Multiculturalism in Education - Essay Example

? Section/# Race, Ethni Multiculturalism and Inclusion within Education: A Brief Review and Discussion Although there are many determinants to education, it is without argument that issues that impact upon the student body and the way that they define themselves as well as the way in which they are perceived are perhaps the most important. As a function of this reality, the following analysis will seek to analyze the means by which race, multiculturalism, and inclusion all impact upon education and the means by which knowledge is imparted to different groups and dynamics which have herein been defined. It is the hope of this author that such a level of analysis will allow the reader to at least briefly engage with the important means by which identity is formed and how the education or, and the educational process for that matter, can seek to integrate more fully and appropriately with these identities. One of the more nebulous of the concepts which has been discussed above is necessarily that of race. Ultimately, race has been used as means of categorizing humans by cultural, genetic, geographic, anatomical, linguistic, social, religious, or historical means. As a function of this, the very definition of race is something that sociologists and anthropologists continue to argue about. Due to the many determinants of race that exist, is oftentimes been decided that since no working and firm definition of what defines one and what defines another can readily be agreed upon, ethnicity, or the means by which an individual is defined as a result of culture and geographic origin, is a far better identifier of people. Broadly speaking, race, and racial definitions is something that the educator must integrate with; whether or not they are of the opinion that such a definition is ultimately helpful. Due to the fact that the educator is responsible not only for integrating directly with the society but also with explicating and defining the means by which past history has taken place and continues impact upon the stakeholders within the classroom, race is not a topic that can merely be brushed aside and deemed as a prior an unsuccessful method of grouping individuals. The fact of the matter is that even as academia and society as a whole differs upon an approach and appreciation for such a concept, it remains incumbent upon the educator, and educational process by extension, to continue to place a level and degree of focus upon the importance that race necessarily engenders. Regardless of the potentially flawed an incomplete understanding and appreciation for how race impacts upon the individual and society that the students might necessarily have, it is incumbent upon the educator to seek to distance himself/herself from any of these faulty pre-conceived and ultimately unscientific interpretations (Race, 2011). However, this must be done delicately in with a degree of understanding that encourages discourse while the same time maintaining civility and promoting individual and group rights within the student body. Within such a dynamic, it is possible for the educator to seek to broach the topic with as little intrusion and divergence into unhelpful interpretations and norms as is possible. Similarly, ethnicity, and its interpretation within modern scholarship, is something of the golden standard with respect to seeking to differentiate one individual/group from another. However, it should not be understood that such an approach is invariably on flawed. Rather than relying upon racial distinction as a means of defining one group from another, and ethnic approach necessarily places the primary emphasis upon geographic region of origin and/or cultural influences that impact upon the individual. In much the same way, the educator might just as well as a a second-generation German immigrants who resided in Mexico for most of his formative years as Mexican. Further, from the educator’s standpoint, ethnicity, and the interpretation thereof, has become one of the primal means by which individuals within the current world seek to differentiate themselves from their peers (Tomlinson, 2008). Whereas the other aspects which of us far been discussed have necessarily focus upon the means and the extent to which the educator will find it necessary to engage with student’s understanding of self identity and definition of “the other”, multiculturalism represents the means by which all of the positive aspects of social cohesion, understanding, and appreciation can be affected. In short, multiculturalism is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “Relating to or containing several cultural or ethnic groups within a society” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2011). In such a way, multiculturalism can also be seen as a way in which several different cultures can coexist peacefully and equitable within a given society. The historical roots of multicultural education can be traced back to the early 1960s; during the civil right struggles from the communal action of African Americans and other people of colour. This desire to challenge the discriminatory practices which were evidenced in many of the public institutions, inclusive of schools served as the fundamental backbone of the multiculturalist movement (White, 2004). As support for this grew, activists, community leaders, and parents called for curricular reform and insisted on a re-examination of hiring practices. Moreover, they demanded that education should be more consistent with the racial diversity in the country.’ (Banks, 1989; Davidman & Davidman, 1997) such an understanding reveals the high levels of discrimination that occurred in the educational institutions before and during 1960 and also helps the reader to understand why the multiculturalists’ movement specifically grew and developed at this precise moment in history as a response to inequalities of the era. James A. Banks, the founding director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington was one of the pioneers of multicultural education and was among the first multicultural educational scholars to examine schools as social systems from a multicultural context (1981). He grounded his conceptualization of multicultural education in the idea of “educational equality”. According to Banks, in order to maintain a “multicultural school environment”, all aspects of the school had to be examined and transformed, including policies, teachers' attitudes, instructional materials, assessment methods, counseling, and teaching styles (United Kingdom, 1988; 1979, pg. 500). Ultimately, the preceding analysis has lain out a careful framework and rubric with which individuals have sought to define their own identity and the identities of others. More often than not, this identity definition and creation necessarily puts one group at a distinct disadvantage; oftentimes even discriminated against. However, the power that multiculturalism, the final concept which is been defined and elaborated upon within this analysis, works to accomplish an overarching and appreciative framework by which individuals can be understood and defined based upon nonjudgmental terms. Whereas ethnicity and race oftentimes hold the potential to disparage one group at the expense of another or to raise one group upon the backs of another, multiculturalism holds all things equal as a means of providing a greater level of inclusion (Kelly, 2009). It is this very level of inclusion with an education which is, and should be, the standard to which each and every educator strides. This is of course not to say that multiculturalism represents the final growth and development of the educational process. However, it is to say that multiculturalism represents one of the most effective means by which the current educator can seek to integrate with all stakeholders within the educational process in a fair and equitable manner. In conclusion, it should be understood that the application of multiculturalism within the classroom is ultimately a concept and theory that necessarily makes the job of the educator that much more difficult. This is of course the result of the fact that multiculturalism within society is not something that is generally appreciated or confirmed within the society in which we live. As such, multiculturalism and the means of appreciative inclusion are oftentimes at odds with the shallow and incomplete definitions that have been hammered into the students from their earliest years; those shallow and incomplete definitions of race, ethnicity, and the means by which these factors impact upon the outlook and supposedly behavior of individuals which can be loosely understood by such incomplete definitions. In this way, rather than the educator allowing himself/herself to define reality and society based upon the definitions and handles the students might engage with, it is incumbent upon them to present a higher ideal that seeks to appreciate race and ethnicity all the same time championing diversity and inclusion as the ultimate good. References Kelly, A.V., (2009), The Curriculum: theory and practice, London: Sage Oxford English Dictionary (2011).The Oxford English Dictionary (20 Volume Set) (Vols 1-20). 2 Edition. Oxford University Press, USA. Race, R., (2011), Multiculturalism and Education, London: Continuum Tomlinson, S., (2008), Race and Education: policy and politics in Britain, Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/OU United Kingdom (1963), ‘English for Immigrants’, Ministry of Education, London: HMSO.  United Kingdom (1975) ‘Language for Life: Report of the Committee of Inquiry’ The Bullock Report ,London: HMSO. United Kingdom (1988), ‘Education Reform Act’, London: HMSO. White, J., (ed.)(2004), Rethinking the School Curriculum: values, aims and purposes, London: Routledge Falmer Read More