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Approaches to Integrating Multicultural Perspectives

in PNU-Mindanao: Basis for Multicultural Education
Program

Article  in  IAMURE International Journal of Education · October 2016

DOI: 10.7718/iamure.ije.v16i1.1122

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Vol. 16 October 2015 Vol. 16 · October 2015
Print ISSN 2244-1476 • Online ISSN 2244-1484
International Peer Reviewed Journal
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7718/iamure.ije.v16i1.1122
Journal Impact: H Index = 3 from Publish or Perish
This Journal is produced by IAMURE Multidisciplinary Research,
an ISO 9001:2008 certified by the AJA Registrars Inc.

Approaches to Integrating Multicultural

Perspectives in PNU-Mindanao: Basis
for Multicultural Education Program
RENNIE CAJETAS-SARANZA
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3714-8901
[email protected]
Philippine Normal University-Mindanao
Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, Philippines

Gunning Fog Index: 14.96 Original: 100% Grammarly: 92%

Flesch Reading Ease: 28.33 Plagiarism: 0%

ABSTRACT

Issues of diversity continue to challenge higher education institutions. This

study aimed to explore the different approaches to integrating multicultural
perspectives in Philippine Normal University-Mindanao, Prosperidad, Agusan
del Sur, Philippines. This study was a descriptive research using qualitative
methods. Through document analysis, interview, observation, and focus group
discussions, results revealed that one thing the school failed to do was to keep
an updated ethnicity profile of its 1,224 students, and 66 faculty and staff. The
dominant ethnic group is not well represented in the student government and
student organizations. Multicultural issues are not introduced early in the teacher
education program. Infusion of multicultural concepts in the syllabus is evident,
but the extent of this inclusion is limited only to meet the felt needs of the
mainstream and the marginalized students of the institution without identifying
who the mainstream and the marginalized students are.. Based on these findings,
the researcher proposed an Integrated Multicultural Education Program for
PNU-Mindanao. It has six components: Formation Program, Curriculum
Development, Hiring of Indigenous Faculty, Organizing Indigenous Student
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IAMURE International Journal of Education

Communities, Co-Curricular Activities and Student Teaching Placement

Program.

KEYWORDS

Multicultural Education, perspectives, qualitative, Philippines

INTRODUCTION

Preparing higher education institutions on issues of diversity has become a

major challenge (Banks, 1996). The field of teacher education, in general, has
been slow in advancing and imagining teacher education in both its theory and
practice within an existing postmodern paradigm (Banks, 2008). While society
has changed drastically over the past decades, many teacher education programs
continue to carry out their traditional modernist model (Darling-Hammond,
2005). Due to numerous historically constructed reasons, these traditional
models: (1) cater to the working world’s demand for increased tracking and
de-skilling (Fine, 1991); (2) adhere to the values of capitalism (Shapiro, 1990);
(3) discourage teacher education professors from dealing with popular culture
and utilizing cultural studies as a form of pedagogy (Giroux, 1995); and (4)
complicate the exploration of our own social and cultural deficiencies (Kanpol,
1995). These issues have evolved because of the changing structures of society.
In the Philippines, issues on diversity in educational settings have come to
the forefront of educational pedagogy. Philippines is a nation of different races,
cultures, traditions, and religion. Living in a multicultural society requires a
high level of understanding and respectfulness to those from other cultures. To
inculcate this value, one of the best ways is through education.
The Philippine Normal University (PNU) in Mindanao, Philippines is a
Teacher Education Institution specializing in multicultural education. It is a
branch university of PNU-Manila in Luzon having 1,248 college students and
66 faculties and staff. By the Board of Regents (BOR) Resolution No.U-2054
dated March 7, 2014, the school was renamed as the Multicultural Education
Hub, in response to the regional demands for teacher quality and to meet global
standards in line with its designation as National Center for Teacher Education
(NCTE).
Banks and Banks (1995) intimated that it is time for multicultural
teacher education institutions to assume a proactive leadership role or risk a

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

marginalization that will have dire consequences for the fate of our teachers, our
schools, and our nation.
PNU-Mindanao being a Multicultural Education Hub, responds to the
challenge and commits to providing opportunities that will enable all students
to achieve equitable education and social outcomes and participate successfully
in the culturally diverse society. Series of training seminars and conferences were
given to the administrators, faculty and staff of the school. The university is in the
process of reconstruction of not only the curriculum but also its organizational
and institutional policies.

FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

This study is anchored on Banks and Banks’ (2009) four approaches to

multicultural education: contributions approach, ethnic additive approach,
transformation approach and the decision-making and social action approach.
The Contributions Approach is characterized by selecting instructional materials
and activities that celebrate holidays, heroes and special events from various
cultures. In the Ethnic Additive Approach, content, concepts, themes, and
perspectives are added to the curriculum without changing its basic structure. This
involves incorporating literature by and about people from diverse cultures into
the mainstream curriculum without changing its structure. The Transformation
Approach changes the structure of the curriculum to enable students to view
concepts, issues themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives and points
of view. The decision-making and social approach includes all of the elements of
the transformation approach but adds components that require students to make
decisions on important social issues and take actions to help solve them.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This paper aims to investigate the approaches to integrating multicultural

perspectives in PNU-Mindanao. Specifically, this paper sought to: present the
demographic characteristics of the students, faculty and staff of PNU- Mindanao;
examine the multicultural perspectives incorporated in its vision, mission, goals,
curriculum, student government and student activities; identify approaches that
could best be used to introduce multicultural issues early in the teacher education
program; and formulate an appropriate education program to cater to the needs
of PNU- Mindanao as Multicultural Education Hub.

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

METHODOLOGY

This paper is mainly a qualitative study using document analysis, interview,
and Focus Group Discussion, as methods to generate the data needed. Content
or document analysis is a form of qualitative analysis that requires readers to
locate, interpret, analyze and draw conclusions about the evidence presented
(Briggs & Coleman, 2007). In this study, it involves an examination of the
school’s vision, mission, goals and objectives, syllabi, student government by-
laws, registrar’s records on the profile of students, the profile of the faculty and
staff, curriculum, documents and policy papers. These were coded and analyzed
using the steps outlined by Zhang (2007). The demographic characteristics of
the dominant ethnic students were reported using descriptive statistics. The other
data generating method used was the interview, which involved understanding
how the participants made sense of their lived experiences as belonging to the
mainstream and in the ethnic groups. Interviews were conducted one-on-one
in mutually convenient settings. The interview questions were open-ended to
generate unrestricted responses and detailed descriptions of personal thoughts
and experiences Zhixin Su (1995).
A purposive sampling of 70 student participants from the dominant ethnic
group, 100 from the mainstream and 30 faculty members were selected. Another
method used in the study was the Focus Group Discussion (FGD). It is a form of
interview which aimed to uncover what people think about an issue in a “social
context where the participants can hear the views of others and consider their
views accordingly” (Frankel & Wallen, 2006). The FGD was used to gain the
perspectives of the mainstream and dominant ethnic students who were members
or beneficiaries of the programs of the school.
Data collection utilized multiple sources. The resulting information from
these sources created a triangulation or convergence of sources (Creswell, 1998).
The triangulation of data was accomplished using content or document analysis,
informant interviews, focus group discussion and field notes. Tabulation of
students’ profile and interview of informants under the study followed. A Focus
Group Discussion was conducted among students of the main stream and the
dominant ethnic group. Proceedings were recorded, transcribed, and presented.
In data analysis and interpretation, descriptive statistics was applied to
survey data, and content analysis was employed to organize interview data
(Miles and Michael, 1994). These methods were chosen because the study is
primarily descriptive, comparative and exploratory. Information gathered from

