Impact of Ethnicity on Children's Experience of Education - Essay Example

impact of ethni on childrens experience of education Paper Teacher Introduction The generally accepted norm in mostparts of the present world is that education is one of the most basic necessities as well as a primary right of every child. Each child born in the present era, irrespective of nationality, race, sex or economic condition is entitled to basic education according to the tenets and guidelines of modern human civilization - as prescribed by international bodies such as the United Nations. But despite the straightforwardness of this simple fact, the actual implementation of imparting equal opportunities in education is marred by multiple social, economic and political aberrations, even in some of the most developed civilizations in the world. The ethnic composition of the post cold war world civilization is fast assuming a cosmopolitan character which though being looked upon as a unifying factor by sociologists, is springing up new problems of inter-acceptance and adjustment between the various ethnic groups. The demographic pattern of any geographical location, if studied, will always yield some information of a pecking order existing within and without the existing population. This is a natural phenomenon inherited from the historical evolutionary trends and in tune with nature, as try as much as one could, there is no denial of the fact that man is basically an animal. Learned behaviours and cultural enrichment may have produced tremendous progress and understanding of human life, but those animal instincts keep cropping up time and again. In education too, like in all aspects of life, the role of ethnic dominance is vital as it dictates and defines the trends in a particular population, maybe at a local or a national level. Understanding education itself is dependent upon the socio-religious-cultural background of a person. What maybe considered as education in one society maybe considered sacrilegious in another. Distinctions between what is education are still demarcated strongly on the basis of sex in some of the major religious sects in the world. This is the reason due to which some of the sciences’ and arts’ are thought of as a prerogative of the male human species till date, even in some of the most advanced countries. Generalization of education on the basis of ethnicity alone therefore becomes an enormously difficult task. The present day British Society is built upon a blend of multiethnic society with the capital city London assuming a very cosmopolitan outlook and character during the last few decades. People from diverse cultural groups now form an integral part of the United Kingdom with propensity in certain regions such as the Midlands. There is a fair representation of minority ethnic groups in the British Parliament too. Platt (2005), in her paper has emphasized upon the concern being felt within the British intellectual think-tank about the necessity of encouraging meritocracy instead of favouring the majority white population. The need for this change is being felt due to the new hue of the British population imparted by the settlement of people from all corners and civilizations of the world making it a multi ethnic society. The author believes that this new endeavour is aimed at projecting Britain as a land where equality of opportunity must be enforced and the government has now made it a policy status to promote meritocracy with new vigour. According to the author, this ‘meritocracy’ has to be started from the very roots i.e. the education of British children without any bias on the basis of ethnicity. The author has very rightly indicated that the ethnic problems are not simple, as they have a complicated blend of class background and geographical concentration with subtle levels of discrimination for the minority groups which remain hidden on cursory observation (Platt, 2005). According to some experts ethnicity per se may not be as important as characteristic variations within ethnic groups can influence the outlook on various aspects of life including the pursuit of education (Platt, 2005). The major point brought into focus by the author is that despite the superficial promises of equal opportunity to all and sundry, the natives still have a distinctive advantage of attaining better social class outcomes as compared to the ethnic minorities despite being exposed to similar levels of education (Platt, 2005). The white majority have privileged origins which the minority ethnic groups are not able to utilize in the same way, according to the author. In her final analysis, she believes that the impact of education is differentiated across the ethnic groups and this is contrary to the understanding that parity between ethnic groups can be achieved by providing equal opportunity of education alone (Platt, 2005). The author has proven by facts and figures in this paper that the children belonging to a minority group measure their success primarily on the basis of educational achievement which otherwise is an irrelevant criterion for the majority white group within the United Kingdom (Platt, 2005). This is proven by the author by showing that the fact is reflected in the society when the handling of unemployment is treated by consideration of factors such as country of birth and ethnic background which somehow translates into a sort of ‘ethnic penalty’ after the common educational background has already been taken into account (Platt, 2005). The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world with substantial ethnic variation across the nation. Variations between ethnic groups, which include the Whites, Hispanics and Blacks, have always existed and the impact of early childhood care and education were studied for their effect on school readiness in the United States by Magnuson & Waldfogel (2005) in a very well researched and comprehensive article. According to the authors’ research, analysis of data shows that there are marked differences between the three ethnic groups as far as enrolment in preschools and the quality of care received at such facilities were concerned. The authors have proven statistically that although black children were more likely to attend preschool programs as compared to white children, they received a significantly lower quality of care at such facilities. Other figures suggest that Hispanic children were less likely than white children to attend preschools. It has been shown by the authors that a specific kind of preschool has existed in the United States for a few decades now, known as ‘Head Start’ inwhich both Hispanic and black children were enrolled (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). According to the authors school readiness gaps exist in the American society within the three predominant ethnic groups and the ‘Head Start’ programme has been successful in reducing such gaps (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). The authors feel that Hispanic children stand to benefit as far as school readiness gaps were concerned only if substantial changes were incorporated into the programme. The