Journal of Teacher Education

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Complex Relationships Between Multicultural Education and Special Education : An African American
Perspective
Jacqueline Jordan Irvine
Journal of Teacher Education 2012 63: 268 originally published online 11 June 2012
DOI: 10.1177/0022487112447113
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447113
47113IrvineJournal of Teacher Education

JTEXXX10.1177/00224871124

Complex Relationships Between

Multicultural Education and Special
Education: An African American
Perspective

Journal of Teacher Education

63(4) 268274
2012 American Association of
Colleges for Teacher Education
Reprints and permission: http://www.
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0022487112447113
http://jte.sagepub.com

Jacqueline Jordan Irvine1

Abstract
Multicultural education and special education share historical roots, philosophies, theories, and pedagogies that provide
unique opportunities to address the many challenges of underserved K-12 students. Without a more refined and critical
analysis, however, the shared similarities could possibly mask the tensions and the complexities inherent in a relationship that
directly confronts thorny and nuanced intersections of race, social class, gender, disability, and culture. This article focuses
on the complexity of the relationship between multicultural education and special education from an African American
perspective by exploring areas of divergence and conflict between special and multicultural education, specifically issues of
disproportionate representation, cultural misunderstandings, tensions between home and school, and competition for limited
resources. Finally, recommendations are offered that can more effectively prepare K-12 special education teachers who serve
students who are culturally diverse and disabled.
Keywords
African American education, multicultural education, urban education

Multicultural education and special education share historical roots, philosophies, theories, and pedagogies that provide unique opportunities to address the many challenges of
underserved K-12 students. Both fields are committed to
democratic ideals of fairness, equity, social justice, activism, and critical consciousness. Instruction in both types of
classrooms is student centered, focusing on the needs of
individual students. Multicultural education and special
education teachers maintain high expectations for all students, avoid deficit thinking and stereotypes, and advocate
for their students.
Without a more refined and critical analysis, however, the
shared similarities could possibly mask the tensions and the
complexities inherent in a relationship that directly confronts
thorny and nuanced intersections of race, social class, gender, disability, and culture (Blanchett, Klingner, & Harry,
2009). Special education teachers, like other teachers, often
struggle with these fractious issues and tend to think of their
students of color as belonging to one identity category, usually the identity related to their disability. The reality is that
special education students of color have multiple identities
that are often context dependent and evolving.
This article focuses on the complexity of the relationship
between multicultural education and special education from
an African American perspective. First, I explore areas of

divergence and conflict between special and multicultural

education. Second, I propose ways that one tenet of multicultural education, culturally relevant pedagogy, can more
effectively prepare K-12 special education teachers who
serve students who are culturally diverse and disabled.

Areas of Divergence and Conflict

There are four topics that will be used to discuss how the
fields of special education and multicultural education often
conflict: Disproportionate Representation, Cultural
Misunderstandings, Tensions Between Home and School,
and Competition for Limited Resources.

Disproportionate Representation
The suspicion and mistrust of special education in the African
American community may be justified because data document decades of disproportionate representation. According
1

Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Corresponding Author:
Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, Emory University, Division of Educational Studies,
Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Email: jirvine@emory.edu

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Irvine
to Skiba and colleagues (2008), the disproportionate representation of students of color in special education continues
to be a critical and persistent problem, and this imbalance,
particularly among African American students, exists in
almost every state. Disproportionate representation is greater
in the judgmental or soft disability categories of mental
retardation (MR), emotional disturbance (ED), and learning
disability (LD) than in the nonjudgmental or hard disability
categories, such as hearing impairment, visual impairment, or
orthopedic impairment (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Although
African American students account for only 14.8% of the
general population of 6- to 21-year-old students, they are
enrolled in 20% of the special education population across all
disabilities (Blanchett, 2006). Moreover, Blanchett cited
research from the U.S. Department of Education that found
African Americans spend 60% or more of their school day in
segregated special education placements with their disabled
peers when compared with the White disabled peers. Equally
disturbing is the fact that African American students with disabilities have substantially lower graduation and dropout
rates than their White disabled peers (Center for Public
Education, 2009).

Cultural Misunderstanding
Research suggests that racial disparities in the classification
of disabled students begin at the stage of initial classroom
referral. Reviewing records of students referred for special
education evaluation in an urban school system, Gottlieb,
Gottlieb, and Trongone (1991) found that teachers referred
students of color more often than White students and tended
to refer students of color for behavioral rather than academic issues.
Teacher judgment clearly plays a critical role in how and
why students are referred to special education. In Williams
study (2008), teachers thought African American students
were uncontrollable and disruptive when they shouted out
answers instead of raising their hands. These types of cultural misunderstandings can lead to special education misplacement and unwarranted school suspensions. Data from
the National Education Policy Center (Losen, 2011) reported
that students with disabilities experienced high rates of outof-school suspensions. A review of state reports to the U.S.
Office of Special Education Programs in 2006 found that at
least one district in each of 46 states imposed long-term suspensions or expulsions on students with disabilities significantly more often than nondisabled students. When the data
were disaggregated by race, more than one in five Black
students with disabilities was suspended. In Nebraska,
Wisconsin, and Nevada, more than 30% of all Black students with disabilities were suspended.
When teachers are unaware or dismissive of the salience of
culture in teaching and learning, they may make referrals and
placements that are inappropriate and inaccurate. Cultural
variables are powerful, yet often overlooked, factors that help

to explain how some culturally diverse students understand

and interpret their school experience. Culture is an important
survival strategy that is passed down from one generation to
another through the processes of enculturalization and socialization, a type of roadmap that serves as a sense-making
device that guides and shapes behavior (Davis, 1984, p. 10).
Culture includes forms like rites, rituals, legends, myths, artifacts, symbols, language, ceremonies, and history. Longstreet
(1978) identified five aspects of ethnicity that are useful
guidelines for understanding how cultural differences are
manifested in classrooms and how they influence teaching and
learning. The five aspects are verbal communications, nonverbal communications, orientation modes, social values, and
intellectual modes. For example, in the area of verbal communications language and culture are so inextricably intertwined that it is often difficult to consider one without the
other (Padron & Knight, 1990, p. 177). Not only are there
obvious differences in ethnic students pronunciation, vocabulary, and phonology (rhythm, tempo, pitch), but there are also
differences in assumptions regarding what is spoken and left
unspoken, whether one interrupts, defers to others, and asks
direct or indirect questions. Similarly, nonverbal communications can raise questions about the cultural meanings of interpersonal space, eye contact, body language, touching, and
gestures (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2008).

Tensions Between Home and School

Special education teachers, like other teachers, need more
training in understanding how semantics, accents, dialect,
and discussion modes manifest themselves when they communicate with their diverse students and their families.
Culturally diverse students distinctive set of cultural values,
beliefs, and norms is often incongruous cultural norms and
behaviors of schools. When there is a cultural mismatch or
cultural incompatibility between students and their school,
certain negative outcomes might occur, such as miscommunication; confrontations among the student, the teacher, and
the home; hostility; alienation; diminished self-esteem; and
possible misclassification in special education programs.
Research suggests that the tensions and lack of communication between teachers and African American families
and communities persist. In a qualitative case study by
Williams (2008), African American parents thought their
children were placed in special education because teachers
were pressured to assign low-performing students in special
education to maintain accountability standards. The parents
thought that once their children were placed in special education, they would never exit the program. Obiakor, Harris,
Offor, and Beachum (2010) call this phenomenon trapped
in circle of labels and failures (p. 40).
The tension between African American parents and special
education is often attributed to racism and prejudice (Klingner
et al., 2005; Skiba et al., 2008). I will share a personal story
that illustrates the pervasiveness of the racial and cultural

