Dr. James A. Banks's Speech On Multicultural Education

Dr. James A. Banks gave a speech on multicultural education. Afterwards as Tucker (1998) writes, “a math teacher says to me, ‘What you said is fine for social studies, but it has nothing to do with me’ (p. 1). I mention this selection because I am a math major, and I asked myself a similar question. One of the first thoughts to myself revealed my own bias and misconceptions towards the readings. Furthermore, as I read through the content, I observed the author did little to change my perceptions. Because of my preconceived ideas, and the concerns I have from the book, I will reflect on them, and I will discover where I agree and disagree with the author. I believe as a teacher; my job is to teach all students, and differentiate my lessons to reach all learning styles. The thought never occurred to me that I should aim a math lesson towards one ethnic group or another. I have never read anything about multicultural education, so I admit I am uninformed towards the movement. Banks (2014) says one of the most prominent misconceptions is,
Banks says, but I do have some disagreements, for which I will emphasize one. Dr. Banks writes about a law that “bans ethnic studies courses ‘designed primarily for pupils of one ethnic group’” (p. 16). Dr. Banks then continues to mention a specific program referencing the law. The way he writes, it seems that he thinks the law is not productive for the school system. I disagree because it is a public school which should be an inclusive environment for all students. Because details of the class are left out, I assume the program was aimed towards Mexican American students. If so it should not be allowed in a public school, unless all students can participate. A program targeted towards one culture is acceptable for a private university, but a public school can not have classes where only one group is allowed to attend, but others are not, regardless of how beneficial the program may