Transforming Curriculum Through Multicultural Education: White Female Educators Moving Beyond the Tourist Approach to Multiculturalism

As the population of the United States becomes more diverse, and the teaching force remains predominantly White, the importance of multicultural education becomes increasingly clear. Yet many White educators consider the "tourist" or "Human Relations" approach to multicultural education as sufficient. Some educators, however, have moved beyond these cursory approaches to multicultural education. Utilizing feminist standpoint theory informed by postpositivist realism and critical race theory, this study examines common characteristics of five White female elementary educators who have moved beyond cursory implementation of multicultural teaching. The understandings of these teachers are important to both practitioners and teacher educators who are seeking to develop these understandings in the upcoming teaching force.