Democracy, Diversity, and Social Justice: Education in a Global Age
Important Points of
Dr. James Banks Lecture on:
Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice:
Education in a Global Age
Carmecely Little
National University
Dr. Jeffrey Carr
MAT641 - Education and Social Pluralism
March 11, 2012
In the lecture of Dr. James Banks, Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice, the meat of the entire lecture is focused on three important goals on how can teachers use cultural diversity in the classroom to improve race relations and to help other students upon the knowledge attitude and skills needed to participate in cross cultural interaction and personal and civic actions that will help our country and the world more civilized: To know, to care and to act, the three goals of global citizenship education. This type of teaching will educate "students ' heads, but also their hearts," and create "transformative" citizens who are prepared to take an active role in their society and work for social justice. (Banks, 2009) . Banks addressed the implications of a multicultural view of citizenship for curricular reform. The principal goal of multicultural citizenship education is to help students balance their various cultural, regional, national and global identities, he said -- but a truly transformative approach to citizenship education would also give students the knowledge, skills and values to challenge inequality throughout the world and to create just and democratic multicultural societies. To acquire understanding of different racial groups rather than simply requiring students to memorize facts about their form of government or encouraging non-reflective loyalty to their countries, transformative citizenship education would demand that both teachers and students learn to recognize and fight racism, Banks said. It also would require teaching materials that preserve diverse ethnic and cultural perspectives and ensure that students from different cultural, ethnic and social groups enjoy equal status in the classroom. He also
Dr. James Banks Lecture on:
Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice:
Education in a Global Age
Carmecely Little
National University
Dr. Jeffrey Carr
MAT641 - Education and Social Pluralism
March 11, 2012
In the lecture of Dr. James Banks, Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice, the meat of the entire lecture is focused on three important goals on how can teachers use cultural diversity in the classroom to improve race relations and to help other students upon the knowledge attitude and skills needed to participate in cross cultural interaction and personal and civic actions that will help our country and the world more civilized: To know, to care and to act, the three goals of global citizenship education. This type of teaching will educate "students ' heads, but also their hearts," and create "transformative" citizens who are prepared to take an active role in their society and work for social justice. (Banks, 2009) . Banks addressed the implications of a multicultural view of citizenship for curricular reform. The principal goal of multicultural citizenship education is to help students balance their various cultural, regional, national and global identities, he said -- but a truly transformative approach to citizenship education would also give students the knowledge, skills and values to challenge inequality throughout the world and to create just and democratic multicultural societies. To acquire understanding of different racial groups rather than simply requiring students to memorize facts about their form of government or encouraging non-reflective loyalty to their countries, transformative citizenship education would demand that both teachers and students learn to recognize and fight racism, Banks said. It also would require teaching materials that preserve diverse ethnic and cultural perspectives and ensure that students from different cultural, ethnic and social groups enjoy equal status in the classroom. He also
References: Banks, J. Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice: Education in a Global Age, Educational Researcher, April 2008 http://www.uwtv.org/video/player.aspx?mediaid=1580263790