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Journal of T eacher Education 63(4)

implications of these issues in the African American community. I remembered some advice that I was given when my
daughter was born 40 years ago and weighed less than 5
pounds. The advice was that African American parents should
be wary of divulging their childrens low birth weight to
school personnel because they might use that information to
justify placement in special education. This warning continues
to circulate in the African American community, and some
parents believe that some teachers look for signs of developmental delays, like low birth weight, to justify attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mental, or behavioral problems (Blanchett et al., 2009).
The literature (Harry, 1996, 2008; Harry & Klingner,
2006, 2007; Harry, Allen, & McLaughlin, 1995) discloses
some special educators misperceptions and racial stereotypes about African American families educational level,
marital status, and social class. These racial stereotypes, particularly about the role of poverty in academic underachievement, have associated poverty and single parent households
with emotional and behavioral problems resulting in disproportionate referrals of African American students to special
education. Poverty is often used by educators as a proxy for
dysfunctional families, drug abuse, malnourishment, tobacco
use, lead exposure, child neglect, low intelligence, and as a
justification and rationale for the placement of students of
color in special education (Harry, Klinger, & Hart, 2005;
Skiba et al., 2008).
Adding to the miscommunication and tension between
African American parents and special educators is the legal
and heavily bureaucratic special education system that
focuses on paper documentation and legal compliance. The
many and ever-changing labels of classification often confuse less educated African American parents and render
them unable to advocate for their children. However, educated, well organized, and politically savvy majority parents
of special education students often belong to local, state,
and national networks that assist them in advocating and
lobbying for their special needs students. Many African
American and other parents of color are not involved in
these political advocacy efforts that could potentially benefit their children.

Competition for Limited Resources

Tensions between the fields are also related to competition
for limited financial resources from local, state, and federal
resources. Because of limited resources, some urban school
districts have a financial incentive to classify students of
color as disabled to attract additional funds to their school
district.
Limited resources translate into reduced educational
resources, fewer opportunities for quality instruction, and an
educational system in which low-income special education
students of color routinely receive an inferior education. This
inequity in the quality and quantity of educational resources

has been extensively documented ranging from inadequately

prepared and inexperienced teachers to teachers reticence to
teach in high-poverty, high-minority schools.
The Educational Testing Service (Barton & Coley, 2009)
reported that among eighth graders in 2007, 52% of African
American students had a teacher who left before the school
year ended compared with 28% of White students. Equally
disturbing is the finding that 11% of African American students, as compared with 8% of White students, attended a
school where 6% or more of the teachers were absent on an
average day. Research suggests that the absence rate of teachers is important to track because it is associated with low student achievement (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007).
Teacher attrition and absences are not the only concerns
in predominantly African American high-poverty schools;
students in these schools are also twice as likely as students
in other schools to be taught by the most inexperienced
teachers. Studies of inexperienced teachers consistently find
that they have difficulty with curriculum development, classroom management, student motivation, and teaching strategies (Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2005). A study
of 12 metropolitan District of Columbia school systems
revealed that in schools where fewer than 10% of the students received free or reduced lunch, 1st- or 2nd-year teachers made up only 12% of the staff. In high-poverty schools in
these districts (75% or more subsidized meals), the percentage of novice teachers rose to 22% (de Vise & Chandler,
2009). Researchers have noted that experience alone does
not make for an effective teacher. However, most novice
teachers improve their practice over time. Unfortunately,
many African American special education students in highneed schools are taught by a revolving door of mostly inexperienced, poorly trained teachers.

Recommendations for the Inclusion

of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
(CRP) in the Preparation of Special
Education Teachers
Studies of special education preservice teachers perceptions
of their preparation programs reveal they feel inadequately
prepared to teach culturally diverse students and provide
cultural pedagogy (Artiles, Trent, & Palmer, 2004; Chu,
2011). There is much work to be done in teacher education
around issues of culture and how culture affects the teaching
and learning process. Special education students, like other
students, are cultural beings and bring their culturally influenced cognition, behaviors, dispositions, and cultural repertoires with them to school. Consequently, the inclusion of
culturally responsive instructional practices holds promise in
the preparation of special education teachers and can potentially be beneficial for their students. Many African American
students are misdiagnosed because special education teachers
are not trained to make the connections between the content

