Time for a Multicultural Change

Michael Bordelon

City Hall Meeting

EDU 250

Roxanne Stansbury

Hello and welcome to all staff, parents and the community at large. I stand before you
today in order to discuss an important issue facing our children and the schools they attend.
Multicultural education programs have shown to help broaden the horizons for students of both
ethnic backgrounds, as well as those of European descent. These specialized curriculums
promote confidence in minority groups, and increased awareness in the student body. By
addressing the history, customs and beliefs of all cultures, we can identify what makes
Americans unique, and encourage pride of country in the individual student. Multicultural
education establishes a learning attitude, rather than discrimination based on ignorance, and
helps some students obtain a clearer image of self by teaching the history behind cultural
identities. However, recent research suggest that the method currently used to teach these
wonderful differences, does more harm than good, and so it is my proposal that we rethink our
Multicultural education programs, listening not to the scientists, but to the students themselves.

To begin, I would like to address the problems with our current Multicultural programs,
starting with the concerns of the student body. Our goal as teachers is to assist the children in
gaining the tools needed to survive in the world. This means educating, building confidence,
curving bad behavior and helping guide them to individual growth. Some students are finding
this difficult in light of how often they are told they are different, when all they wish, is to be like
their peers. It is the Multicultural programs that are separating the students, bringing an already
hot topic issue, under a spot light. Look at the differences, look at the differences; this motto
which seems to follow the students around constantly pokes at a sore spot for some, while
creating racial tension among students who feel they are being subjected unjustly, or that their
culture is not receiving the same courtesy as others. It is my belief, as well as that of Elaine Chan
(2007) in the Journal of Curriculum Studies which suggest that, “we need to develop practical
ways of interacting that accommodate for beliefs when they differ significantly, and to find ways
of incorporating culture into the curriculum in ways that are relevant to the students involved” (p.
191).

Some of the people attending tonight’s meeting might be asking themselves, “Well is that
not what the programs are intended to do?” And indeed they are, yet what was once an
innovative approach on how to address cultural differences, has since become a stale dinosaur
lingering about the educational system with flaws still intact. I do not suggest that we scrap
teaching the students about their heritage, where their history can be found, only that the way in
which we are doing so is not the best possible method. According to Paul C. Gorski (2008) of
EdChange, “multicultural education courses are taught at the pace of those students who are
most resistant to its underlying philosophies,” (p. 169) meaning that students who are slower in
the classroom because they know English as a second language, are not gaining the benefit from
learning about their own culture, and the students who are, only do so for the grade. This is the
opposite of what Multicultural learning is intended to do, as instead of expanding the students
acceptance, the process is being treated as, “an easy class”.

Gorski (2008), who also belongs to Hamline University, goes on to point out that, “extra-
curricular programs (many of which recycle the stereotypes and stratifications we should be
eliminating) such as student diversity clubs, do little more than host dances and cultural fairs” (p.
169). Which is to say that instead of promoting critical thinking, the Multicultural programs are
only further separating the student body; instead of educating them on how and why they are
different, and celebrating the facts through informed decisions and the desire to participate. In a
recent survey conducted on 134 students who all shared a Multicultural education class, only
41% of the students made a reference to “growth in confidence”, and total confidence was only
represented by 30% of all learning outcomes (Wright, 2009, para. 148). While admittedly these
numbers reflected are better than nothing, since confidence in self is a primary reason for
Multicultural classes, it is my opinion that we as educators, not to mention the program, can do
better.
 I thank you all for your patience, time and consideration. I’d like to reintegrate that we
need to fight for improved Multicultural programs. The current versions are outdated, subjecting
the students to what they perceive as humiliation, which we could prevent if instead of pointing
out the differences, the program instead focused on the history and cultures and how they pertain
to where we are now as a society. It’s not prudent to celebrate differences; yes they are there, in
plain sight, but that’s why we need these programs, to help students who see the variations in a
negative light, to instead view diversity as an exploration of the past which leads to a single
point, the present. The here and now, where we all stand together in the same world, with the
same problems, and only in working together will we ever be able to overcome the obstacles that
confront us on a daily basis. I will be standing in the back so that after this meeting is adjourned,
if you feel as passionate as I do about the effects of the misguided Multicultural program, you
can sign a petition which will effectively give us the change we so desperately need.
 Citations

Amosa, W., & Gorski, P. (2008). Directions and Mis-Directions in Multicultural

Education: An Analysis of Session Offerings at the Annual Conference of the National

Association for Multicultural Education. Multicultural Perspectives, 10(3), 167-174.

doi:10.1080/15210960802198373.

Chan, E. (2007). Student experiences of a culturally-sensitive curriculum: ethnic identity

development amid conflicting stories to live by. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 39(2), 177-194.

doi:10.1080/00220270600968658.

Wright, A., & Tolan, J. (2009). Prejudice Reduction Through Shared Adventure: A

Qualitative Outcome Assessment of a Multicultural Education Class. Journal of Experiential

Education, 32(2), 137-154. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.