The need to establish teacher education programs which inculcate at least the basic principles of multicultural education has been recognized repeatedly by both the profession and governmental agencies which administer programs of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. What is crucial to this matter is the model selected by a given…

To develop and implement diversity initiatives in the university community requires the effective implementation of initiatives in many areas. Diversity leaders should be cognizant of institutional values and attitudes and the vision espoused by the university's president. The diversity leader should inform the university community about…

The East Oak Cliff Subdistrict in Dallas has sought to improve its educational program through a commitment to making the pluralistic setting of the urban school an asset. The major goals of the district are to create a school and community climate which affirms education and multicultural experiences; to implement a more effective delivery system…

This paper describes an ongoing effort at Middle Tennessee State University to involve teaching faculty in the exploration of issues surrounding the growing diversity in the campus population. It discusses the background and rationale for the project, planning phases, and implementation. An orientation session was developed, centered on…

This paper examines the increased emphasis placed on multicultural diversity in the School Psychology Program at Indiana State University. Two assumptions were made about the prominent role diversity is assuming at the university. First, the program is one of several subsystems that is emphasizing diversity in the university community. Thus, this…

This report presents the progress on the development and early testing of two applications of a modular multi-media attitude assessment system. Built using a template created in "Authorware," a dual platform interactive multimedia development tool, these systems employ visuals, audio, and text to discern attitudes and elicit reactions regarding…

This paper reports on the initiatives, policies, and problems encountered by Clarion University (Pennsylvania) in its efforts to plan to increase equity and diversity. The development of the initiative is reviewed from its beginning in 1990 through conferences held in 1992 and 1997, and including the development of six major goals; a meeting on…

Early childhood (ECE) programs should reflect the diversity of the populations and cultures for which they are designed. For example, there are varieties of support for early childhood education in the United States, where a basic distinction is made between programs for education and programs for child care. While some may believe that the…

This conference report of a UNESCO meeting concerns the aspects that are essential in planning and implementing a second language teaching program in a plurilingual context. The relevance of the following kinds of factors are described: (1) the variety of plurilingual contexts; (2) the specific didactic components of teaching a second language in…

These four papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Laura Bierema at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "The Status of Valuing and Managing Diversity in Fortune 500 Manufacturing and Fortune 500 Service Organizations: Perceptions of Top Human Resource Professionals" (Sandra J. Johnson) reports a…

Several studies have shown that public schools in the United States are staffed with counselors and teachers who have a limited cultural understanding of black and other minority students. Moreover, racist attitudes have permeated all levels of the educational system, preventing the development of programs that would help black students to attain…

This paper discusses the characteristics of middle school students and teachers, and provides suggestions for the development of cultural awareness at the middle school level. Between the ages of 10 and 14 years, adolescents experience rapid physical growth, changes in social relationships and in emotions, and changes in intellectual development…

This publication is a collection of papers and reports on major issues in the area of multicultural teacher education--curriculum, research and development, legislation, and performance based teacher education--and descriptions of multicultural programs in existence. The first section, which deals with the issues in multicultural teacher…

Most preservice teacher training institutions are aware of both the charge placed upon them to develop international understanding and the idea of the human family. The finite nature of the world, whose future rests on appropriate organization and ethical interaction, has made it imperative that teachers help children of the 21st century…

The cultural diversity of Australia and the status of multicultural education in Australian schools are examined. The first part of the paper discusses Australia as one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. The author points out that Australia's delay in establishing a concept of multicultural education results from the fact that…