Multicultural Education in the United Kingdom: Historical Development and Current Status.

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter provides a historical review of the development of education for a multicultural society in postwar Britain, particularly in England. It is based on existing literature but makes no claims to be comprehensive in coverage. Britain has long been culturally diverse and characterized both racism and by antiracist forces and democratic ideals. As with social issues of any significance, there is scarcely an issue of any importance related to the education of a multicultural society that has not been contested, as a review of the historical developments in multicultural education demonstrates. Among the many opponents of multicultural education have been antiracists who have condemned the failures of multicultural education to attack racism directly. There is no inherent conflict between the two approaches, and one of the objectives of future educational strategies should be integrating the two approaches to educational reform. (Contains 208 references.) (SLD)