Among the characteristics of training (such as cross-cultural training) that differentiate it from traditional classroom education are its attention to how adults learn, preference for the experiential approach, emphasis on "learning how to learn," and tailoring to meet individual needs. Seven issues are considered to be most important in current…

Traditional literary canons, represented by E. D. Hirsch's list in "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know" of works which every literate American "needs to know," deemphasize the cultural significance of women and minorities. An alternative and expanded model of cultural literacy, GODDESS (Gender or Diversity…

This paper discusses an approach to multicultural education aimed at sensitizing teachers and teacher trainees to diverse cultural patterns. This approach, which is called "Functional Multicultural Education", uses literary writings to emphasize awareness of the levels of cultural differences, both overt and pervasive, that exist in a pluralistic…

American Indian news as reported in urban newspapers and frontier weeklies during the 1820s and 1830s was shaped by the prejudices of the age as well as by the particular historical circumstances which brought Indians into conflict with White Americans. The press portrayed a culture for which it had little abiding sympathy or understanding,…

The contents of this concept paper examining the roll of the mass media in the socialization of minority groups in America include an examination of the major literature dealing with the socialization of minority groups, a discussion of subculture orientation to minority socialization, consideration of the theories of ethnocentrism and their…

Identifies three forms of racism in American historiography and literature: (1) outright anti-Black bias; (2) ignorance of Black accomplishments and the Black experience; and (3) Eurocentric "universalism," a euphemism for the refusal to discuss race and the particularities of Black history and culture. Also discusses mainstream scholars'…

This study examined experienced and novice teachers' views on teaching in multicultural classrooms, asking 40 elementary student teachers and 26 cooperating teachers how they viewed the needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Participants rated 23 statements about multicultural education on a Likert scale of agreement, and completed…

Methodological problems caused by an ethnocentric view in analyzing another culture are discussed along with some aspects of culture analysis in general and stereotypes about other cultures and their functions in cross-cultural communication. It is suggested that miscommunication is subject to various norms and value systems that are not made…

Major worldwide trends point to increased global interdependency and interrelatedness, to a growing need to overcome barriers that separate cultures, and to the development of new leadership that is culturally fluent and aware of cross-cultural opportunities and problems. This paper addresses major global-related questions and trends and the…

In the past, American educational consultants have attempted to export American educational philosophy and procedures to other countries largely without regard to the specific needs or problems of these countries. Although these consultants regard the knowledge they share as scientific and technical and thus culture- and value-free, it is often…

There has been relatively little research into the ways in which language may be manipulated to increase social distance in interethnic and interracial encounters. The first part of this paper discusses three types of communicative distance, which reflect three different intensities of ethnocentrism: "low,""moderate," and…

The possibility exists that another language resource, the Spanish language of the Mexican American, will be lost in the United States due to language ethnocentrism. Mexican American bilingualism is viewed as an intellectual handicap by public educators who do not understand the basic linguistic bias of instruments utilized to measure the…

Wide variation in approaches to teaching about Asia in the schools suggests a need for categorizing those approaches so that a teacher might see his approach in some relationship with others of differing persuasions. The following evolutionary levels of conceptualization are suggested; Asia as (1) a setting for Western history, where Western…

This paper reviews and analyzes current literature addressing the issue of multicultural communication education. The notions of ethnorelativity and relational empathy are investigated in the paper and introduced as the components of third-culture building (a dynamic and creative process through which individuals construct a new and mutually…

This study explored hetero- and auto-stereotyping in 23 Pakistani students studying in the United States; 21 French and 20 American college students enrolled at the University of Besancon, France; and 59 American college students who had never lived or studied abroad. All subjects completed a four-page questionnaire in their native language in…