Multicultural Education as Social Activism - Paperback

by Christine E. Sleeter (Author)

Explores connections between multicultural education, social activism, and critical analyses of oppression.

Connecting multicultural education with political issues of power and struggle, this book explores what multicultural education means to white people, given the unequal racial power relations in the U.S. and worldwide. It examines connections between race, gender, and social class, particularly as these connections play out for white women. While taking a feminist perspective, the author is also wary of the power white middle class women exercise in defining what counts as gender issues. Throughout the book, Sleeter argues that multicultural education was born in political struggle and can never meaningfully be disconnected from politics. Ultimately the quest for schooling for social justice is a political quest rather than a technical issue.

Back Jacket

This book interweaves a strong theoretical framework with accounts of one's journey to understanding race, gender, and class and their influence upon identity, personal experiences, and reflections on one's own teaching as well as others.

Author Biography

Christine E. Sleeter is Professor and Planning Faculty Member at California State University-Monterey Bay. She is co-editor (with Peter L. McLaren) of Multicultural Education, Critical Pedagogy, and the Politics of Difference and (with Joseph M. Larkin) Developing Multicultural Teacher Education Curricula; and editor of Empowerment through Multicultural Education, all published by SUNY Press. She is co-author (with C.A. Grant) of Turning on Learning; Making Choices for Multicultural Education: Five Approaches to Race, Class and Gender; and After the School Bell Rings; and author of Keepers of the American Dream: Multicultural Education and Staff Development.