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

the informants has been merged to identify perspectives common in all as well
as in different ethnic groups and to offer a comparative analysis of minority
and mainstream students’ and faculty and staff’ characteristics, perspectives and
experiences Zhixin Su (1995).
For ethical considerations, a letter of request to conduct research was sent to
the Executive Director of PNU-Mindanao and the informants were provided the
approved copy of the communication. Issues concerning confidentiality, consent,
access and informants’ protection were dealt.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Demographic Characteristics
Profile data shows that out of the 1,224 college student population in
PNU-Mindanao, 518 (42.32%) are Cebuanos, 124 (10.13%) Manobos, 93
(7.6%) Ilonggos, 87 (7.11%) Kamayos, 86 (7.03%) Surigaonons, 84 (6.86%)
Boholanos, 77 (6.29%) Bisayas, 65 (5.31%) Butuanons, 28 (2.29%) Warays, 23
(1.88%) Ilocanos, 21 (1.72%) Agusanons, 5 (.41%) Higaonons and 14 (1.14%)
others which include Muslim, Zamboangeño, Banwaon, Dabaweño, Talacognon,
and Tagalog. The mainstream is Cebuano, 518 students (42.32%) of the total
population and the dominant ethnic group is Manobo comprising 124 students.
The profile of the faculty and staff as shown by the present study revealed that
out of 66 faculty and staff, three (4.55%) are Manobos, 29 (43.94%) Cebuanos,
two (3.03%) Ilocanos, eight (12.12%) Boholanos, five (7.58%) Surigaonons,
three (4.55%) Kamayos, three (4.55%) Ilonggos, 13 (19.70%) Bisayas, and two
(3.03%) Leyteños.
The student population is dominated by Agusanons. Eight hundred fifty-
four (68%) come from Agusan del Sur, 189 (15.14%) from Agusan del Norte, 7
(.56%) from Compostela Valley, 4 (.32%) from Misamis Oriental and 1 (.08%)
from Zamboanga del Sur. Vision, Mission, and Goals
The school’s objectives reflect its Vision Mission and Goals (VMG). Inclusion
of multicultural perspectives in the VMG reflects the school’s response to the
current issues of diversity. An examination of the VMG yields the observation
that supports multicultural perspectives in the school setting. These perspectives
are articulated in its:

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

Vision
PNU- Mindanao shall become an internationally recognized and
nationally responsive teacher education university specializing in
multicultural education. The term “multicultural” connotes existence of
different cultures and implies that the school is aware of the diversity of its
students, faculty and staff. The school addresses this diversity by establishing
a common ground by which students from different cultures a n d
faiths can dialogue and look at their commonalities, not their differences
(Enriquez, 2009).

Mission
To support the vision, PNU-Mindanao shall
1. Institute quality and culturally responsive teacher education programs;
The phrase “culturally responsive” could be understood to include different
cultures, that of ethnic heritage as part of Filipino culture.
2. Conduct quality researches to improve its curricular programs to meet
the felt needs of the mainstream and the marginalized sectors of the
community;
The phrase “mainstream and marginalized sectors” has a clearer reference
to diversity which purports to recognize differences and respect equality
among the members of the community.
3. Undertake local and global partnership, and extension services with the
varied sectors of the community;
The phrase “extension services with the varied sectors” could be open to
different interpretations. Extension services are activities which for some
could just be a reach out to the community; but the phrase “varied sectors”,
could mean multicultural.
4. Generate teacher -enhancement programs and materials sensitive to
context and culture.
The phrase “sensitive to context and culture” could mean promotion and
preservation of cultural heritage.

Goals
To develop teachers who are:
1. Educated persons with holistic understanding, intellectual and civic
competencies; The phrase “holistic understanding, intellectual and civic
competencies” could mean the existence of different individuals with

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

different ethnicity and beliefs in a complete system. The idea goes beyond
just preservation and promotion of culture but the people who are open
to intelligent modification and choice.
2. Reflective, responsive and discipline grounded specialists.
The term “reflective” could mean to apply observational, empirical, and
analytical skills to monitor, evaluate and revise their teaching practices
(Irvine, 1990).

