Vol. 7 in the The Language and Education Library series.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-209) and index.

« Multicultural education has always promised much more than it has delivered. Drawing on critical theory and radical critiques of multiculturalism, Stephen May examines why this is and, in response, advocates a more critically conceived approach to multicultural education. He also explores the implications of critical multiculturalism for practice via a critical ethnography of Richmond Road has developed a critically conceived, reflective and holistic conception of multiculturalism through a process of whole-school reform. The school's approach demonstrates how critical theory and practice can be effectively combined within schools and provides a model of multicultural education which offers considerable hope for change.

Making Multicultural Education Work will be of interest to all those working in the field of minority education. Its exploration of multicultural education, social theory, language issues and whole-school reform also has direct relevance to those working in the sociology of education, the sociology of language, and educational administration. Unlike previous work, it bridges the theory/practice divide and should be read be all educators and school practitioners who are interested in changing the nature of schools. » (Book Cover)

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

Preface

Acknowledgements

Glossary of Maori Terms

1 Introduction: Theory into Practice
Explaining Differential Achievement in Schools
The Multicultural Education Debate
Overview

2 Consensus, Conflict and Resistance Theories: Addressing the Structure-Agency Dilemma
Consensus Theories of Education
Conflict Theories of Education
Theories of Social Reproduction: Base and Superstructure
Theories of Cultural Reproduction: The Social Construction of Knowledge
Resistance Theories
The Possibilities of Critical Practice

3 Multicultural Education and the Rhetoric of Pluralism
From Assimilation to Multicultural Education: Solutions to the Ethnic Minority 'Crisis' in Education
The Multicultural Panacea: Claims and Counter Claims
The Problem of Definition
'Benevolent Multiculturalism'
Multicultural versus Antiracist Education
Beyond Benevolent Multiculturalism
A Critically Conceived Approach to Multicultural Education

4 A Critical Ethnography
School Ethnographies
Criticisms of Conventional Ethnography in Educational Research
Critical Ethnography
The Richmond Road Account
Extending Critical Ethnography

5 Richmond Road School
The Historical Background
The Present Context
The Structure of the Account

6 School Organisation: Achieving Structural Change
Jim Laughton: Principal as Educational Visionary
The Process of Change
The School and its Community: Fostering Reciprocal Relationships

7 Pedagogy: Knowledge, Responsibility, and the Process of Learning
Provisional Authority: Whoever Has Knowledge Teaches
Child-Centred and Process Learning
A Multilingual Environment: The Role of Language and Culture
Timetabling Children's Learning

8 Curriculum and Assessment: Resourcing and Monitoring Children's Learning
Resourcing Children's Learning
Assessment: Monitoring Children's Progress
Analysing Outcomes
A Reading Cohort Study
Achieving Success in Reading

9 New Directions
New Challenges
New Contests
Whole-School Policies
Richmond Road Without Laughton

10 A Critical Pedagogy at Work
Richmond Road School: A Critical Pedagogy at Work

11 The Practice of Theory
Educational Effectiveness: The Benchmark for Multicultural Education

Bibliography

Index