MULTICULTURAL ISSUES

Issues in multicultural education in Australia

Issues in multicultural education in Australia

Introduction

Multiculturalism is a term used to describe the mixing of groups of people who are derived from varying ethnic backgrounds which incorporate cultural influences and appearance into Australian society. During 1900-1945 Australia's population almost doubled and a fair proportion of this increase was attributed to immigration of northern Europeans. The period from 1945-1959 saw continued immigration encouraged by the government due to fears of the Japanese military, development of the manufacturing industry, resource exploration, and humanitarian support for WWII sufferers. Although the 'White Australia Policy' was still in place due to lack of 'suitable' candidates, immigrants where being accepted from less desirable southern European non English speaking countries. From 1959-1965 integration of immigrants into Australian culture rather than assimilation began to emerge in Australian policy and there was encouragement from academics for migrants to retain their cultural backgrounds. Language programs where introduced for non English speaking immigrants.

During the 1960s to early 1970s various factors including population growth, greater mobility, trade policies, and declining economies created increased migration from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern European countries. Academics began to lobby for positive changes to Australian immigration, welfare and education policies in what could be termed a proto-multiculturalism ideology. In December 1972 the Australian Labour Party was elected creating a defining moment in the acceptance of true multiculturalism into Australian society. Remnants of the 'White Australia Policy' where eliminated from the governments migrant selection criteria, adult English language programs where refined, anti-discrimination laws where introduced and migrant task forces created. In education bilingual teaching was experimentally introduced into some schools, and free tertiary education was introduced. It could be fair to say that multiculturalism had become an accepted ideology of Australian society and policies.

Multicultural Polices in Education Today

Cultural diversity is central to current world factors and is therefore vital in school systems to prepare children for real world experiences. In recent history the government has been wanting to be seen as committed to developing multicultural educational policies and practices. It realises the importance of this issue in the community given that a large percentage of Australians now originate from other countries. Victorians originate from 208 countries and speak 151 languages. 44 per cent of Victorians are first generation Australians.

Multicultural educational policies have progressed from simple ESL programs into a much broader range of critiques and is now often referred to as intercultural education. Multiculturalism is seen more of as an advantage and a progressive ideology more than “something we have to have”, and because of this policies and attitudes are changing to take advantage of this phenomenon. The educational department has created a document outlining its multicultural policies to primary and secondary schools. In its policy it encourages schools to develop a school ethos that responds to the needs of multiculturalism by identifying and incorporating practices into its community. Schools are also asked to educate staff in this area and to quickly identify and react to any prejudice, ...