Curriculum
Survey data on the syllabi of the professors shows an infusion of multicultural
concepts in the activities and materials used in the classroom; but the extent of
this inclusion is limited only to meet the felt needs of the mainstream and the
marginalized students of the institution without identifying who the mainstream
and the marginalized students are.
Infusion of multicultural education in the curriculum allows indigenous
culture to be recognized and respected in an atmosphere where modern
worldviews and practices are experienced. Multiculturalism can be infused into
the existing curriculum “as long as knowledge is not presented facts and doctrine
to be absorbed without questions, as long as existing bodies of knowledge are
critiqued and balanced from a multicultural perspective, and as long as the
students’ themes and idioms are valued along with standard usage” (Shor. 1992).

Student Government (SG) 2015 Constitution

Article IX
Legislative Body

Section 2. The Legislative Body shall be composed of all Classroom

Presidents, Speaker of the House, General Convenor, Legislative Secretary,
Legislative Treasurer, Educational Research Committee (EDRC) Chairperson,
Student Information Committee (SICOM) Chairperson, Operation and
Planning Committee (OPCOM) Chairperson, Sports Committee (SCOM) and
Chairperson, Social and Cultural Committee (SOCULCOM).

Social and Cultural Committee (SOCULCOM) Chairperson

He/She shall provide training workshops, and lectures to the various student
organizations about arts and culture.

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

He/She shall spearhead projects and activities designed to develop further

students’ potentialities about arts and culture.
He/ She shall appoint at most six members comprising the Committee.
In the present set up of the SG officers, all are from the mainstream. The
SOCULCOM chairperson is a Cebuano, belonging to the mainstream and was
elected from among the classroom presidents, not by the whole student body. No
qualifications were given as to electing the SOCULCOM chairperson and the
members of the committee. This school year (2015-2016), no plan of activities
was submitted by the SOCULCOM.

Student Programs, Organizations, and Activities

The level of integration of indigenous perspectives in the students’ programs,
organization and activities are limited to an acknowledgment and recognition. In
the scholarship program, out of 500 scholars, 431 are from the mainstream and
only 69 minority students are recipients of the scholarship programs offered by
different scholarship giving agencies and individuals. There are 17 organizations
existing in the university but all are of the mainstream and none exclusively
organized for the dominant ethnic groups. Cultural appreciation activities were
performed by selected students belonging to the mainstream but no activity
exclusively for the indigenous students to showcase and promote their culture.

Approaches to Integrating Multicultural Perspectives in PNU-Mindanao

Banks & Banks (2009) identified four approaches that can be used to
introduce multicultural issues early in the Teacher Education Program which
provide teachers with some guidelines that they can work within to integrate
ideas of diversity. The four approaches are:
The Contributions Approach which is characterized by the addition of ethnic
heroes into the curriculum that are selected using criteria similar to those used
to select mainstream heroes for inclusion into the curriculum. The mainstream
curriculum remains unchanged in terms of its basic structure, goals, and salient
characteristics. In this approach, ethnic content is limited primarily to special
days, weeks and months related to ethnic events and celebrations. During these
celebrations, teachers involve students in lessons, experiences, and pageants
related to the ethnic groups being commemorated.
The Ethnic Additive Approach is the addition of content, concepts, themes,
and perspectives to the curriculum without changing its basic structure, purposes,
and characteristics. It allows the teacher to put ethnic content into the curriculum

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

without restructuring it, which takes substantial time, effort, training, and
rethinking of the curriculum and its purposes, nature, and goals.
Transformation Approach changes the basic assumptions of the curriculum
and enables students to view concepts, issues, themes, and problems from several
ethnic perspectives and points of view. The key curriculum issue involved in the
Transformation Approach is not the addition of a long list of ethnic groups, heroes,
and contributions, but the infusion of various perspectives, frames of reference,
and content from various groups that will extend students’ understandings of the
nature, development, and complexity of society.
The Decision-Making and Social Action Approach includes all of the elements
of the Transformation Approach but adds components that require students to
make decisions and to take actions related to the concept, issue, or problem they
have studied in the unit. In this approach, students study a social problem such
as, “What actions should we take to reduce prejudice and discrimination in our
school?” They gather pertinent data, analyze their values and beliefs, synthesize
their knowledge and values, and identify alternative courses of action, and finally
decide what, if any, actions they will take to reduce prejudice and discrimination
in their school. Major goals of the Decision- Making and Social Action Approach
are to teach students thinking and decision-making skills, to empower them, and
to help them acquire a sense of political efficacy.

