Multicultural education has been the subject of intense criticism since the early 1970s. Most criticism has come from the advocates of anti-racist education. At the same time, anti-racist education has been subjected to very little scrutiny. This paper examines some conceptual, empirical, and political limitations of anti-racist education. Most educators consider the current curriculum to be apolitical. Although it is the case that all education is political education, anti-racist education is viewed as being too political. Anti-racist education tends to be reductive—victims of discrimination are usually referred to as “black,” whereas perpetrators are “white” — and narrowly conceived to refer only to institutional racism. Finally, many of the anti-racist interventions reported show negligible and even negative results. Depuis le début des années 70, l’éducation multiculturelle fait l’objet de vives critiques, surtout de la part des partisans d’une éducation antiraciste. Pour sa part, l’éducation anti- raciste a été très peu commentée. Dans cet article, les auteurs examinent certaines lacunes conceptuelles, empiriques et politiques de l’éducation antiraciste. La plupart des éducateurs estiment que les programmes d’études actuels sont apoli- tiques. Bien qu’en fait toute éducation soit politique, l’éducation antiraciste est considérée comme trop politique. L’éducation antiraciste a tendance à être réductionniste — les vic- times de discrimination étant habituellement désignées comme des “Noirs” et les coupables comme des “Blancs” — et à ne s’occuper par définition que du racisme institu- tionnel. En outre, un grand nombre des interventions antiracistes signalées donnent des résultats négligeables et parfois même négatifs.

Developed for two grade 8 English classes in a large metropolitan high school in British Columbia (Canada), this paper presents the procedures for implementing and evaluating a 6-week unit on lifewriting, the composing of stories based on personal experience. The Lifewriting Curriculum is provided--six lessons including activities in which students first tell and then write a rough draft of a personal story. The paper explains that this writing is guided by five heuristics: a guided listing exercise, a 5-minute forced-writing, using the 5 W's, and developing a cognitive map. The final two lessons provided include peer response and student author exercises. The paper offers student and teacher interviews as assessment of the effectiveness of the program. In addition to students' and teachers' comments, two attitude surveys, administered as pre-and post-tests, are provided measuring student gains in writing confidence and social cohesion. The paper reveals that the results of the Writing Apprehension Test (WAT) indicated that while half the students remained at the same level, some students showed a dramatic dip of 20 to 30 points on the scale. The paper also concluded that the results of the Social Cohesion Test showed some movement in the desired direction but not enough difference to be statistically significant. Twelve references, A 1 (75 minutes) Lesson Plan, and A Writing Apprehension Quiz are attached. (NH) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** THE EVALUATION OF A LIFEWRITING PROJECT Lifewriting in a Grade 8 English Class