One of the fundamental issues addressed by several authors (e.g., Guild, 1994; Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, & Trumball, 1999) is the title of this course, Cultural Pluralism. Is the ultimate purpose of schooling in this country to promote "cultural pluralism" or is it to blend the American "melting pot?" This is a critical construct to establish early in the dialogue. One definition of cultural pluralism (Soukhanov, 1988), that this author concurs with, is schools should mirror the country in which numerous distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups coexist within one nation.

Cultural pluralism taken to its natural end state brings about classrooms instructing in two or more languages and teachers interacting with students in new and unique ways. One such case is the December 1996 decision by the Oakland, California, School Board to treat black English as a second language (Leland & Joseph, 1997). Following initial unanimous criticism by both state and federal agencies, the NAACP, and the American public, the Oakland School Board clarified its position. They stated it was not their intent to teach what has become known as Ebonics, but instead to have teachers accept Ebonics as a native language and teach children to translate into standard English, rather than constantly correct them for speaking improperly. More recent studies show that bilingual educators are shifting to more instruction in English and less in native languages (e.g., Gersten, 1999; Thomas & Collier, 1999). An even more interesting dynamic is the negative backlash generated by the failure of bilingual education programs in many school districts. Hispanic parents of school-aged children in a random national survey overwhelmingly (80%) ranked learning to read, write, and speak English as their most important educational goal for their children (Chavez & Amselle, 1997). For this study the author concluded that this is Kansas, not California, and Soukhanov's term "coexist in one nation" meant simply to be together in the classroom at the same time, using the same language, and the same curriculum.

The next question revolves around how one defines culture. In the classroom it makes sense that the defining characteristics of culture should be those that impact the students' learning. If that is the case then the German poet Wolfgang Von Goethe (1795) may have it right. He said, "One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." (bk. 5, ch. 1) The argument becomes which song, which poem, which picture, and finally, in what language will the reasonable words be spoken?

Many theorists contend that educational experiences, hence individual growth, should be based upon learners' individual needs and intelligences, and reflect an understanding of each learner's culture (Reiff, 1997). This theory then expands to the ever-widening concept of multiple intelligences postulated by Gardner in his "Frames of Mind" in 1983. More recent studies (Checkley, 1997) established the framework for an eighth intelligence - naturalistic. There is little reason to doubt that further research will uncover more information on intelligence as it is defined today.

Adding fuel to the already raging fire of controversy is brain-based learning. This phrase may initially seem absurd since one would argue all learning occurs in the brain. However, the educational paradigm of the 50's and 60's was built not on brain research, but on behavioral research. The studies by Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, and Kohlberg contributed to the current understanding of human development. B.F. Skinner's theory of operant conditioning then extended early work on reflexive behavior to form the principle that one can use pleasant and unpleasant consequences to produce the desired behavior (Slavin, 1997). The 80's and 90's brought new research into dozens of sub-disciplines virtually simultaneously. The new proposition resulting from that wide multi-disciplinary body of technical knowledge is breaking the old behavior-based paradigm: "The brain is poorly designed for formal instruction. It is not at all designed for efficiency or order...rather, it develops best through selection and survival" (Jensen, 1996, p. 5).