6: Project Learning in a Diverse Classroom as Multicultural Education‑in-Action

There is a need to problematize efforts to enhance student learning experiences that are led by either institutions or instructors, since there is a potential for gaps of cultural knowledge and experiences between students and instructors and/or educational administrators to unintentionally negatively affect student academic success. Programs or courses that implicitly privilege a curriculum that is developed ahead of “practical” (Schwab, 1969) knowledge of students might inadvertently marginalize, invalidate, or subvert the knowledge and experiences that students bring with them. Grading students within this structure runs the risk of approaching students from a deficit model, whereby students are assessed based on information that seems to be lacking. In this chapter we examine efforts to center students and their cultural experiences within high‑impact practices as a multicultural education‑in-action approach. In particular, we consider project learning regarding diversity and global learning with individual and group components across a set of learning activities that took place over the course of one entire academic year. We deliberate over the impact of the project on students from cultural and curricular perspectives. Moreover, we focus on the K‑12 school environment as a means of gaining insight into the applications of high‑impact practices ahead of college or university entrance.