Multicultural Education and Invitational Theory: A Symbiosis

Great influxes of Hispanics and Asians to the United States during the past twenty years have helped to swell this country's already diverse ethnic population. Consequently, the resulting cultural pluralism has initiated changes in society and its institutions to meet the needs of many different people. A most likely place to meet these needs is found in educational settings, and, as a result, it is in the field of education, in our schools, colleges, and universities, where multicultural concerns have developed. In particular, an awareness and a growing commitment to the concept of multicultural education has developed to the point that it is incorporated into the standards used to judge the quality of teacher education programs (NCATE, 1979; 1986)