In this blog post, I am going to talk
about the issues of multiculturalism in education. What makes a school
multicultural? I attended a school that was very multicultural. There were
students from diversity of backgrounds. My school did celebrate multiculturalism
to some extent. We had the typical days “Harmony Day”, “French Day” and
“multi-cultural day”. Yes, we did have ESL, and interpreters and translators
during parent teacher night. However, that was it. What I have realized now is
that the idea of multiculturalism wasn’t really promoted in my school on a
daily basis. We weren’t informed of the principles of multiculturalism, the
history, or the policies involved. This raises the issues of multiculturalism
in relation to education, which I will be focusing on in this post.
The increase talks in multicultural
attitudes in terms of education are the result of increased diversity in the
classrooms. Teachers must be able to adapt, learn and teach about culture. In
order to do so, teachers must make the curriculum relevant by celebrating
cultural differences and similarities. However, this increase has proven to be
a difficult task for teachers as they are faced with language and behavioral
barriers due to the diversity of populations, among meeting curriculum
standards, and already crowded academic schedules.
The article from news.com.au, titled “Australian school curriculum to force
acceptance of multiculturalism” written on September 05, 11, highlights the
isolation of multiculturalism in education, and how the government responded.
As the news article states, the Gillard Government established a plan to boost
support for multiculturalism and outlaw negative attitudes. Through my
experiences, this reinforcement of multiculturalism in schools established no
change, as it did not educate the students on the idea of cultural diversity. Schmidt
in his book goes on to call multicultural programs, “ethnic cheerleading”, and that it has no place in the school
system. However, multiculturalism is a concept that is already accepted in
Australia. We’re known as THE multicultural country. Yes, there may be racist
comments here and there, but isn’t everyone a little bit racist? Instead,
schools should be educating students on the idea of multiculturalism, instead
of forcing the acceptance of multiculturalism.
Although problems may rise due to
multiculturalism, scholars argue that through the everyday encounters between
people of diverse backgrounds, it allows Australian multiculturalism to be
successful. (Wise and Velayutham, 2009). Hence, Ho (2011) asserts that “School communities that reflect Australia’s
cultural diversity are ideal sites” for children and young people. Therefore,
more culturally diverse schools will allow students to establish and develop
communication and adapting skills due to the diversity in the classroom.
Overall, majority of schools in
Australia do celebrate their cultural diversity through special occasions and
days, and may provide support for those diverse students. Yet, the education
system has failed in informing the students on what is multiculturalism itself
on a daily basis. This is why there are issues involved in multiculturalism in
a classroom setting, as discussed in this post.
References:
Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the Presence of Others:
School Micropublics and Everyday Multiculturalism. Journal of
Intercultural Studies, 32(6), 603-619.
News.comm.au (2011) Australian School Curriculum to force acceptance of multiculturalism
<http://www.news.com.au/national-news/textbook-approach-to-multiculturalism/story-e6frfkvr-1226129336796>
Accessed on 4/10/13.
Schmidt, A.J. (1997). The Menace of
Multiculturalism: the Trojan horse in America, Connecticut: British Library
Cataloguing and Publishing.
Wise, A., & Velayutham, S. (Eds.). (2009). Everyday
multiculturalism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
I have the similar experience as above. While I footing in the land of Australia, I was realizing that Australia is a very multicultural. People from different nations, have different culture background and believe in different religions. This kind of situation make me feel comfortable. I would not feel strange to be an Asian living in Australia. However, when school organized some celebrations for our cultures, such as “international night”. One hand that i am very thankful that school can offer us an opportunities to show ourselves and our cultures. On the other hand, I could feel that we were special groups of the school. Moreover, for majority of schools, these kind of activities was not meaningful, as well.
ReplyDeleteDuring my three years studying in Sydney and after the course I learned. Delivered me a huge knowledge about the ethnic groups in Australia. Australia is gradually becoming one of the world’s most multiethnic societies. it is a result of more than two hundred of immigration. According to the student enrollment data of NSW government schools in 2012, 30.2% of all students are from language backgrounds other than English, 6.3% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, 3,998 students are from refugee backgrounds and 3,303 are international students. All of them have their own ethnic identities. Ethnicity often are salient in the domain of education, students ethnic identities may be particularly relevant in shaping how youth interpret and respond to their classroom contexts at school. Most of the students in Australia schools have already accept the concept of multiculturalism, but they are not clear about how to be a member of the multicultural environment.
Reference:
Cultural Exchange NSW Promoting intercultural understanding in schools
http://www.culturalexchange.nsw.edu.au/culture_and_diversity/cultural-diversity/