Proposed Multicultural Education Program for PNU-Mindanao

Using the existing school structures, the researcher proposed a program with
six components that work interdependently with each other. The components
of the program are:

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

I- FORMATION PROGRAM

Objective: To introduce multicultural issues early in the teacher education

program.
Persons/Off ices Ve r i f i a b l e
Strategies/Activities Responsible Indicators

Freshman Seminar Course on Multicultural MCE, Dean for C er t i f ic ate

Education Academics, Asso o f
Day 1: Awakening Process (Multicultural Education, Dean of FTD, Completion
multicultural inventory assessment) OSASS

Day 2: Sharing first or major awareness of difference

Day 3: Presenting the Six Strands Approach to

culturally responsive teaching

Day 4: Sharing past learning experiences in which

they learned about the “other.”

Day 5: Discussing specific techniques students can use

into the classroom to illustrate concepts of multiculturalism
integrated in classroom instruction

Day 6: Presenting written multicultural philosophy

regarding their role as a teacher

Adapted: Pennsylvania State University

The primary goal of the freshman seminar course is to guide education

students through the transition from high school to college. The secondary goal
is to acquaint the students with the college itself, including the contemporary
issues in education, multiculturalism on the campus, and in the society at large.

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

II- CURRICULUM AND MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT

Objective: To develop a culture-sensitive curriculum and materials
Persons/Offices Verifiable Indicators
Responsible
A. Offering Gen Ed Subjects stressing on w
Multicultural Education Dean for Grades
Multicultural Education: An Introduction Academics,
(Undergraduate) FTD/FGESTER
Foundations of Multicultural Education Associate Dean,
(Graduate ) Registrar,
Faculty
B. Study of Indigenous Language and
Culture
(Manobo and Bahasa Indonesia). The 124 Grades
identified Manobo students will take the Subject teachers
Manobo Language Course (Compulsory) (Indonesian
plus those in the mainstream who are faculty, Manobo
interested in learning the Manobo language. Faculty)
GED Manobo 101: Introduction to
Manobo Language
3 units which covers phonetics, parts of
speech, the new Manobo orthography and
introduction to culture.
Publication of researches
C. Research and publication of indigenous FGESTER, and modules in
instructional materials that include PMDO, subject a. Phil. Lit.
indigenous worldviews teachers, b. History I
c. Sociology I
d. Gen. Sci
e. PE
f. Filipino
g. English
h. other OBTEC subjects

Courses on multiculturalism approach the instruction as either culture-
specific or culture general. Culture-specific materials look for the trends and
issues that can be attributed to particular races and genders, while the culture
general approach attempts to prepare teachers to mold teaching strategies and
techniques to the students regardless of the student’s culture (Haberman, 1991).
To support diversity through multicultural education, teachers need some
significant changes in the teacher education curriculum.

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

III- HIRING OF INDIGENOUS FACULTY

Objective: To recruit faculty who belong to the dominant ethnic group.

Persons/Offices Verifiable
Strategies/Activities Responsible Indicators

Hiring of Manobo Qualified Faculty Executive Director Appointment

(English Major) who can also teach And members of the
Manobo subject selection board

A democratic society needs minority teachers to serve as role models for all
minority students (Villegas and Clewell, 1998). While schools are not only the
place where knowledge and skills are transmitted but also the place where values
and social expectations are formed (Mercer and Mercer, 1986).

