Teachers in multicultural contexts often have difficulty teaching their diverse students. Multicultural
education theorists have advanced frameworks for reforming classroom teaching; one of the
most widely used is Banks’s (2013) five dimensions of multicultural education. Research supports
the connection between these five dimensions and student learning, particularly integrating knowledge
from students’ cultural backgrounds into academic content, using pedagogy that is culturally
responsive to students, and addressing stereotypes about diverse groups. Research confirms that a
culturally inclusive curriculum, taught to high expectations and through trusting teacher-student
relationships, improves students’ academic achievement. This paper addresses how teachers can
learn to use these dimensions, using a planning framework that has been shown to improve curriculum
planning and teaching (Sleeter & Flores Carmona, 2017). After expanding on this framework
and its research foundations, this paper will illustrate a teacher learning to use it through a case study
of Angela, a second-year elementary teacher.