Transforming Education With Problem-Based Learning: Documenting Missed Opportunities for Multicultural Perspectives

• In Event: Shifting the Gaze in Multilingualism: Meeting at the Intersections of Language, Race, and Immigration

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to document a study where we problematized how meaningful instruction is defined in the context of problem-based learning (PBL) for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. We evaluated 32 lessons with independent measures of the levels of integration of multicultural content and culturally responsive teaching and found “real world and meaningful’ problems, a key feature of PBL, are laden with mainstream-centric perspectives. Furthermore, the majority of PBL lessons lack attention to social justice, equity, and decolonization. The central argument is that trends in educational practice cannot simply be taken off a shelf and replicated in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms without taking affirmative steps to support teachers’ understanding of the need for multicultural education.

Authors

• Jaclyn Caires-Hurley, Western Oregon University

• Margarita Jimenez-Silva, University of California Davis

• Ofelia Schepers, Metropolitan State University of Denver