MECP 600: Foundations of Multicultural Education

This library guide will provide an introduction to library resources and research approaches for foundational multicultural education. "Foundations of Multicultural Education is the first course in the Multicultural Education Certificate program (MECP)

Make a Plan

Now that you have developed an understanding of Critical Multicultural Education and found an article, you can delve into the scholarly literature on equity issues in your respective professional areas. From there you can create your annotated bibliography. 

Again, before you jump in to searching again, make a simple plan.

You will end up going back and forth in between steps in this plan, and that is normal.

  • Step 1: Write down your research questions.
  • Step 2: Decide where you will search. See the Find Articles page for a list of databases.
  • Step 3: Develop keywords to search. Need some more help on this? See the Search Strategies page. 
  • (At any point): Choose how you will save your progress. Where will you keep your citations? Do you want to use a citation manager? How can you make it easier on yourself, so that you can focus on reading and analysis? 

Searching for "Equity" Issues

The term "equity" is a discrete, unique search term. This means that it can be difficult to search using synonyms. It may help you to not only search using the keyword "equity," but also terms that have to do with the specific equity issue you are interested in. Remember to think about whether the term "equality" is appropriate to search when seeking information on equity.

If you still find yourself reaching a dead-end after following the tips on the Search Strategies page, and you cannot brainstorm other keywords, take advantage of "subject headings" and other suggested keywords provided by the database. 

Below is one such example from an article in an EBSCOHost database. It lists other subjects, or categories, that may be of interest. The author has also supplied their own keywords here. 

Annotated Bib Examples

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Writing Center provides some examples of annotated bibliography entries in APA style.

Types of Equity Issues

If you have not decided on an equity issue, here are just a few terms to explore in your area: 

  • Financial equity
  • Gender equity
  • Racial Equity
  • Digital equity (the digital divide)
  • Equity and disability 

Also consider the term "inequity," for example in "health inequity" or "inequity in access to healthcare."