Multicultural/Multiethnic Education Baseline Essay Project
| The Concept | What are the Baseline Essays? | Who is the Audience | Philosophy | The Essays |
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Geocultural Baseline Essay Project |
Definition: Multicultural/Multiethnic Education is education that by virtue of specific content, inclusive perspective(s) and a structured process prepares students to live, learn and work in a pluralistic world, and fosters an appreciation, respect and tolerance for people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Purpose: To provide resources and assist teachers, administrators, families and their communities in ensuring that all children, regardless of class, background (religion, race, ethnic group, culture or language), mental, physical or emotional status or learning style--have equal access and opportunities to learn...achieve CIM/CAM/PASS standards, and reach their full potential.
The Concept of Baseline Essays
The concept of the Baseline Essays was introduced by Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III consultant to the District's desegregation plan, in 1982. The term when used by Portland Public Schools means a series of essays that gives information about the history, culture and contributions of a specific geocultural group in the areas of art, language arts, mathematics, science, social science and music. The purpose of the essays is to provide the reader with a holistic and thematic history of the culture and contributions of a specific geocultural group from ancient times to the present. This will enable the reader to get a better understanding of the group's world view--axiology (values) and epistemology (ways of knowing).
Writing essays that address traditional areas of study provides a framework that allows teachers to move the information from the basic discipline to the specific subjects the teacher will present to students. Baseline Essays are to be read by all District staff-administrators, counselors, support staff, teachers, etc. This will enable them to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the history, culture and contributions of the geocultural group and further, to utilize the information to provide better service to all students.
While the District has made a commitment to Baseline Essays for each of the geocultural groups, the length of the essays has not been defined. Ideally, essays should not exceed 50 pages; however, the individual essays can be significantly shorter in length. References and bibliographies will enable those who need more information to do follow-up reading and research. [top]
Baseline Essays are reference volumes each consisting of six or seven individual essays written in traditional subject-matter areas. Together, the Essays document the history, culture(s) and contributions of a specific geocultural group. Each series of Essays (African-American [Af-Am], American Indian [Am-In], Hispanic-American [Hi-Am], Asian-American [As-Am], and European- American [Eu-Am]) represents the holistic themetic history of people(s) in ancient times on the continent of origin and from the early to recent times in the United States of America. Each geocultural essay series is reviewed by one general consultant, District staff and a planning/advisory committee (e.g. Hispanic Planning Advisory Committee, American Indian Curriculum Committee, African-American Curriculum Consultants ...) The table on the following page summarizes the the product of the baseline essay project. The world map shows the continental and national breakdown of the cultural world. (Note that by standard geograhic definition of a continent, Europe and Asia are not separate continents but, together, constitute one (Eurasia) because they are, together, surrounded by water.) Each book icon in the table represents a specific electronically available essay. The associated essay can be viewed online by clicking the icon. Other links in the table provide additional information about the essay series. [top]
Who is the Audience for the Baseline Essays?
The primary audience for the Baseline Essays is the more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high school teachers, administrators, other certificated and support staff who work in the Portland Public School District.
The primary audience for the Baseline Essays is the more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high school teachers, administrators, other certificated and support staff who work in the Portland Public School District.
The secondary audience is educators, generally, along with parents and others interested in multicultural/multiethnic education. [top]
All geocultural groups have made and continue to make significant contributions to the world in which we live.
No geocultural group is innately inferior or superior.
People are interdependent and should coexist as one humanity.
Students' achievement, self-esteem and social skills will be positively affected by multicultural/multiethnic education.
Parent involvement and community support are integral to the processes of effectively educating students.
Nichols' Model (pdf)
Millenia ago human beings were grouped together in specific environments which impacted their view of the world (axioligies and epistemologies).
World Views and archtypes of geocultural groups impact the group's behaviors.
Hilliard's Theories
Defamation of the name of a geocultural group creates psychological problems that can be addressed by rebuilding cultural identity (psychological health and mental liberation).
Understanding and appreciation will occur if students learn the holistic and themetic history of geocultural groups. [top]
