Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism

Multiculturalism Education

Multiculturalism education stresses the promotion of understanding, respect, and acceptance of cultural diversity within our society.

Multiculturalism education involves:

recognizing that everyone belongs to a cultural group
accepting and appreciating cultural diversity as a positive feature of our society
affirming that all ethnocultural groups are equal within our society
understanding that multiculturalism education is for all students
recognizing that similarities across cultures are much greater than differences and that cultural pluralism is a positive aspect in our society
affirming and enhancing self-esteem through pride in heritage, and providing opportunities for individuals to appreciate the cultural heritage of others
promoting cross-cultural understanding, citizenship, and racial harmony

Anti-Racism Education

Anti-racism education promotes the elimination of racism through identifying and changing institutional policies and practices as well as identifying individual attitudes and behaviours that contribute to racism.

Anti-racism education involves:

proposing the need to reflect on one's own attitudes about race and anti-racism
understanding what causes racism in order to achieve equality
identifying and addressing racism at both the personal and institutional level
acknowledging the need to take individual responsibility for eliminating racism
working toward removing systemic barriers that marginalize groups of people
providing opportunities for individuals to take action to eliminate all forms of racism, including stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination

Value of Integrating Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Education

Multiculturalism and anti-racism education provides learning experiences that promote strength through diversity and social, economic, political, and cultural equity. Multiculturalism and anti-racism education gives students learning experiences that are intended to enhance their social, emotional, aesthetic, artistic, physical, and intellectual development. It provides learners with the tools of social literacy and skills for effective cross-cultural interaction with diverse cultures. It also recognizes the importance of collaboration between students, parents, educators, and communities working toward social justice in the education system.

The key goals of multiculturalism and anti-racism education are:

to enhance understanding of and respect for cultural diversity
to increase creative intercultural communication in a pluralistic society
to provide equal opportunities for educational achievement by all learners, regardless of culture, national origin, religion, or social class
to develop self-worth, respect for oneself and others, and social responsibility
to combat and eliminate stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and other forms of racism
to include the experiences of all students in school curricula

Examples of curriculum integration include:

Fine Arts -identifying ways in which the fine arts portray cultural experiences

Humanities -identifying similarities and differences within cultural groups' lifestyles, histories, values, and beliefs

Mathematics or Science -recognizing that individuals and cultural groups have used both diverse and common methods to compute, to record numerical facts, and to measure

Physical Education -developing an appreciation of games and dances from diverse cultural groups

This summary is derived from Multicultural and Anti-Racism Education-Planning Guide (Draft) , developed by the Social Equity Branch in 1994.

Revised: January 28, 1999

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