James Banks

James Banks, professor in the School of Education, University of Washington-Seattle, talks about the importance of culturally responsive education. Excerpted from NCREL's video, Many Voices, Many Dreams (1995).

"I think the problem is that so many African American kids are turned off by the school, why so many Hispanic kids are turned off, because it doesn't speak to their really lived experiences, it doesn't speak to their being the issues, their voices, it doesn't really answer questions that they have, and it doesn't really motivate them to learn. So, I think that there are many negative consequences from the one fits all, mono-ethnic European centric curriculum."

This Critical Issue summary was researched and written by Kent Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Date posted: 1995