Multicultural Social Studies Curriculum: A Content Analysis

The increasing diversity of society is affecting schools across the nation, as each student who enters the classroom brings his or her own background and experiences. Given this vast variety of backgrounds, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that teachers are able to employ a curriculum which affirms students’ cultural identities and prepares them to understand and interact with the many cultures within our global community. Social Studies has traditionally been the content area that handles the historical and social issues, which promote students’ sense of cultural identity and social preparation. Yet, with the diversity of our country’s populace, a traditional monocultural social studies curriculum is no longer suitable (Ukpokodu, 2006). Teachers who employ a multicultural perspective within Social Studies are able to both affirm the diversity of individuals within their classroom and educate students about the societal diversity beyond. Those who decide to teach Social Studies from a multicultural perspective must be knowledgeable of the best approaches to identifying and integrating multicultural curriculum into their classroom. This research will examine multicultural Social Studies curriculum and recommended methods and practice of these programs.