This article calls attention to the paradigms underlying current approaches to multicultural education and expands on them with contributions from the field of psychology. The first section introduces a typology of philosophical assumptions that has been used to classify approaches to multiculturalism in the field of psychology. The typology classifies assumptions as universal, ubiquitous, traditional, race-based, or pan-national. The second section discusses racial identity theory as an important psychological component of a race-based perspective for understanding race and culture in education. The third section describes how racial identity affects educational thought and practice.
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