Synthesizing Multicultural, Global, and Civic Perspectivesin theElementary School Curriculum and Educational Research

Social networks and communities are rapidly expanding and changing due to the accelerating pace of globalization. In this article, we examine new possibilities for the reform of curriculum and educational research in a way that is responsive to increasingly multicultural and global communities. Drawing on literatures in the areas of multicultural, global, and civic education, we conducted a critical qualitative case study of four elementary school teachers. The teachers, two in the United States and two in the United Kingdom, are known to be exemplary at synthesizing multicultural, global, and civic education. We, the two authors, one a female from China and the other a male from the United States, employed duoethnography methodology to utilize our different positionalities as researchers in our description, analysis and interpretation of the data. As the exemplary teachers in our study illustrate, education needs to be culturally responsive, socially just, well-integrated, and empowering. We conclude with findings that have implications for the reform of curriculum and educational research methodology