Effects and Limits of Core Schools for Multicultural Education (The Journal of Curriculum and Evaluation; Vol. 19, No. 1)

 This study investigates curriculum programs of core schools for multicultural education and teachers’ responses to their effects and limits. To address these topics, this study analyzes curricular documents collected from 18 elementary and secondary schools selected as exemplary cases in 2014. It also conducted in-depth interviews with 14 teachers who are in charge of planing and implementing multicultural programs in core schools. Major results support that multicultural core schools expand the targets of multicultural education to mainstream students, their parents and local residents beyond minority students and their parents. It turned out, however, that multicultural core schools still tend to untouch structural biases and discriminations, while focusing on extending students’ awareness of cultural and racial diversities. This study also reveals that participating teachers face such difficulties as heavy workloads, lack of collaboration from local schools, and lack of relevant experiences and instructional materials. Based on these results, this study suggests the sharing of successful programs, enhancing teachers awareness of the significance of multicultural education, and further supports for teachers in charge of multicultural education to achieve the targeted goals of multicultural core schools.