MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Multicultural Education



Multicultural Education

Introduction

When the term multicultural education is used, it is often controversy when it comes to proving a rational explanation for the term. This paper will explore the why, what and how of multiculturalism, how would I use my values and/or faith perspective in implementation in my own teaching as well as reading used in this course. America is considered the “Melting Pot" due to the known fact that it is made up of a large variety of races, cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities. Immigrants from all over the world tend to migrate to America in searching for a better life. A Life which includes freedom to practice, religion, job acquisition, raising families and educational opportunities. While more and more immigrants enter America for their own personal reasons the population unsurprisingly becomes more culturally diverse.

The large influx of immigrants to America has generated an ongoing debate over multicultural education. Arising issues such as who is benefiting from the education, and how to teach the concept in ways that immigrants won't be offended was a concern. Multicultural education can be a sensitive topic and in order to teach and cover all the materials successfully is the reason why teachers should practice culturally responsive teaching in the classroom. The subject of multicultural education often causes some students to get offensive when it is being taught. Members from the dominant culture tend to vilify the contents while others make excuses. Many immigrants including myself feel that changes to academic standards and the curriculum are not necessary to get along and respect students from ethnic minorities.

What

Multicultural education relates to education and instruction designed for the cultures of several different races in an educational system. This approach to teaching and learning is based upon consensus building, respect, and fostering cultural pluralism within racial societies. Multicultural education acknowledges and incorporates positive racial idiosyncrasies into classroom atmospheres.

Through being challenging and interesting in lesson plans, teachers can help students to grasp an understanding regarding culture. Even if there are few or no ethnic minority students in an elementary school, this situation can change for many students in the next step forward in their educational career. Through the use of music from other countries, an emphasis on geographic knowledge that stems outside of America, and through celebrating events which are non-American, awareness of culture can be sought which could be greatly beneficial to young students. From here, they can see the advantages of culture and of the different purposes it has.

There has been a lot of academic research conducted into the concept of multicultural education, and this has been brought into line with different groups who are trying to push forward new educational methods which are more thought out with ethnic minorities in mind. There are fears that the perceived social gap between ethnicities could worsen if multicultural children are put at a disadvantage in the classroom. It is a fascinating topic, and the message which it conveys is quite easy to get across to those ...