Book Review: Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives - Essay Example

Running Head: BOOK REVIEW: MULTICULTURAL Book Review: Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives Instructor Name Date of Submission Book Review: Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives Justification for Selection of the Book Education is based on a sort of methodology that conveys ideas and facts to the humans in a holistic and systematic way. From the perspective of communicating these ideas and facts spanning over various disciplines, theories, literatures, etc. education can be regarded as one of the different media that propagate human endeavor and civilization.

This medium is explicitly based on communication. The communication systems and methods between an educator and a learner may show either individual specific uniqueness or community oriented generalization or both. Multicultural education thus becomes an important ally of communication sciences. It deals with handling pupils from different ethnicities, linguistic groups, social strata, etc. Hence, selecting a book with the title Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives (Banks and McGee-Banks, 2006) arises hope for a very relevant and useful review that can both enhance theoretical and practical knowledge and provide us with a pathway to study extended and relevant matter.

The book does not follow any single line of thought since it contains contributions from various authors, who have significant scholastic knowledge in the field of multicultural communication and have been excellent communicators themselves. Thesis and Major Promise The main thesis of the book is that if the various explanations, concepts, and paradigms of educational practices involved in teaching in linguistically, culturally, and racially diversified classrooms are collected from the top scholars in the filed and presented in a lucid, systematic way, the reader will acquire considerable insight of modern practical teaching.

In attempting to proceed according to this thesis, the editors have written some chapters themselves and invited others to write on different relevant topics. The major promise of the book is to “define the major concepts and issues in multicultural education, describe the diverse meanings of culture, and describe the ways in which such variables as race, gender, and exceptionality influence student behavior. Various aspects and definitions of culture are discussed.” (Banks and McGee-Banks, 2006, p. 1) In this context, the sphere of multicultural involvement and evolution is extensively based on a communication oriented model.

The studies help the educators to develop insight of various topics to become skilled and effective communicators. Relevance and Significance There are various principals and guidelines on how to impart proper education from both the practical and theoretical perspectives of the subject. “The sheer volume of paperwork produced can be confusing, overwhelming, and intimidating to parents, particularly those with limited English proficiency.” (Meyer et al, 2006) Hence, the main aim of the book is diminishing the communication gaps existing in the practice of multicultural education.

The majority of scholars utilize a communication based approach to help the educators understand their business better. In this effort, McGee-Banks (2006, p. 427) advocates the establishment of “two-way communication between the school and the home.” Thus, the readings become highly relevant to the class course content. Teachers must have leadership and communication skills, and practitioners from media, communication, and journalism should learn from them. The text makes significant contribution in understanding how the major socio-cultural and ethno-educational issues can be solved by the means of effective use of media and extended, interactive communication.

Since the book discusses numerous perspectives, there is enough scope for a wide spectrum analysis of communication methods and practices that can be implemented across ethnicities, language groups, minorities, etc. Strengths and Weaknesses The major strength of the book is that it is supplied with ample statistical charts, tables, and figures, which help the reader to accomplish factual interpretations. In the context of developing transcultural communication models, updated information base provides authenticity and confidence to not only the educational practitioners but also the policy makers, media personnel, sociologists, etc.

Each chapter is well organized and the texts follow a neat and homogenous pattern throughout. Moreover, there is a chapter that focuses on the transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay issues too that provides deeper insight and comprehension. The text is, however, not immune to weaknesses. Too much emphasis on communication may be helpful for students and professionals from the field of communication studies, but the focus on the core subject, i.e., education is occasionally blurred. Many of the works of the different scholars are very much critical to the contemporary systems and practices.

After reading the book, one may be compelled to ask that is everything in and around contemporary education so bad? Some small sections of the book create confusion that which subject they are dealing with. Interdisciplinary approach should always be appreciated, but in this book, there are confusions sometimes. References Banks, J.A. and McGee-Banks, C.A. (Eds) (2006). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Hobokon: Wiley. McGee-Banks, C.A. (2006). Chapter 17. In Banks, J.A. and McGee-Banks, C.A. (Eds), Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives (pp. 417-435). Hobokon: Wiley. Meyer, L.H.

, Bevan Brown, J.M., Park, and H-S, Savage, C. (2006). Chapter 14. In Banks, J.A. and McGee-Banks, C.A. (Eds), Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives (pp. 343-362). Hobokon: Wiley.