Advantages of a Multicultural Education System

Multicultural education is an emerging discipline whose main aim is to ensure equality in education among the people from different backgrounds, for example race, culture, and social class. The main aim of this new discipline is to equip these people with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to effectively function in a diverse society creating a community whose purpose will be for the common good of all its members. Multicultural education draws upon knowledge from more established disciplines such as ethnic studies and women studies and tends to challenge or reinterpret this knowledge. This knowledge is applied to the basic curriculum of multicultural education in respect to the values of diversity which is propagated by this discipline. Multicultural education means different things to different people and this has led to its complexity and since it has so many definitions teachers or instructors implement it in a variety of ways, based on their own understanding of this type of education. There are many reasons why teachers introduce multicultural education in their classrooms and these reasons are implemented to address the following issues: the development of ethnic and cultural literacy; the personal development of individual students especially those from underrepresented communities; the clarification of attitudes and values among students; and finally, the development of a multicultural social competence. It has been proven that education in a multicultural setting enhances teacher effectiveness and student achievement and this is evidence for the continuation and expansion of this field of education. In a country with such diverse backgrounds as the United States, it is very important for students to be taught to appreciate each other’s backgrounds and the best way to do this is to incorporate the literature from all these backgrounds into the education system.

The main reason for the use of multicultural literature in class is to get the students to appreciate each other’s culture in order to have a positive understanding and respect for each other, no matter their background. This encourages the positive development of common relationships, honesty and interest in the others’ culture. Multicultural books should also be used to engender racial pride in students and not to only create an appreciation of the culture of others. Literature affects how students look upon themselves and if some of these students are from a minority background for example, and the literature taught in class does not have any minority character as a hero, then this would lead to a low opinion of their own people, hence a low esteem of themselves.

There are many multicultural books that have come into the market and some of these are not the best type of literature to teach to a multicultural class. Teachers should therefore be very careful about the quality of multicultural literature that they introduce to their classes. Given the rising cost of books, teachers might be tempted to only get those books that are cheaper, not considering their quality, as long as it is a multicultural book. However, teachers should always do their best to ensure that their students get only the best quality of material for their classes, no matter their cost. Teachers should select books which do not display racism by modern standards and should avoid those classics which openly display racism as well as cultural hatred. They should not only select those books that portray minorities in a positive light, but they should also look at the language quality of each of the books they get because language is an essential part of how students receive the message that the book is attempting to convey. Most teachers have very little understanding of the kind of multicultural literature they should introduce in their classes and because of this, it would be best for them to carefully do their research before making any attempt to make a selection. The literature they choose should accurately and respectively show the images of the cultures (especially minority cultures) that they are meant to represent.

In books that have illustrations, these illustrations have to be examined by the teacher to make sure that they accurately represent the people from different races, whether they are white, black, Asian, or Indian, and these, should not be drawn as caricatures. It is best to select books which show the diversity that can be found within a specific race, while those books which only display the stereotypical characteristics of a certain race should be discarded. This will help to ensure that students learn to appreciate the diversity within each race and will prevent them from the vice of stereotyping, something which is never an accurate representation. Once a teacher has established that the illustrations are above reproach in terms of racial stereotyping, then the next step would be to assess the text within such a book. The text should also be able to display the fact that not everybody in a certain community live in poverty, or that they do not have their own thoughts. It should show the diversity and independence that can be found in every community without any of the racial prejudices which some texts tend to display. The text should also be checked to see whether the cultures of minority groups are treated with respect or whether they are considered to be inferior to that of the dominant white culture. On the other hand, the books should show an accurate description of minority cultures and these cultures should therefore not be overly romanticized to make them more appealing.

In conclusion, it can be said that the literature, the themes displayed within them, and the personal achievements of the characters within this literature are very important in enhancing the multicultural material in the classroom. They help in the development in racial pride especially among minority students as well as the appreciation of the culture of others. These materials not only provide an opportunity for the interaction of different cultures on an equal basis, but they also create opportunities for the students to learn about the diversity of their nation.