Educators are increasingly realizing the impact of cultural diversity on teaching and learning. Culture assumes various definitions in the educational literature. One definition deals with school integration (Protheroe & Barsdate, 1992) and explores how children form racial attitudes about themselves and others. A second definition highlights how students learn about various ethnic groups and strives for intergroup understanding. A third definition is found in research that examines the impact of culture on cognition, communication, motivation, language development and behavior.
Peshkin (1992) identifies three forms of cultural curriculum in the classroom: explicit, implicit and null. The explicit curriculum features a conscious inclusion of cultural knowledge as part of the lesson. The implicit curriculum is latent and informally expressed. The null curriculum finds culture untaught, reflecting a low value on such knowledge in the creation of curriculum and instruction.
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