Analysis of Multicultural Education - Research Paper Example

Analysis of Multicultural Education Introduction Multicultural education is one of the set of materials and strategies used in the United States in order to assist teachers in their work since most of the students in classes came from different demographic regions. Having democracy in such classes a little bit difficult thus this strategy was brought into the education system to instill democracy. This strategy mainly focuses on giving all the students equal levels of education through giving them positive concepts of their cultures, giving them knowledge on their histories and also teaching them about the contributions that has been made by other diverse groups that they are familiar with. With the implication of this strategy the students are made to assume that the future society of the United States will be a pluralistic one. Since most of these students do not share a common culture, then this means that the strategy is bound to help them learn to live with diverse groups of people and understand them. In her book “Affirming Diversity”, Sonia Nieto encourages teachers to focus on attaining social change within their classrooms through teaching the students about the cultural differences and how they all contribute to the development of their country (Nieto, 2004). Body Chapter 3: In this chapter, the author of the book mainly focuses on associating the implementation of multicultural education with the school reforms in the United States. The main reason behind this is that multicultural education fights against racism. The system ensures that students do not look at each other with reference to their races since this will not bring any positive result in their classrooms and the performance of the students will also be affected greatly thus in this chapter the author focuses on the associating the strategy with the school reform. The school reform also aims at attaining social change within the classrooms and this can only be attained by doing away with racism and this is the main intention of multicultural education in the United States. The chapter also brings out the importance of this education strategy and explains how it can impact the lives of students positively. One of the importance multicultural diversity is that it instills the students with knowledge on what the future holds for them if they embrace peace and unity. It also teaches them how to live with someone from a different cultural background and it does this by teaching the students how people from different cultural backgrounds live. Through doing this, the students are able to emulate the positive things that are done in the culture of their colleagues within the classroom. The chapter also talks of how this system brings social justice through teaching the students their rights and how they are ought to value themselves and other people in the society. In this chapter the reader is bound to bring out critical pedagogy on issues that affect the modern society at large and how they can be solved by the same people. Finally, the chapter explains the importance of multicultural diversity through teaching people how to respect each other in the society, making them think critically on issues affecting them and making them accountable for their own cultures, language and experiences in life (Nieto, 2004). Chapter 4: Racism has been one of the issues that have affected many people in different parts of the world. In this chapter, the author explores on the achievements of different students in relation to racism within their classrooms, classism and sexism. In most cases students from different cultural backgrounds and races tend to discriminate each other and at some point the teachers are also held responsible for such behaviors since they contribute to it sometimes. In most of the studies done on the education systems in the United States tend to have issues associated with racism and discrimination and this has been manifested in the complaints made by the same schools. Students tend to follow and emulate what their teachers instill in them thus if they are taught to be racists them that is what they will end up being. The author of the book in the fourth chapter shows teachers how important their contribution is in the strategies of multicultural education. Racism can be contributed by the kind of school policies that are applied in a given school and also through their institutional power (Nieto, 2004). Discrimination can also be done in schools through different forms and this means that whenever students are taught in classrooms, they can be discriminated through their contribution whereby other students are left to contribute in answering questions and others are not given the chance to do so. The chapter brings out the contributions of the whole society towards racism and the author does this through explaining how the students can become racists and how their mentors can contribute to it. If teachers do not instill racism into children, then parents and this means that everybody plays a role in the spread of racism. Finally, the author in this chapter makes it clear that if the policies are biased then one of the ways of embracing social change is through embracing positive policies and institutional power in schools and this is done through multicultural diversity. Chapter 5: In the fifth chapter, Sonia makes explores on the organizational and structural issues affecting different schools in the United States. The author insists on schools to be made a place that has true democracy. Most of the schools are not given the equal opportunity that they deserve because they are not treated as though they are equal to others and this remains to be one of the issues that must be tackled in order to embrace positive social change. Structural and organizational issues that affect these schools are such as standardized testing, disciplinary policies and limited community and family involvement in the events taking place in the society. Everyone feels good when they are involved in activities taking place within an institution. After reading this chapter, the reader is meant to discover what they are required to do in situations associated with school structures and organization. Nieto makes it clear that most schools fail due to political factors like government policies among other factors. When the financing department of a school functions inappropriately then the students are bound to be affected. Cultural diversity can be implemented in schools through ensuring that all the students and teachers are comfortable within the institution (Nieto, 2004). Conclusion Finally, the roles of teachers should be respected when they are done well and the reverse should be done when they are not doing what is expected of them. Finally, the chapter makes it clear that true democracy is what all schools require and this can be done through ensuring that there is equal opportunities for everyone within the learning institution both students and teachers. And this is what will bring about social change for a better future in the United States. References Nieto, S (2004). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education. Pearson Education, New York Read More