IV- REORGANIZING THE SG AND ORGANIZING OF DOMINANT

ETHNIC STUDENTS’ CLUB

Objectives: To recognize students belonging to the dominant ethnic group

Strategies/Activities Persons/Offices Verifiable
Responsible Indicators
A. Addition of VP for Social and Cultural Affairs
in the Executive Body Structure, the umbrella OSASS Election of SG
of the SOCULCOM and elected by the student Officers
body, qualified to represent the dominant ethnic
group
A. Identification of students’ ethnic background School registrar, Students’ Profile
upon CME Form
enrollment
Recognized
B. Organizing an indigenous (Manobo) student’ OSASS, Manobo indigenous student
organization Faculty-Adviser organization
a. Constitution
and by-Laws
b. program of
activities for
indigenous
students
C. Organize IP/ scholars Coordinator-
Scholarship
Program

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 Vol. 16 · October 2015

V- STUDENT TEACHING PLACEMENTS

Objectives: To localize student teaching placements.

Persons/Offices Verifiable Indicators
Strategies/Activities Responsible
A. Identification of students’ home School registrar, Profile of students
address upon enrollment CMELES
B. Sending off student- teachers Associate Dean-FTD, Certificate of
to their home provinces for their Intern Supervisors completion,
internship Competency Evaluation
Form

Cultural knowledge is the heart of multicultural education, and including
this component in teacher education programs serves as the constant thread
running through the teaching-learning process, immersing student teachers in
settings where students and student teachers shared the same culture. Student
teachers are challenged to design instructional materials and activities that build
on his/her background experiences and capitalize on the background experiences
of his/her students.

VI- CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Objectives: To indigenize co-curricular activities.

Persons/Offices
Strategies/Activities Verifiable Indicators
Responsible
A. Co-Curricular Activities

Campus Journalism (Agusanong Binisaya, Torch Torch Publication

Manobo, Higaonon, Kamayo and
Surigaonon ) in addition to English.

Campus games and events (battle of

the bands, “Agusanong-Binisaya Henio, PE, Math, Documentation
scragusabi tournament, Manorap, Kamarap, Tud-um, ELLS
Surigarap, himigusan )

Word of the day bulletin ( Binisaya, ELLS Bulletin Board

Manobo, Higaonon, Kamayo, Surigaonon)
in addition to English

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

Buwan ng Wika (local languages, not only Bulletin Board

Filipino) KADIPAN Opening and
culminating activities

PE (Kaliagan)
Dance Festival (contest of local dances Dance Festival
which are product of research )

University Masses (Prayer of the Faithful in Mass Committee

different languages)

Nutrition Month Celebration (research on Committee

indigenous recipes)
Committee
Founding Anniversary/ University Day
(promote indigenous activities)
Sci-math club
Science & Math Celebration
(benefits of indigenous medicines from
plants, ethno mathematics)

Multicultural activities have been introduced to foster understanding and

appreciation of different cultures; and to make the curricula relevant to the
experiences, culture and traditions of the diverse learners.

CONCLUSIONS

The focus of the current research was to investigate the approaches to

integrating multicultural perspectives in PNU-Mindanao. The study showed that
University has diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Out of 1,224 students,
the mainstream is Cebuano which is 518 ( 42.32% ) of the total population and
the dominant ethnic group is Manobo 124 (10.13%) of the total population. Out
of 66 faculty and staff, 29 which is 43.94% are Cebuanos and only 3, 4.55% are
Manobos. The student population is dominated by Agusanons. Eight hundred
fifty-four (68%) come from Agusan del Sur, 189 (15.14%) from Agusan del
Norte, and the rest are from the different regions in Mindanao.
The inclusion of multicultural perspectives in the Vision, Mission and
Goals (VMG) reflects the school’s response to the current issues of diversity.
An examination of the VMG yields the observation that supports multicultural
perspectives in the school setting.

