Multicultural Curriculum Transformation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Book excerpt: This volume focuses on multicultural curriculum transformation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics or STEM subject areas broadly, while also focusing on sub-content areas (e.g., earth science, digital technologies) in greater detail. The discussion of each sub-content area outlines critical considerations for multicultural curriculum transformation for the sub-content areas by grade level (early childhood and elementary school education, middle and/or junior high school education, and high school education) and then by organizing tool parameters: standards (both in a generalized fashion, and specific to Common Core State Standards, among other standards), educational context, relationships with and among students and their families, civic engagement, considerations pertaining to educational “ability” broadly considered (for example, for gifted and talented education, bilingual gifted and talented education, “regular” education, bilingual “regular” education, special education, bilingual special education), as well as relative to specific content and corresponding pedagogical considerations, including evaluation of student learning and teaching effectiveness. In this way, the volume provides a conceptual framework andconcrete examples for how to go about multiculturally-transforming curriculum in STEM curricula. The volume is designed to speak with PK-12 teachers as colleagues in the multicultural curriculum transformation work at focus in each subject area and at varied grade levels. Readers are exposed to “things to think about,” but also given curricular examples to work with or from in going about the actual, concrete work of curriculum change. It bridges the gaps between preparing PK-12 teachers to be able to 1) independently multiculturally adapt existing curriculum, and, 2) create new multicultural curriculum differentiated for their content areas and grade levels, while also, 3) providing ample examples of what such adapted and new differentiated curricula looks like. In so doing, this volume also bridges the gaps between the theory and practice of multicultural curriculum transformation in higher and PK-12 educational contexts.