While your reading this, if you decide to comment I want you to think about the following things:
1.) Do you feel you learned enough about different cultures while you were growing up in school?
2.) What kind of programs (if any) did you have that taught/provided that valuable information for you?
3.) What creative ideas can you enforce in your curriculum to make sure your students are learning about different cultures?
4.) Do you still think students are prejudice or racist to one another in schools? How can you prevent that as a teacher?
I believe that embracing cultures of all types is very important if we want to continue supporting the idea that America is the great, “melting pot,” of the world. Children should be able to feel comfortable in a school environment around other children who are different than them. Celebrating who we are is a very important aspect of being unique and confident in your own identity. Within the article I found on TeacherHub.com states that there are important goals that Multicultural Education should aim for. Learning about this topic helps create a safe, accepting, successful, learning environment for all. Bringing it within your classroom helps increase awareness on global issues as well as strengthen cultural and intercultural awareness. For example, doing activities, having a variety of workshops, or even bringing new foods into your classroom can help your students become more aware of different ethnic backgrounds. Another goal includes teaching students that there is multiple historical perspectives they need to explore. Encouraging them to use critical thinking during this period while learning about other cultures can be a great way to prevent discrimination.
Not only are there goals of Multicultural Education, but there are also advantages of bringing it into your school or classroom. As I stated a little bit earlier, embracing other cultures as well as your own ethnic background helps students develop a positive self-image for themselves. Another benefit is pretty obvious, and that’s the fact that students will get an equal education in schools. Making sure they also get the equal opportunity to learn, share their backgrounds, and teach other children about their culture is very crucial. Allowing multiple ways of thinking not only helps a child’s perspective, but their critical thinking skills as well. This helps combat stereotypes and prejudice behavior along with teaching students to critique society in the concerns of social justice.
Although many schools understand the importance of bringing different cultures into their classroom, it is easier said than done in most cases. Although implementing it occasionally into studies for students would not be hard, one would have to completely transform their entire curriculum to enforce Multicultural Education in all aspects of the classroom. Another downfall is students can easily be misguided and misinformed by some textbooks. Although yes, the information is correct, all circumstances involved may not be included. Along with that, a lot of the history books focus on Northern America or European history. Things like World War II, the Holocaust, or the Cuban War are discussed, but do not go into detail on other cultures or genocide in different countries like Uganda, Darfur, or even Africa. To really make sure that Multicultural Education is a success in an entire school, you need teachers that are diverse themselves and very knowledgeable on other ethnic backgrounds. They also must be prepared and comfortable addressing many diverse or controversial issues as well, especially from older students.
As a future educator you may ask yourself, “What can I do in my classroom to increase multicultural awareness?” Well, let’s list a few ideas. You can include diverse reading into your curriculum along with opinionated questions and the time for classroom discussion for specific questions. Encourage your students to participate in social activism or community involvement. Go beyond the normal textbook by including world wide current events to your students on a weekly basis. Create multicultural projects where students need to go beyond their comfort zone and choose a background that they are not familiar with. Doing a few of the things above can really call for an effective classroom environment, and as educators or future teachers, we all need to realize how important it is that our students from the upcoming generations are aware of the changing times. Making sure they are both knowledgeable of other cultures and backgrounds and involved in the continuing fight for freedom can really make a difference!