The purpose of this paper was to examine multicultural education, and clarify misconceptions about it. Particularly, those misconceptions that have resulted in House Bill 2281 ( i.e. multicultural education “promotes the overthrow of the United States government”), and the misconception that multicultural education solely involves content integration. In addition, this paper examines the possible benefits of having a multicultural education. These benefits include combating the negative effects of acculturation and assimilation, reducing prejudice and the effects of stereotypes, enhancing other-group orientation, and promoting critical analysis and empowerment.

Task-based instruction has been a promising method of instruction advocated by mathematics education researchers over the past twenty years. However traditional curricula constitute a majority of the curricula utilized in the United States. The purpose of this study is to identify the problems reform oriented novice teachers face when utilizing a traditional curriculum to plan task-based lessons. In order to identify these problems three novice teachers' interactions with curricula were observed and characterized using the frameworks of past researchers. Through analysis of teachers' textbook interaction practices it was found that teachers struggled to plan task-based lessons due to issues encountered finding/constructing mathematical tasks, and due to problems associated with being naturally oriented toward procedures while utilizing a traditional curriculum.

Within the current mathematics teacher population there are teachers that want to change from traditional teaching styles to become more reform-oriented (i.e. focusing on student understanding rather than procedures). Many of these teachers do not know how to begin this change. This research looks into the tools that are most valuable for teachers as they change from traditional teaching practices to include more reform-oriented teaching practices. Through this phenomenological study, six successful reform-oriented teachers were interviewed to understand what tools they found to be most valuable in their process of change. The interviews uncovered a common guiding principle that facilitates successful change towards reform teaching—focusing on the students' mathematics. This guiding principle led all the teachers to implementing task-based lessons and improving their questioning towards their students. The two tools found to be of most value, reflection and collaboration, are identified and explored. The implications of a reform curriculum are also discussed. Limitations of the study are identified and areas of future research are explored.

This thesis introduces a topic of current educational reform in Finland. The main goal is to describe a process of implementation of current curricula reform in Finland and evaluate a preparedness of teachers, students of teacher education and management of curricula to curricula reform. In theoretical part, we define "curriculum" and "curriculum reform", then we briefly introduce change management, reasons for successful or unsuccessful reform and specifics of finnish education system. The research part analyses the Finnish National Core Curriculum from 2004 and 2014 in detail. It also analyses interview with teachers, students of teacher education and management of reform. Based on research part of the thesis, we can say that teachers and students have been prepared in a field of knowledge, however they have not been prepared for implementing the ideas of reform into their everyday teaching. The management of reform has been prepared for implementation. Management includes teacher and other stakeholders into creating of the new curricula, the reform is communicated and finances for the reform are secured. Conclusion of the thesis summerize answers for research questions and brings recommendations for a further research.