Category: Our Approach

Articles written about SEAC or by SEAC associates.

NEW MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM |Newsletter 1

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How much does racial prejudice affect elementary classrooms in urban schools, especially the early grades? There is much debate among elementary educators on the answer to that troubling question. Some believe young children are still too innocent to be “corrupted” by America’s racial strife so early in life. Others believe that parent and neighborhood prejudice is quickly absorbed by the children and infuses the classroom from the first day of school. Read More …

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES | Newsletter 2

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In our first newsletter, we explained the new perspective on multicultural education that is being developed by a team of educators at the South-East Asia Center in the Uptown area of Chicago. This newsletter will provide a review of the best multicultural educational resources that were used by the Center’s team to help develop their curriculum for grades 1-3 and 7-8. Read More …

CULTURAL SEPARATISM DANGER FOR AMERICA | Newsletter 3

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What do the “liberal” Mother Jones and the “conservative” American Legion magazines have in common? Both recently published articles warn of the dangerous role cultural separatists are playing in building chasms between ethnic groups, thereby dividing America. Read More …

GENESIS FOR MULTICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL APPROACH | Newsletter 4

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The South-East Asia Center is very concerned that traditional multicultural education often unwittingly supports the separatists agenda. The Center strongly believes that we should be developing curriculum that counters this agenda by teaching our children to understand others’ perspectives and through historically accurate histories and better cultural understanding learn to appreciate the power that comes from recognizing common goals and harnessing cooperative action. The Center is developing such a curriculum and teaching it in two Chicago Public schools. Read More …

THE LAND OF MANY COLORS | Newsletter 5

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A class of pre-schoolers in Klamath Falls, Oregon wrote with their teacher one of the best anti-violence reading books for K-3 that we have ever found. The Land of Many Colors evolved during the Persian Gulf war because the preschoolers had many questions about war due to family members and friends involvement. Read More …

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION REVISITED | Newsletter 6

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At first glance SEAC’s model multicultural curriculum targetting children in the multiethnic Uptown-Edgewater’s McCutcheon and Goudy Schools, seems not to be all that out of the ordinary. Curriculum focuses on developing self-esteem, positive social interaction skills and cooperation skills with a goal of ultimately more peaceful, productive classrooms and society. Students examine prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, victimization, conflict resolution, peer pressure, goal setting, problem solving, parenting, values, teamwork, communication and life skills all geared, of course, to age level. Read More …

CROSS-CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS|Newsletter 7

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Holiday celebration can be fun, multiculturally educational and legal — as far as separation of church and state.

Christmas carols, for instance, can easily be turned into multicultural lessons. Children can feel they are participating in the spirit of the season while teachers can feel they are abiding by the law and teaching lessons with a virtuous, yet non-sectarian theme. Read More …