Entry #3 Multiculturalism in Education 9/26/09

Wow, this is a very thought-provoking blog topic. I am a white American girl who was born and raised in the South. As such, this whole topic is very baffling to me, most likely because I have never struggled with the issues others face being part of a minority culture. Words such as inclusion, pluralism, and multiculturalism to me have always seemed interchangeable and somewhat synonymous, but after some further research, I have found out they are not.

Inclusion is defined as being a part of what everyone else is, being welcomed and embraced by others who belong. Based on this definition, it seems that Samual Taylor is saying that an American history based on inclusion is not possible. That would mean that everyone would be "included" in the view of history that white Americans hold, without taking other points of view into consideration.

Pluralism is a view of things that stand in opposition of one single method or one single interpretation of events. It seems to me that this might be more applicable to our current American history. Taylor discusses how difficult it is for children educated in American history to have pride or security in their past as it is currently being taught; however, it seems to me that if children are taught pluralistically in all subject areas, then they would be able to form their own opinions based on their point of view. Although as a white person, I am somewhat ashamed of the way my ancestors treated other races of people, it is what it is and I am grateful to be able to learn from my past in order to make better choices in my own future. If we don't teach children about the mistakes in our past, how are they going to prevent history from continuing to repeat itself?

Multiculturalism is defined as all cultures having equitable status without promotion of any one specific groups' beliefs as being the central focus. While to some extent this sounds like the most preferred method of teaching and educating, I am somewhat in agreement with Samuel Taylor in the idea that this may just not be possible. I definitely agree with his statement that it would be impossible to write a single American history that pleases all cultural groups. There is a catch-22 in America being a "melting pot" for so many cultures. On one hand, America is seen as the land of opportunity where people can come to have a better quality of life as an American, "melting" into the culture that is here. On the other hand, it seems that culture is seen very differently by different cultures of people that make up this nation. It also seems like many times, people come to America but want to bring their culture with them which can be somewhat confusing. If the culture you left is bad, why would you hang onto it so strongly?

As a school counselor in Smyrna, TN, I still see white students as the majority in my school building. We do have several other cultures represented and we have recently seen quite an increase in our Hispanic population. I am happy that children are able to come to our school and receive a quality education that I do not view as racist. However, I do have to admit that it is somewhat frustrating to try to communicate with the families of our Hispanic students. While I do not think that English is the "superior" language, I do see that it is the language that the majority of people in our country speak. I am more than willing to do what I can to communicate with Spanish-speaking people (which is often quite entertaining) and feel that I am accepting and patient with their limited English. I will admit that I do get frustrated sometimes when Hispanic parents get angry with me or with our office staff for not being able to communicate in Spanish with them. I think this might be an example of how multiculturalism can be hard to achieve because English is promoted as the central language of our country and people who choose to come here would be best served by learning the language.

While I realize that our country was founded on certain freedoms for everyone, "Pithissippi Burning" is an example of people who take those freedoms to the extreme. The book discussed in that article (The Brigade) is a prime example of the hate literature discussed in that article. The author of the article describes a book that sounds very racist and very filled with hatred. I am not sure where that type of writing has any place in American literature at all. It certainly is the exact opposite of inclusion or multiculturalism either one.

The article "Why Multiculturalism is Wrong" made absolutely no sense to me and left my head spinning. The conclusion I have come to is that education should serve to make each student a more-rounded individual equipped with knowledge along with critical thinking skills. With this combination, all cultures should be respected and somehow included in the history of this great nation. If ignorance breeds hatred, then the more knowledge we impart to our students, the more our children will be able to implement a multicultural society.

Carson, Rosa. (1999). Didja ever wonder what this multiculturalism thing's all about?
Retrieved September 26, 2009 from
http://wso.williams.edu/~rcarson/multiculturalism.html

Kids Together, Inc. (11 September, 209). Inclusion. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from
http://www.kidstogether.org/inclusion.htm

Pluralism. (22 August, 2009). Retrieved September 26, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralism