagogy that holds that schools perpetuate biases and that it is the responsibility
of teachers to “instill in their students critical consciousness – an awareness of these imbalances and a commitment
to eradicating them in the pursuit of social justice.” Billings also assesses culturally responsive teaching methods that
attempt to provide pedagogical approaches that respond to differences in students’ communication and learning styles.
McFeeters returns with an overview on cultural values and their impact on education and provides suggestions for
educators to address the impact of culture on learning through culturally relevant teaching strategies. Katherine Crothers
discusses the cultural variable in academics and the importance for educators to examine the influence of their own
cultural frame of reference on their pedagogical approaches. Kerri Phillips reviews the factors influencing the success
of non-traditional minority students while pursuing higher education.