The Influence of Multicultural Educational Practices on Student Outcomes and Intergroup Relations

By Sabrina Zirkel. Teachers College Record, 2008

132 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background How best to serve a racially and ethnically diverse student body has been a topic of intensive theory development for the past 30 or 40 years. We have strong theoretical models regarding the need for and practice of multicultural education, the goals of which include both increased educational achievement for students of color and improved inter-group relations. Nevertheless, there are few places where one can find a broad examination of the empirical support for the influence of multicultural educational practice on either student outcomes or intergroup relations. Purpose In this article, I use James A. Banks's widely used conceptualization of the five components of multicultural educational practice—content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogies, and empowering school cultures—to examine the empirical evidence for the influence of each of these five different components on the academic outcomes of students of color and intergroup relations in schools. Conclusions The empirical research reveals that all five components of multicultural educational practice outlined by Banks to have a strong, positive impact on the educational outcomes of students of color and to improved intergroup relations, although research has been stronger in some areas (e.g., prejudice reduction and some equity pedagogies such as cooperative learning) than others (e.g., the specific effects of content integration and knowledge construction). The evidence suggests several additional conclusions: (1) Multicultural educational practice has benefit for the academic outcomes of all students, not just students of color. (2) Multicultural educational practice is most effective when implemented with careful attention to issues of race and power. (3) The academic and intergroup relations outcomes are linked, such that efforts designed to improve one improve the other. Implications for future research on the effects of multicultural educational practice on students, as well as teacher and administrator education programs, are discussed.

Subfields: Education, Sociology and Political Science

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Citations in the corpus

Teachers’ Approaches Toward Cultural Diversity Predict Diversity-Related Burnout and Self-Efficacy (2018, background): “In addition, efforts designed to improve academic performances also improve intergroup relations outcomes (Zirkel, 2008).”
Altering the Trajectory of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (2017, background): “Although cultural content integration “is probably the most widely implemented but least studied aspect of multicultural education” (Zirkel, 2008, p. 1150), there is evidence on its role in improving student learning and improving interethnic relations (for a review, see Zirkel, 2008).”
Identity Education: A Conceptual Framework for Educational Researchers and Practitioners (2011, background): “For example, multicultural educators discuss how the “social identity” students attribute to curriculum contents triggers engagement or estrangement (Banks, 1995; Zirkel, 2008).”
Research on the Impact of Teacher Preparation to Teach Diverse Students: The Research We Have and the Research We Need (2011, background): “Zirkel (2008) found a few small-scale studies that suggest it helps students develop a strong ethnic or racial identity, and a robust body of evidence that students with a strong ethnic or racial identity tend to achieve and persist in school.”
Speaking their language: The role of cultural content integration and heritage language for academic achievement among Latino children (2019, background): “Although cultural content integration “is probably the most widely implemented but least studied aspect of multicultural education” (Zirkel, 2008, p. 1150), some evidence exists on its role in improving student learning and interethnic relations (for a review, see Zirkel, 2008).”