authors have been methodical in the categorization of early childcare in the United States into three main categories for this study. These three categories are parental care, informal care (by a relative or nanny or a care provider home0 and a preschool (kindergarten) type care centre (e.g. the Head Start programme) (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). They have shortlisted the third category as the most vital area for focus as it had the maximum impact on school readiness. The variations existing within this category are emphasized as vital areas of research by the authors (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). Head Start is considered by the authors as one of the most prominent publically funded programmes, initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 in an endeavour to eliminate poverty in the United States by providing equal opportunities for the education of children of the then suppressed minorities, particularly those below the federal poverty threshold as well as the ones who were afflicted with any kind of physical disability (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). The programme did not solely focus on education alone, but also the comprehensive care for health, nutrition and family services for three to four year old kids of that era (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). The programme continues till today and had received a substantial financial input by the US government in 2002. Low salaries and lesser qualifications of teachers have however served as a constraint in the effectiveness of the Head Start Programme which is periodically reviewed by a quality control organization, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). The authors have compared the ‘Head Start’ programme with another type of newly introduced preschools which according to them have attained better status. Such schools are known as prekindergarten schools, which though operating at local and state level, receive public funding and provide 1-2 years of preparatory education before the child enters the kindergarten stage. The authors have proven, by citing figures, the success of such prekindergarten schools in imparting a better standard of preschool education to 3-4 year olds in the United States (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). They believe that such prekindergarten programmes by eliminating the disparities in pay and the qualification requirements of the staff running such schools have improved their functioning. Such disparities had earlier been enumerated as handicaps in the Head Start programme (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). The authors believe that racial and ethnic disparities in educational achievement in children and their school readiness can be narrowed down if more of the Hispanic children were enrolled in such preschool facilities in order to bring them at par with the white majority. More funding of preschools and better quality of care can also contribute in removing the ethnic disparities as they exist at the time of this research (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). As parents are the ones who are the most concerned for the education of very young preschool children, their role in reducing the ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness has been studied by Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005. The authors have built their study on the basis of parental idiosyncrasies and habits which they believe have telling effects on the school readiness of children. Marked differences in parental attitudes had always existed among Black, Hispanic and White communities in the United States, on the basis of which, the authors have conducted this study (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005). Nurturance, language, teaching, discipline and management have been identified by the authors as critical aspects of parents which markedly effect the psychology of preschool children (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005). The authors believe that the manner of raising children during the early stages of life are distinctive as well as diverse, based upon the ethnic background of the parents e.g. black mothers were less likely to talk to their children or to read them stories (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005).The authors have highlighted the fact that training parents to improve or remove these anomalies at home have lesser chances of success, as family values cannot be taught or changed overnight. This has been cited as the basis for the use of a better and more successful method, which is by the involvement of the parents’ right at the pre-school premises, which was more likely to yield positive results on the children’s psyche (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005). The authors’ have precisely explained that although parenting behaviours are almost universal in character, variations exist as far as the expression of the parental behaviour is concerned between ethnic groups (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005). Black parents with African origin are more likely to inculcate motor skills in their young ones as compared to white parents whose main focus is the development of language and vocabulary. The study concludes that these variations of expression are responsible for the different outlook of children and need to be standardized when children from various ethnicities are to enter a common educational platform. Conclusion With the increase in the cosmopolitan character of today’s world, it has become essential to remove the anomalies existing between human beings based on religion, culture and ethnic identity. Such an endeavour has to be from the grass root level, by inculcating a sense of equality in the coming generations. The incorporation of equal opportunity programmes in the political fibre of all modern nations has already been initiated and ways and means for their correct implementation are being researched and corrected according to the observed results. Education is not the prerogative of a particular ethnic community as major contributions for the benefit of humanity have come from a wide span of human populations. If a general goal for the survival of humanity as a harmonious entity on Earth is to be established, it is essential to root out the weeds of disparity from the field of education. REFERENCES Brooks-Gunn Jeanne & Markman Lisa B., (2005), The Contribution of Parenting to Ethnic and Racial Gaps in School Readiness, The Future of Children, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 139-168 Magnuson Katherine A. & Waldfogel Jane, (2005), Early Childhood Care and Education: Effects on Ethnic and Racial Gaps in School Readiness, The Future of Children, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 169-196 Platt Lucinda, (2005), Making education count: the effects of ethnicity and qualifications on intergenerational social class mobility, online research article available at: http://www.the-sra.org.uk/documents/pdfs/making_education_count_paper.pdf Read More