Since early American history, schools, like society, have addressed cultural diversity in different ways. In the colonial days, some attempts to adjust to cultural differences were made in the New York colony, but the dominant American culture was the norm in the general public, as well as most of the schools. As America approached the nineteenth century, the need for a common culture was the basis for the educational forum. Formal public school instruction in cultural diversity was rare, and appreciation or celebration of minority or ethnic
culture essentially was nonexistent in most schools. In the 1930's, the educators were in the
progressive education movement, called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged
ethnic and minority students to study their heritage's. This movement became popular in many schools until around 1950. Now, these days in education, the term multicultural education
never escapes a teacher's thoughts (Ryan, 26).
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