Dr. Valerie Ooka Pang; Annie Nguyen, Requa Anne Stathis

1. NATIONAL FORUM OF MULTICULTURAL ISSUES JOURNAL
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2, 2013
SPONSORED BY THE TEXAS CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR
MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
32
Caring-Centered Multicultural Education:
Culture- andRelationship-Centered
Valerie Ooka Pang
Professor
School of Teacher Education
College of Education
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA
Annie Nguyen
Ph.D. Student
San Diego State University/Claremont Graduate University
Requa Anne Stathis
Ph.D. Student
San Diego State University/Claremont Graduate University
__________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
The Caring-centered Multicultural Education celebrates the importance of education and the
development of citizens who care for others and work collaboratively to build a compassionate and
equitable society (Pang, 2010). Caring-centered Multicultural Education is a framework which
integrates three theories: Ethic of Care (Noddings), Sociocultural Theory of Learning (Vygotsky), and
Education for Democracy (John Dewey). The caring-centered philosophy is a culture-centered and
relationship-centered framework dedicated to equity in education; it arises from an ethical purpose to
care for and teach all children. Teachers, who hold a moral commitment to care for all students,
believe their contribution to a just society is their efforts to create an educational system that is
dedicated to developing the potential of each student. The goals of Caring-centered education are
comprehensive school reform and the closing of the achievement gap between children from low-
income and culturally/linguistically diverse communities from their mainstream peers. Two case
studies of Caring-centered education demonstrate how the principles are operationalized by teachers.
__________________________________________________________________________________
The Caring-centered multicultural education framework celebrates the importance of education
and the development of citizens who care for others and work collaboratively to build a compassionate
and equitable society (Pang, 2010). The caring-centered philosophyis a relationship-centered and
culture-centered framework dedicated to equity in education; it arises from an ethical purpose to care
for and teach all children. Teachers, who hold a moral commitment to care for all students, believe

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33
their contribution to a just society is their efforts to create an educational system that is dedicated to
developing the potential of each student. The goals of Caring-centered education are comprehensive
school reform and the closing of the achievement gap between children from low-income and
culturally/linguistically diverse communities from their mainstream peers.
Caring-centered education focuses on the importance of human relationships among teachers
and students and on the psychological integrity and achievement of students in cross-cultural settings.
The underlying belief is that conditions of caring, community (in a democracy), and culture in diverse
classrooms produce higher levels of achievement that lead to greater social efficacy. This more
effective learning community empowers and prepares students from culturally/linguistically diverse
and low income groups to work toward social, political, and economic justice and achieve their
personal professional goals (Pang, Rivera, & Mora, 1999). Here is the definition of Multicultural
Education that is utilized in Caring-centered education:
Multicultural Education is a field in education that calls for total school reform and is based on
the belief that education is an intellectual and ethical endeavor. The field seeks to develop
happy, creative, ethical, and fulfilled persons who work toward a more compassionate and just
society. Students are also encouraged to develop vitaldecision-making and intercultural
communication skills. Multicultural Education,as part of a life-giving process of growth and
joy, focuses on teaching the wholestudent with the goal of academic excellence and developing
the potential of eachstudent by integrating three critical belief systems: the ethic of care theory,
education for democracy, and the sociocultural context of human growth and development.
(Pang, 2010, p. 222).
Caring-Centered Multicultural Education
The importance of culture in the caring-centered framework is intertwined with the
development of caring and socially just schools. Caring-centered education is based on a framework of
three theories (Pang, 2010); the first is the ethic of care (Noddings, 1992), the second theory is the
sociocultural theory of learning (Cole, 1996), and the third is education for democracy (Dewey, 1916).
One of the key principles of the field is its holistic perspective. Teaching is seen not only
within the development of the whole person, but also as a comprehensive process. Teaching is an art;
it is not made up of many isolated skills. Rather, teaching is a complex combination of skills,
knowledge, and beliefs that work in sync to create an environment that encourages maximum growth
in the student and the teacher.
Arising out of the ethic of care, caring is viewed as a fundamental human capacity that refers to
coherent patterns of behaviors in interpersonal interactions rather than a romantic notion of
sentimentality (Noddings, 1992; Pang, 2010). Caring is the nurturing of trusting relationships as the
foundation for building an effective and motivating classroom environment. It can be seen in various
aspects of schools such as teacher empathy, positive school climate, affirmation of students,
commitment to care for others, and affirming the family knowledge that students bring to school.
Schools must be places where students and teachers learn, are valued and affirmed, and collaborate in
the establishment of capacities to care for each other and the greater society within a social justice
orientation.
Culture is also at the core of the framework because it is seen as a crucial element in the
development of effective learning. “Culture is like the air; it is always there” (Pang, 2010, p. 36).