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and their students existing mental schemes, prior knowledge, learning preferences, and cultural perspectives or build
on the strengths of the students families and community.
Descriptions of and related research about CRP have
appeared for decades in the fields of anthropology and education (Gay, 2010; Hollins & Oliver, 1999; Irvine & Armento,
2001; Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995; Nieto, 1996; Sleeter &
Cornbleth, 2011; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). However, many
educators erroneously believe that CRP is not relevant to the
field of special education and is simply a motivator and selfesteem builder for students of color in high-need schools.
Moreover, there is the misperception that CRP does not have
a body of empirical research that shows its effects on student
learning. CRP has four important interrelated pedagogical
influences on student learning that should be included in the
training of special educators:
Developing caring relationships with students while
maintaining high expectations;
Engaging and motivating students;
Selecting and effectively using learning resources;
and
Promoting and learning from family and community engagement (Irvine & Hawley, 2011).

Developing Caring Relationships With

Students While Maintaining High Standards
Classroom interactions between teacher and students should be
respectful and reflect genuine warmth and caring and sensitivity to students cultures and levels of development. A common
research finding about African American students is the importance of positive teacherstudent relationships (Allen et al.,
2011). The research literature on culturally responsive African
American teachers and care (Roberts & Irvine, 2008) emphasizes that caring is related to high expectations and the structured discipline these teachers impose in their classrooms. The
literature also suggests that some students of color, especially
African American and Latino students, tend to be more dependent on teachers than their other-race peers, and tend to perform poorly in school when they do not like their teachers or
feel that their teachers do not care for them (Ferguson, 2002;
S. T. Johnson & Prom-Jackson, 1986; Slaughter-Defoe &
Carlson, 1996; Wilder, 2000). For example, Fergusons (2002)
investigations in 95 ethnically diverse schools in 15 school
districts concluded that teachers affective behaviors are a
source of motivation and influence the achievement of African
American and Hispanic students. In addition, students of color
often respond positively to teachers who show interest in and
respect for their racial and ethnic identity.

outcomes. Culturally responsive teachers engage students in

high-level cognitive activity and acknowledge issues of culture and language facility. Cohen and his colleagues (2009)
looked at the effects of student engagement by using culturally centered instruction. In a randomized field experiment
to decrease psychological threat related to negative stereotypes in school, Cohen found that a series of structured writing assignments focusing on self-affirming values improved
African American students achievement.
Boykin and his colleagues conducted several experimental
studies that support his contention that communalism, a form
of African American group orientation, is an important cultural consideration in the instruction of African American students. One study (Hurley, Allen, & Boykin, 2009) investigated
the interaction between student ethnicity and the reward
structure on math estimation task. The researchers found that
the African American and White students performed best in
different learning contexts. Black participants scored significantly higher than Whites in the communal context, and
Whites scored higher at posttest in the interpersonal competitive context.
Student engagement has also been considered in the
research on cooperative and group learning. Well planned and
carefully constructed cooperative/team learning strategies
and flexible ability grouping are particularly effective in
classes containing diverse learners (Slavin, 1990; Stephan,
1999). When groups are employed in CRP, they are based on
prior achievement and for specific purposes. Racially and
ethnically homogeneous groups are avoided when possible.
Early reviews (D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 1989; Slavin, 1980,
1983) of research on cooperative learning revealed positive
effects for all students on such variables as student achievement, peer relationships, and classroom climate.

Selecting and Effectively Using

Learning Resources
Culturally responsive teachers link learning objectives to a
variety of materials that reflect the cultural diversity of the
school and the students community. In an extensive review
of the research on the academic impact of ethnic studies curricula on student outcomes, Sleeter (2011) concluded that
well-designed and well-taught ethnic studies curricula have
positive academic and social outcomes for students. In addition, Sleeter found several studies that show when students
of color use learning resources that involve the study of
people from their own race or ethnicity or study events and
experiences with which they can identify, they are typically
more engaged and improve their academic performance.