50
 Vol. 16 · October 2015

Survey data on the syllabi of the professors shows an infusion of multicultural

concepts in the activities and materials used in the classroom; but the extent of
this inclusion is limited only to meet the felt needs of the mainstream and the
marginalized students of the institution without identifying who the mainstream
and the marginalized students are.
In the present set up of the SG officers, all are from the mainstream. The
Social Cultural Committee (SOCULCOM) chairperson is a Cebuano, belonging
to the mainstream and was elected from among the classroom presidents, not
by the whole student body. No qualifications were given as to electing the
SOCULCOM chairperson and the members of the committee. This school year
(2015-2016), no plan of activities was submitted by the SOCULCOM. The level
of integration of indigenous perspectives in the students’ programs, organization
and activities are limited to an acknowledgment and recognition. There are 17
organizations existing in the university but all are of the mainstream and none
exclusively organized for the dominant ethnic groups.
The researcher adapted Banks & Banks (2009) four approaches that can be
used to introduce multicultural issues early in the Teacher Education Program.
These approaches can provide the teachers with some guidelines that they can
work within to integrate ideas of diversity. The four approaches are: contributions
approach, ethnic additive approach, transformation approach and the decision-
making and social action approach.
The researcher proposed an Integrated Multicultural Education Program for
PNU-Mindanao. It has six components: The Formation Program which
provides an early introduction to multicultural concepts through the freshman
seminar course. Teacher education students may develop an early appreciation
for diversity that will give them a new perspective as life-long learners, Villegas
and Lucas (2002). Curriculum Development is a reform in the curriculum that
expands the traditional course content that is primarily monoethnic through the
inclusion of multiethnic and global perspectives. Hiring of Indigenous Faculty.
The primary reason for hiring indigenous teacher is that minority teacher is
familiar with indigenous culture. They would be able to understand what kind of
difficulty minority students are confronting, and bridge the cultural gap between
school and home. The cultural background of minority teachers may enable them
to establish a special relationship with students who come from non-dominant
cultures (Villegas and Clewell, 1998). Reorganizing the Student Government and
Organizing the Dominant Ethnic Group and Co-curricular Activities. The school
must introduce numerous programs and activities to recognize achievements of a

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IAMURE International Journal of Education

wide range of various ethnic groups in the beliefs that a multicultural education

helps prepare students for life in an ethnically diverse society and can bring
about cognitive and  affective benefits to students (Webb, 1990).  Student
Teaching Placement Program. Student Teaching is another opportunity to expose
teacher education students to diversity outside of the university setting (Lucas
and Villegas, 2002). Student teachers are allowed to go back to their respective
provinces for their internship. DeAcosta (1994) asserts that student teachers
must spend time in their community to understand and appreciate their local
culture.
The success of any teacher education program in restructuring for diversity
is largely influenced by the norms and practices of the institution. Programs
committed to the inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds are more likely
to succeed in addressing issues of diversity than those institutions that are
insensitive to or silent on matters of cultural inclusion (Villegas, 1993).

RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of this study should primarily serve as policy in the implementation
of multicultural education program in the University. The present study focuses
only on investigating the approaches of integrating multicultural perspectives
in PNU-Mindanao. A study is needed to examine what other universities are
offering in the teacher education programs to prepare in-service and pre-service
teachers to teach effectively in a culturally diverse classroom can also be considered
in future researches.

LITERATURE CITED

Banks, J. A. (1996). Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and

Action Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Retrieved on June 24,
2015 from http://goo.gl/Dgxfpk

Banks, J. A. (2008). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a

global age.  Educational researcher,  37(3), 129-139. Retrieved on June 24,
2015 from http://goo.gl/qPCj7k

Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. (2009).  Multicultural education: Issues and

perspectives. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved on June 24, 2015 from https://
goo.gl/EwovnO
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Blackwell, P. J., Futrell, M. H., & Imig, D. G. (2003). Burnt water paradoxes of
schools of education.  Phi Delta Kappan,  84(5), 356. Retrieved on June
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Briggs, A. R., Morrison, M., & Coleman, M. (2012).  Research methods in

educational leadership and management. Sage Publications.

Cresswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing

among five traditions.

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