res represented in the class” (Dixon and Fraser, 62.) To overcome the myths stated earlier, teachers need to consider children’s cultural identities and be aware of their own biases. One solution made by Phillips was that in order to change people’s oppressive ways, we must learn about oppression. He said we must examine our responses to diversity, devoting as much effort to changing them as we devote to learning about culture. Teachers and parents can take several approaches to integrate and develop a multicultural perspective. I think children’s play, or role-play, is an excellent strategy for developing new perspectives on cultures and lifestyles. Also, threatening children as unique individuals, each with something to contribute is an important strategy as well. Welton included in his book approaches to a multicultural education and perspectives. One approach is the Contributions Approach. This approach focuses on activities and units that involve heroes, holidays, and unique cultural events. The second approach is the Additive Approach. This approach adds other books, units, or courses to the existing curriculum, but not changing it to a large extent. Another approach is the Transformational Approach. This approach changes the original curriculum so that the student’s perspective is that of a different culture or ethnic group. The last approach mentioned was the Social Action Approach. With this approach students will use the knowledge they already know and focus that on important social issues, asking students to make decisions and appropriate actions to become skilled in social change. Out of all of these approaches presented, I personally like the contributions and transformational approaches the most. I believe the other two approaches would be successful but also become confusing to the students at times. When using any approach to get rid of stereotypes, and have a multicultural...
