(NAME-MCE) Multicultural Education Master's Programs?

[Mark Brimhall-Vargas]

Dear Dr. Tapp and NAME et al--

Respectfully, I am uneasy about connecting ORU's graduate education  
program and the request for an education graduate school that  
emphasizes 'multicultural education, social justice education, and  
critical pedagogy.'  I recognize that colleges often have their own  
admissions policies and practices, but everything I have found on  
ORU's website indicates a distinctly and unapologetically  
monocultural, and arguably, not critical worldview.  (And I am not  
even addressing the issue of same-sex sexuality here...)

Several examples:
On page 21 of the online catalog, graduate admissions gives 'due  
regard to... compatability with the spiritual and intellectual  
philosophy of the university.'

And what would that philosophy be for the school of education?  Dean  
David Hand's welcome page for the school of education says the  
following:
"The Oral Roberts University School of Education is committed to  
helping develop Christian educators as professionals applying a  
Christian worldview in both public and private schools... We live in  
an increasingly secularized society that is removing God from  
education, business, and the marketplace. Because of this, there is  
an amplified need for professionally trained educators who are  
Christians; those who have been prepared to teach the students of the  
next generation. The ORU School of Education is here for those  
individuals who have realized their purpose is to be educators who  
will impact students, by living the Christian example, and teaching  
from an integrated Christian worldview."

This language makes me uneasy, because it is overtly seeking to  
apply, through the educators it graduates, a single worldview that  
has often been squarely at odds with social justice education and  
critical pedagogy.  Are you allowed to question this worldview in  
these graduate classes?  What happens if a student does this?   
Succinctly, what does it really mean to apply or teach from a  
'Christian worldview?' I am unsure that the answer is multicultural  
or committed to social justice, broadly defined.  Frankly, without  
other credible information, I just don't believe this claim.

Sincerely,

Mark Brimhall-Vargas
Assistant Director
Office of Human Relations Programs
1130 Shriver Laboratory, East Wing
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
301.405.2840 ph
301.314.9992 fx
brimhall at umd.edu

"The world in which you were born is just one model of reality.   
Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you.  Rather, they  
are unique manifestations of the human spirit."  --Wade Davis


On Oct 2, 2007, at 12:55 PM, Sherri Tapp wrote:

>
>
> You might also check out the Master's in Education Program at Oral  
> Roberts University. It provides certifiation as well as a  
> tremendously well rounded plan of study focused on preparing  
> students to be fully culturally competent educators. Read more  
> about it at: http://www.oru.edu/secondary/graduate.php or email Mr.  
> Jeff Keeney at jkeeney at oru.edu he has a wealth of information that  
> I am SURE will be of help to you. You may also call him directly in  
> the Grad Dept of the School of Education at 918-495-6553.
>
>
>
> Dr. Sherri D. Tapp, Ed.D.
> Associate Professor
> Graduate Education
> Oral Roberts University
> 7777 South Lewis Avenue
> Tulsa, Oklahoma 74171
> 918-495-7081
> stapp at oru.edu
>>>> ZS Worotynec <zsw at vex.net> 10/01/07 6:57 PM >>>
>
>
> If you're interested in younger children, there's a Masters in Early
> Childhood Education at Ryerson University in Toronto (one of the most
> ethnically diverse cities in the world, according to the UN). The
> program focusses on diversity and inclusion and social justice. See
> http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/programs/childhood_studies/
>
> ZS
> Kitchener ON
> zsw at vex.net
>
> On Sun, 30 Sep 2007, Joanna Oleet wrote:
>
>> I am looking to enter a Master's in Education program in the fall  
>> of 2008.
>> I'm seeking a program that combines multicultural education,  
>> social justice
>> education, and critical pedagogy. While I have found one or two  
>> programs
>> that really excite me (namely the Social Justice Education program  
>> at UMass
>> Amherst), I have not been able to find many that combine
>> preparation/certification to become a classroom teacher with a  
>> critical
>> study of social group formation, oppression, and power dynamics.  
>> Many of the
>
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