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This book is based on the simple premise that good teaching and multicultural teaching are indistinguishable. This premise is based on the belief that multicultural education is not a fringe or radical movement designed to threaten the basic mainstream of educational thought and practice. The child is the meaning-maker and that the teacher's task is to build structures and create strategies that help all children gather meaning from their surroundings. The key questions that guide discussion throughout the book are: (1) What is the relationship between principles of general and multicultural education? and (2) Why is it important for teachers to understand this relationship? The book is divided into five chapters: (1) "Principles of General Education"; (2) "Perspectives and Principles of Multicultural Education"; (3) "Principles of Human Growth and Development"; (4) "Principles for Democratic Citizenship"; and (5) "Pedagogical Principles." The book concludes with a short epilogue that summarizes and underscores two key ideas from the preceding chapters: (1) Multicultural education is an embodiment of the nation's commitment to the democratic values of freedom, equality, and justice for all citizens; and (2) Multicultural education is inextricably interrelated with the vision of educational excellence for all students. (EH)