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Culture warms children; it is a blanket from their families that embraces students when they are first
born. Culture also guides young people and affirms their identity. Culture also provides children with
filters that shape their interpretations of life. Culture is all encompassing. Culture refers to explicit
elements, interactional patterns, and values (Valle, 1997). Cultural background is taught through
language, nonverbal communications, and social interactions. New ideas are interpreted in relationship
to prior knowledge, how an individual identifiesher/himself, and a person's perspectives. Therefore,
thesecond theory of the framework, the sociocultural theory of learning, was developed by Vygotsky
to explain how learning is socially mediated. He believed that people learn through social interactions
and these interactions occur within multiple cultural contexts. Scholars like Vygotsky believe language
and social interactions are major cultural tools needed to develop brainpower, our cognition.
Cultural dissonance often occurs in classrooms when culturally diverse students come with
different perspectives or beliefs about life that contrast with those of their peers and teachers.
Misunderstandings can arise when teachers misinterpret or do not understand student behaviors and
viewpoints.
Strong cross-cultural communications must be nurtured in teachers and students.
Culturally/linguistically diverse students also must have a working knowledge of mainstream culture
to survive economically, politically, and socially. Teachers also must be able to reach all of their
students and it is crucial that educators do not overlook the low achievement of many diverse students
(Gay, 2010). Some teachers may gloss over the low academic achievement of students and consider
that presentation of ethnic history, literature, or rituals are sufficient additions to the school
curriculum.
The third theory in the Caring-centered framework is education for democracy developed by
John Dewey. As an advocate of democracy, Dewey believed that schools should be major institutions
to mentor children to become active citizens who make just decisions based on the common good.
Dewey proposed that schools should be laboratories of democracy where students developed
communication and collaboration skills that enabled them to work with others as responsible citizens
(Cremin, 1988). Dewey saw democracy as a way of life and not only a form of government (Dewey,
1916). The result is that schools become places where students are actively involved in the process of
democracy.
Dewey did not look at democracy merely as a system of government in which everyone votes
and majority prevails. For Dewey, democracy was a mode of associated living, and decisions
were made by a shared process of inquiry . . . Democracy . . . is not a state; it is more a process,
and its rules must be under continual scrutiny, revision, and creation. (Noddings 1995, p. 35)
In addition, Dewey also thought that through collaborative living, racial and class bias could be
broken down. Since students would be in classrooms with students of many different cultural
backgrounds, they would be enriched by the many viewpoints and belief systems that they shared with
each other. Dewey viewed schools not only as places where children could develop their minds and
their abilities to read, write, and do mathematics, but also as places where students could learn about
society and different ways of looking at the world through discussions and subject areas related to the
arts, nature, and ethics.
Education for democracy is student centered and the theory advocates the teaching of higher-
order-thinking analysis skills in students so that they will examine racial inequities, class struggles,
and gender discrimination (Dewey, 1916; Freire, 1970). Schools should be places of activity where
people work on common problems and establish rules collaboratively (Noddings, 1995). Education for

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democracy focuses on teaching students how to analyze power relationships and build collaborative
communities; it also encourages social communication skills. See Figure 1 for a visual representation
of Caring-centered Education.
Figure 1. Caring-centered multicultural education framework teaching the whole student.
One of the most effective ways to explain how the Caring-centered framework can be seen in
schools is through the presentation of examples. The next two sections describe two case studies of
high school students who were guided by caring-centered teachers. The first one describes the
experience of a first-generation college bound student. The second case explains how a teacher was
able to build on the abilities of a high school student who did not feel as if he had many inherent
strengths.
Case Study One: Nancy’s Climb to Academic Achievement and College
Nancy comes from a low-income, first generation, Vietnamese American family.Her
mother was a refugee who left her country by boat in the early 1980's. Life was extremely
difficult as a refugee. She first lived in a camp in Malaysia and later in the Philippines. It took
two years before she was allowed to go to the United States. When she arrived in San Francisco,
Nancy's mother worked hard so that her younger sisters could attend middle and high school.
She herself did not have the financial support to go to college. Nancy's father has not been a
member of the family since she was born.
Education
for
Democracy
Ethic of Care
Socio-
Cultural
Theory of
Learning

