Ethnographic studies of multicultural education in classrooms and schools are reviewed, emphasizing studies that have made self-conscious attempts to be culturally inclusive by modifying classroom organization, discourse patterns, or the curriculum. Studies of desegregation and ethnographies of urban schools are not included. The first part of the paper examines the educational and social consequences of attempts to achieve multicultural education through changing classroom patterns and participation structures. The second part examines what happens when the content of the curriculum is modified to teach a multicultural history or to foster ethnoracial identity. Specific examples dealing with African Americans in United States history are developed. The final part of the paper draws implications from these studies for classrooms composed of students from many different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Ways to organize classrooms for the benefit of many cultural groups include: (1) academic rigor with social supports; (2) student-centered classroom and discourse organization; (3) the teacher as ethnographer; (4) students' knowledge used as a resource; and (5) adaptation of general principles to local circumstances. (Contains 87 references.) (SLD)