Engaging and Motivating Students

Promoting and Learning From Family

and Community Engagement

Culturally responsive learning activities build on the lived

experiences of diverse learners and support instructional

Culturally responsive teachers interact frequently with families with professional and cultural sensitivity to inform them

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Journal of T eacher Education 63(4)

about their students progress. These teachers learn from

families so that they can use this information in selecting
learning resources and adapting instruction. Culturally
responsive teachers probe the school, community, and home
environments, searching for insights into diverse students
abilities, preferences, and motivations. In other words, culturally responsive teachers build two-way bridges to families
and respect cultural differences that might affect the forms of
communication and collaboration. Among the most oftencited research on the efficacy of culture-based learning is that
from the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) in
Hawaii (Au & Mason, 1981). The work of Luis Moll and his
colleagues also supports the view that teacher communication with families and observation of students in community
and home settings can enhance diverse students learning.
Moll suggests that teachers talk to parents about their household and parenting practices, skills, and interests, and incorporate these funds of knowledge into the curriculum and
their teaching practices (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005).

Conclusion
There are many challenges that have to be addressed to further
the conversations among teachers, school leaders, and teacher
educators in multicultural and special education. The challenges involve resolving issues like disproportionate representation, cultural misunderstandings, tensions between home
and school, and competition for limited resources. The four
CRP principles discussed in the article (developing caring
relationships with students while maintaining high expectations, engaging and motivating students, selecting and effectively using learning resources, and promoting and learning
from family and community engagement) are widely used
and accepted frameworks in most teacher education curricula. Consequently, the incorporation on these CRP principles and other precepts of the sociocultural context of
teaching and learning can serve as vehicles for collaboration
and conversations between teacher educators in multicultural
education and special education teachers. Pugach and Seidl
(1995) argue that this type of framework allows us to see
diversity as normal (p. 381) and focuses attention on effective instruction for all students.
I suspect that the ways in which schools, colleges, and
departments of education (SCDEs) are organized contribute
to the limited conversations across teacher education programs about curriculum, field experiences, research methodology, pedagogy, and assessments. Hence, structural changes
are also necessary if the divide between multicultural and
special education is to be addressed. These organizational
changes would include such components as school and community partnerships, reconceptualization of college teaching
to include strategies like coteaching between special and
general education faculty, inclusion of K-12 teachers in planning new models for teacher training, and implementation of
professional development programs for teacher educators.

Teacher education programs enroll too few students of

color. McLeskey, Tyler, and Flippens (2004) review reported
that although 38% of the students with disabilities are culturally and linguistically diverse, only 14% of special education
teachers shared their students ethnic backgrounds. These percentages are not likely to increase in the future. Unfortunately,
there is some evidence that the number of special education
teachers of color is declining (Boone & King-Berry, 2007).
The solutions to this problem involve different recruitment
and retention effort, adequate funding for students, support
and mentoring as well as collaborative interventions from
school districts, colleges of education, and state and federal
policy makers.
Finally, teacher education institutions need to find ways
not only to attract more teachers of color but also to motivate and educate all preservice teachers to become culturally relevant educators who are persistent, open minded,
reflective, complex thinkers, and risk takers. Culturally
relevant teachers assist students to change the society, not
simply to exist or survive in it. They directly confront
inequities in society such as racism, sexism, and classism.
Far too many teachers appear to be not only colorblind but
also unable or unwilling to see, hear, or speak about
instances of individual or institutional racism in their personal and professional lives. Teacher educators should
encourage their students to see themselves as social reconstructivists who dismantle systems of racism, inequality,
and oppression, and advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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About the Author(s)

Jacqueline Jordan Irvine is the Charles Howard Candler Professor
Emeritus at Emory University and an elected member of the National
Academy of Education. Dr. Irvines specialization is in multicultural
education and urban teacher education, particularly the education of
African Americans. Her books include Black Students and School
Failure, Growing Up African American in Catholic Schools, Critical
Knowledge for Diverse Students, Culturally Responsive Teaching:
Lesson Planning for Elementary and Middle Grades, In Search of
Wholeness: African American Teachers and Their Culturally Specific
Classroom Practices, and Seeing With the Cultural Eye.

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