How Schools Mirrior the Dominate Culture - Assignment Example

How Schools Mirror the Dominate Culture For a culture to be identified as dominant in a society, its members must either be the majority or possess more power than other groups. In the United States, the whites are the majority while groups such as the African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans among others are minority groups (Bowman par. 1). English as a language is dominant in many aspects of life. In the media, it is the most used language, and this is also seen with most scientific publication and books.

Schools have adopted an “English only” policy in which a student regardless of their cultural background is expected to speak, write, and is assessed in English. It is considered to be part of effective classroom management by teachers for a few reasons. First, it is assumed that being immersed in a language makes on be fluent. Secondly, it is believed that it is destructive for every one to speak in a different language while in class especially in ELL classroom (Beare par. 1-3). Characteristics of wealthy white children have been incorporated into school systems as the only authentic standards of behavior.

Other cultural expressions which may be adequate in acquiring skills from have been seen as inadequate and, therefore, rejected. This results in inadequate communication and assessment, leading children from poor minority cultures being deemed slow or poor learners. These children end up making the most representation in the special education program as they are assessed according the standards set for middle-class white students. In these tests it is assumed that failure to meet standards mean developmental delay even if the child has knowledge in other developmental areas.

Wealthy and middle class white schools often have better performances than others because they pay better hence attracting better teachers (Goldy par. 1). This is at the expense of poor schools for the minority groups as they do not get the best teachers. As stated by the London School of Economics, there is a direct relationship between teachers pay and student performance. If a teacher is paid well, the student tends to perform well and when payment is poor as is the case of minority schools for the poor, their performance tends to be poor.

Yet at the time of assessment the standards used do not put into consideration this fact, but judge by the standards of the dominant group (Goldy par. 1). The dominant culture of the white people is mirrored in many ways in schools; these are just a few examples. English language is used extensively in schools regardless of cultural background. Behavioral and learning Standards are majorly dictated by the middle class whites. These schools tend to do better than others as they attract better teachers.

Works citedBeare Kenneth. English Only? Should students speak only English in class?. 2014. Web. http://esl.about.com/od/modernteachingtechniques/a/English-Only.htmBowman, Barbara. Cultural diversity and academic achievement. Chicago, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. 1994. Web. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0bow.htm Goldy. Better pay attracts better teachers. 2011. Web. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/12/30/better-pay-attracts-better-teachers