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Nancy attended an elite public junior high in the Bay area. However, she had trouble
adjusting to high school because it was more academically rigorous. Though she entered as a
straight A student, Nancy failed several courses as a freshman and was put on academic
probation; her mother was extremely disappointed and felt a grade point average below 4.0 was
not good enough.
Nancy decided that she could do better so when she entered sophomore year she was
motivated to start again with a clean slate. She was determined to pass all of her classes and
continued to do so through her junior year. When her senior year arrived, Nancy’s counselor,
Ms. Brown, called her in for a meeting to discuss grades and college plans. Ms. Brown informed
Nancy that if she wanted to go to college she would have to make up her D’s and F’s from
freshman year. Nancy was shocked and overwhelmed; she thought that since she had done so
well in the rest of her years in high school, she did not have to worry about anything. Nancy had
always planned to go to college; her mother had never expected anything less and there she was
in her senior year, being told that she might not get into college.
No one in Nancy's family had gone to college so she did not have anyone to get advice
from. Her older brothers had dropped out of high school. Nancy did not know what steps she
needed to take in order to be admitted to college. She worried that educational opportunities were
not open to her, she might not get to go to college and she did not want to disappoint her mother.
Ms. Brown, her counselor, assured Nancy that college was still possible; she needed to work
hard and make up the classes with failing and poor grades. The counselor explained that Nancy
could take extra classes at her high school and a local night school. This was the beginning of a
life changing relationship between Nancy and Ms. Brown who closely mentored and cared for
her during the senior year of high school.
Ms. Brown encouraged and nourished Nancy. She took extra time to meet with the young
student. They created a strong trusting relationship of open communication and Nancy began to
feel empowered and set her path to college. Nancy took action by signing up for 8 classes in one
semester as well as a night school course in order to meet college admissions requirements in her
last year of high school. As the semester went on, Nancy continually met with Ms. Brown and
discussed her progress. Ms. Brown believed that Nancy was going to make it. The counselor
helped Nancy use her organizational skills so she also developed stronger study habits. Nancy
began to think that she might become the first person in her family to go to college. She passed
all of her classes and earned an overall 3.0 GPA, just high enough to be considered by a 4-year
university.
Nancy believes that without Ms. Brown's mentoring, her higher education goals may not
have been possible. She might have first gone to a community college and then could have given
up on her quest for a college degree.
Upon entering college she built a relationship with another counselor in the Educational
Opportunity Program (EOP), Mrs. Williams. Like Ms. Brown, her university counselor believed
in Nancy and continued to encourage her to remain focused on her academics. Nancy was
extremely homesick during her first year of college since she moved hundreds of miles from
home. However, Nancy believed in herself and knew that educational opportunities were open to
her.
Ms. Williams and Nancy met several times each semester, and during their meetings, Ms.
Williams introduced the idea of graduate school. This relationship was pivotal in helping Nancy
excel in her studies, graduate with her undergraduate degree in 3 years, and be admitted into
graduate school. She earned high grades in college with an overall GPA of 4.0 in her master’s

