ATHENS, Ga. – It used to be known as the Multicultural Education Task Force (MCTF). Now it’s called the Dean’s Council for Diversity. But no matter how you label it, the group represents the University of Georgia College of Education=s commitment to fostering the understanding of and respect for cultural differences that has become an integral part of the school’s teaching and research mission over the past decade.
“Perhaps the biggest impact [of multicultural education] has come from awareness-raising – what we teach, what we say,” said Janette Hill, an associate professor in instructional technology. “This has come in many ways – the newsletter, the seminars and the library to name a few. I know that my involvement with the MCTF and now the Dean’s Council on Diversity has enabled me to re examine and change what I do in my own practice. I know this has happened for others, too.”
Members of the Dean’s Council – 35 faculty, staff and students – were recently reminded of their panel’s roots when it was noted during an annual retreat that it was the 10th anniversary of the college’s Multicultural Education Initiative.
“My goal this year is to locate our work in the center of routine discussions that take place in the college. Diversity cannot be a separate topic,” said Louis Castenell, dean of the college.
Ten years ago the administration and faculty of the education college agreed to make multiculturalism an emphasis in all aspects of the college. In 1994 the first college-wide conference on multiculturalism on the UGA campus was held.
“We were the only college with a dedicated agenda, a formally adopted mission statement about increasing our effort in multicultural education,” said Jenny Oliver, director of academic initiatives and one of the founding members of effort.
“I think the most significant thing about this initiative is that it has opened up ideological space to discuss issues and to question, even challenge certain policies and practices,” said Talmadge Guy, an associate professor of adult education and another founding member. “On the other hand, 10 years out I think there’s still a great deal remaining to be done. The work is only partly successful and in some ways superficially so but the work does continue.”
Many faculty cite self-examination of their programs on issues of diversity as the most valuable contribution of the multicultural initiative.
“Many departments had retreats, study groups, speakers, intensive work sessions and great debates about how and where to include issues of diversity in our courses, program requirements, field experiences and research processes,” said JoBeth Allen, professor of language education and a founding member. “This work will impact every student and faculty member in our programs for years to come.”
Hill said the multicultural education conferences held a few years ago were of particular benefit for students. “It not only provided them with a way to talk about their work, it also enabled them to meet a lot of leaders from other multiculturalism/diversity initiatives outside of UGA.”
The effort is clearly reflected in today’s education curriculum. The college not only complied with the UGA requirement for undergraduates but extended a cultural diversity requirement to the graduate curriculum as well. By 1999 the college had more than 80 courses whose primary focus was on issues of diversity.
“It was very important to us, especially in teacher education, to do a good job of preparing culturally competent educators,” said Oliver. “So not only do you know how to teach the lesson, but you also know how culture affects the teaching and learning process.”
The education college’s multicultural initiative has also included the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and students of color; faculty and staff development; research; resource development; and review and revision of curriculum to include diverse perspectives.
The multicultural initiative also led to the establishment in 1994 of “mini grants” to provide incentive, help initiate and support departmental efforts in multicultural education. Former Dean Russell Yeany allocated $10,000 in mini grants for the 1994 95 academic year to be awarded in a competitive application process.
By 2000 47 mini grants had been awarded to college faculty, staff and students to support all-day departmental training on diversity; conference presentations at state, national and international conferences; refereed journal articles; seed money to provide baseline data for competing for larger grants; development of CD-rom instructional materials; development of instructional videos and teacher guides; and the establishment of a multicultural library classroom in the college.
“The grants enabled the research to be conducted – and then the resulting reports added to our overall knowledge base,” said Hill.
Now faculty in the College of Education are looking at initiatives with a larger vision. “We’ve been through several periods of self-reflection, keeping us contemporary and more in keeping with cutting-edge issues in diversity,” said Oliver.
