Multicultural Education Issues - Term Paper Example

James continues to assert that despite the different scholars differing on how they understand multicultural education they all share the concept of change that provides a clearer understanding of the term. Multicultural education is an idea that encompasses the approach of school reform to promote equality, social justice and democracy amongst students. All students have an equal opportunity to utilize their full potential in class; every student must be prepared to compete with the others in the diverse cultural society; teachers are responsible for facilitating the learning of all students despite their ethnic group and culture, thus, schools should actively participate in ending oppression and the view that teachers or students are different.

Moreover, educationists and activists must be concerned with assessing the educational practices and how they affect the learning of students (Glenn, 1989). The main aim of multicultural education is its potential capacity to generate social change. Students and teachers should not feel different despite their cultural background. In order to achieve this goal, multicultural education brings together aspects of change, change of schools, the way curriculum is prepared and the change of society as a whole.

Multicultural education ensures that all aspects of school practices and policies are followed to ensure that students perform well in their academics. Moreover, students have positive concepts about their cultures, histories and contributions of diverse groups. This is only possible if the school curriculum addresses issues of racism, gender imbalance, languages, age difference and religion. Thus, students feel themselves being a part of the school society when their life experiences and cultures are incorporated in the school curriculum (Will, 2011).

Will (2011) continues to say that the issue of ethnicity has been a great problem in many countries around the globe, and it should be addressed in the most efficient way. This issue is brought mainly by the teachers and parents as students are not born with it. It is, therefore, the sole responsibility of schools to address the issue so that it would be dealt with. Thus, to achieve this calls for a school staff that is culturally competent and to the greatest extent possible be racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse.

Research shows that students with high ethnic diversity in schools perform poorly as compared to those schools with a homogenous student population. Moreover, this applies to student immigrants who perform better if they find a fellow student immigrant from the same region in the country of origin (Kofi, 1989). This shows that ethnicity is a problem for the society, which schools must fight to eradicate if the students are to perform better. However, the performance of pupils cannot be based only on ethnicity in schools; factors, such as the socioeconomic, are a major concern as they also affect a student’s performance.

Linde (2001) believes that immigrant parents, mostly those from third world countries, are less educated as compared to more developed countries, work in lower status jobs, earn less and are not as wealthy as the native born parents. It is not out of their will but due to ethnicity and economic status of immigrant parents that they make a choice to take their children to ethnic schools with fewer resources. In majority of ethnic