Awesome Alex: April 2015

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Multicultural Education

Multicultural Education
By Alexandra Chrysosferidis

What does America look like? When one envisions the face of America, what color comes to mind? It should not be black, white, brown, red, or yellow, but instead, a mix of all of these colors combined. Our America is a mix of distinct cultures. Our America is a melting pot of people with different religions, beliefs and ways of life. Our America is rich in diversity, which has become undoubtedly obvious in most classrooms today.
In Washington D.C, schools and communities are working together in hopes of decreasing discrimination against a child’s ethnicity. In the last ten years, Hispanic School Enrollment has increased by ninety-four percent. In addition, fifty-two percent of the Spanish speaking population attended college. It is true that Hispanics have come a long way, but isn’t it time to build new steps to increase learning? Shouldn’t the schools find ways to reflect the cultures of not only Caucasian students, but the minority students as well? It is time for parents, schools, and the community to work together in creating a stronger multicultural education.
Children should not be taught to assimilate to a particular way of life, they should be encouraged to learn about the culture of others while maintaining their own individuality. It is important for children to learn how to socially interact with students of various cultural backgrounds. Multicultural education is also the key to make a Spanish speaking student become successful in an English speaking school. There are certain language barriers that a young Hispanic student must overcome. When a Hispanic child hears English for the first time, he undergoes a culture shock, and a loss of identity. It isn’t fair for a Hispanic student to be forced to learn the same way as a Caucasian student, because both students have their own strengths and weakness. Thus, no teacher can expect all of his or her students to learn the same way. Teachers and staff members can help fill the void by bilingualism, promoting culture awareness, talking to students, participating in multicultural activities, and not discriminating against any minority families. We should always remember that each student, regardless of color, is unique. Instead of evaluating the disadvantages of a particular ethnic group, we should admire the differences.
Promoting multicultural education is not only beneficial for the students, but also the teachers. By creating a more diverse atmosphere, and a more flexible learning environment, teachers will learn how to be more accepting and gain more experience with students from different cultures.
After all, if we learn how to be more knowledgeable about other backgrounds, then we will learn how to be a less ignorant society. In any business, it is important to “cater” to the customers. If schooling is a business and the children are the customers, then why aren’t we doing more to help them? America is changing; we need to incorporate the cultures of our children in schools and communities. It has come to the point where diversity and learning must coincide to benefit ALL American students, which is why multicultural education should be strongly supported and pursued.

Awesome Alex

Sunday, April 26, 2015

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