MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION ISSUES

Multicultural Issues of Education in America

Abstract

The demographics of students in the United Stated of America have changed significantly over time. America being a truly global diverse nation is inhabited by people belonging to various cultures and traditions. In order to facilitate the teachers promoted democracy in schools a set of materials and strategies have been adopted in the education system called Multicultural Education which permeated in the early 1900s. The concern for multiculturalism is very much in line with the immigration policy. Multicultural education is blamed for satisfying the social and political agendas of the mighty while being labeled as promotion of multiple cultures in the US and is nothing more than shell game. By covering education in a certain way, the differences that are there in the cultures cannot be removed. Multicultural education is against the individualistic approach.

Multicultural Issues of Education in America

Introduction

The demographics of students in the United Stated of America have changed significantly over time. America being a truly global diverse nation is inhabited by people belonging to various cultures and traditions. In order to facilitate the teachers promoted democracy in schools a set of materials and strategies have been adopted in the education system called Multicultural Education which permeated in the early 1900s (Gorski, 1995). The concept of multicultural education suggests that education must be designed and delivered in a manner that it makes it possible for all students to learn at par and achieve remarkable level of academic success, in addition, it not only increases the knowledge base but also promotes positive self concept. Despite the benefits of multicultural education, there are certain issues with it. These are discussed in the paper.

Discussion

About 45 percent of the pupils in US schools belong to multiple ethnic and national backgrounds. Hence, the concern for multiculturalism was very much in line with the immigration policy. However, the on ground realities suggest that enlightenment and diversity that multicultural education strategies vow to bring in class are not always true. To begin with, multicultural education is blamed for satisfying the social and political agendas of the mighty while being labeled as promotion of multiple cultures in the US and is nothing more than shell game. This is reflected and reinforced in some of the strategist statements, particularly ones given by Paul C. Gorski of EdChange. He suggests that the underlying objective of multicultural education is not that people ...