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program.
Equal educational opportunity is possible for students from underrepresented families.
Both Ms. Brown and Ms. Williams affirmed Nancy and taught her how to become self-
empowered. These are important elements of caring-centered education. Other teachers and
even her own mother told her she should go to college, but did not show her the steps that she
needed to take in order to become successful. Her mother wanted the best for her, but often
scolded her for not getting an A in a class; then Nancy would feel like a failure. However, Ms.
Brown and Mrs. Williams always believed in Nancy and taught her howto reach her college
goals. Nancy has earned not only her undergraduate degree but also a Masters in counseling.
Today Nancy is a counselor and works with high school students, mentoring other students like
herself whose goalis to become the first in their family to graduate from college.
Case Study Two: High School Vocational Education
College career and technical education (CCTE) courses are focused on preparing high
school students for academic and occupational success by incorporating core academics with
technical and entry level job training experience. The goal of CCTE programs is to provide a
successful transition for students from secondary to postsecondary school and attaining
employment as caring, contributing citizens (Gordon, 2008). In many districts in Southern
California, high schools offer several CCTE courses in a variety of career fields including, but
not limited to Child Development, Arts Technology, Nutrition and Biomedical studies. Capstone
or advanced CCTE courses are offered to students during their last two years of high school due
to their occupational nature.
Through community based partnerships, students taking capstone courses receive entry
level job training skills and are placed in corresponding career field internships. These advanced
CCTE courses were formerly termed Regional Occupational Programs (ROP) because their
federal funding source originally supported college vocational programs (Wang & King, 2009).
The most current ROP funding for community based instruction programs is directed from the
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 with the government’s goal of
developing competent and academically as well as occupationally prepared citizens. The
following case study involves a twelfth grade student from a school in Southern California
enrolled in the CCTE Child Development program.
Students participating in this course received training in developmental psychology
theory and entry level preschool curriculum planning and implementation for the first nine weeks
of school. Next, students are placed as teacher aide interns in preschools within the surrounding
community.
During the first week of school Chris, a pseudonym, caught the teacher's attention with
his boisterous and high energy personality. He was a student who might be labeled as the “class
clown,” always more interested in entertaining others than focusing on his studies. Chris told his
child developmental psychology teacher that he had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD); he warned her that most of his teachers eventually got sick of him and then kicked him
out of their class. Fortunately, CCTE courses offer a less restrictive and a more hands-on
learning environment where students like Chris can redirect their energy. The teacher was
shocked to hear how negatively Chris viewed his interactions and relationships with other
teachers. She was determined to ensure that her class would be a positive growth experience for
him. She started by developing a program for Chris by connecting his interests and caring about

7. VALERIE OOKA PANG, ANNIE NGUYEN, and REQUA ANNE STATHIS
38
him as a person. The teacher and Chris also found out that they had a personal connection; both
were Italian and had similar cultural views. A rapport began to grow.
After meeting with Chris's case manager and talking with his parents, his high school
teacher realized that developing a caring and trusting relationship with Chris would be important
in teaching him. Chris was in credit recovery (a program to help students make up failed classed)
for several of his core classes, but he was able to maintain a B in Child Development through the
first nine weeks of the rigorous course. One of the strategies that the teacher used was to break
down child development concepts. Chris did well; he got his work done on time and responded
well to gentle reminders from the teacher to stay on task.
Due to his hard work and B average in Child Development, Chris was placed as a teacher’s aide
at a preschool within the local community for an hour and a half, four days each week. Although
Chris was initially apprehensive about teaching young children, within a few weeks he was
thriving in his internship. The preschool children enjoyed his high energy. They also thought
Chris was an excellent picture book reader. He read stories with animation and lots of different
voices. Chris along with his mentor found ways to channel his "class clown" strategies so that he
was successful in preschool.
Unfortunately, it came time to switch to a new preschool and Chris was not thrilled at the
thought of leaving behind the children with whom he had formed strong bonds. After one week
at his new internship site, Chris thought about dropping the new internship. The Child
Development high school teacher listened to Chris; he felt it was difficult to form relationships
with children in the new preschool. However, his high school teacher did not want him to give
up because Chris had put in a great deal of effort in this new class. The high school teacher and
Chris made an agreement that if within two weeks he was still ambivalent about this new
internship, he could return to his old preschool. Over two weeks passed and the teacher did not
hear from Chris. Thinking no news was good news the high school teacher asked Chris how his
internship was going and he smiled and simply told her it was better.
Soon after Chris' journal entries demonstrated that he was developing strong relationships
with the children in the second preschool. They were so happy that he was willing to play kick
ball and run with them during recess. Chris was a success. Once again Chris received an
outstanding evaluation from his second internship site and is now working at his third preschool
internship for the school year. He has maintained a high B in the class, but more importantly has
learned that his teacher cared for him and assisted him in finding how to channel his strengths
into his work as a preschool aide. His energy and animated nature were assets; the children
appreciated his teaching style. Chris was developing not only a knowledge of child psychology,
but he also put into practice caring-centered education by developing strong relationships with
his preschool children and teaching important community skills.
Both case studies are important examples of how Caring-centered educators move to
affirm students by integrating student cultures and developing trusting relationships. In addition,
the teachers/counselors mentored their students so that they are successful in developing their
academic and personal potentials.
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