Never Heard of ‘Em: Multicultural Education, Belonging, and Self-Esteem in Students

Abstract

This study investigated whether multicultural education and stereotypical content in a lesson plan would have an effect on students’ sense of belonging and self-esteem. Four models of lesson plans were developed in order to assess the effect of multiculturalism and stereotypes on belonging and self-esteem. For the Black students, I predicted that the model that would have the highest scores on belonging and self-esteem would be the Integrated-Nonstereotypical model. For the White students, I predicted that there would be equal scores of belonging and self-esteem between the different conditions. The findings of the study showed different patterns between Black and White participants in what lesson plan they preferred. The implications of multicultural education as a practice are discussed.