Hinton, S. (1999). School Ref Essay, Research Paper
This article is about implementing reform and multiculturalism into every facet to the learning experience among public schools. It explains the importance of multiculturalism and how it right and beneficial to the students, teachers, parents, and the surrounding community. The model for this program is the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. Although the implementation of this program has been slow, the potential for success is great.
The definition of multiculturalism presented in this article is the recognition of the social, political, and economic realities that individuals experience in culturally diverse and complex human encounters the importance of culture, race, sex, ethnicity , religion, socioeconomic status, and exceptionalities in the education process. According to Hinton, multiculturalism is beneficial to the classroom because it provides students with a better understanding to the differences among people around them in their communities and also promotes tolerance. It also promotes an appreciation and respect for history of other peoples. However, the implementation has to begin with the state board of education. The board must encourage administrators and teachers to demonstrate the facets of multiculturalism so that the students can learn by example. The problem is that most administrators and teachers are not receptive to change within their styles of administrating and teaching. Adaptation to change is essential if multiculturalism is to be implemented thoroughly and successfully within the schools. An appendix at the end of the article includes suggestions for state board of education, teachers, and parents that each can follow to allow for successful implementation of multiculturalism into the classroom. One suggestion is that the education philosophy needs to change from acquiring knowledge to using knowledge. This seems to be the one of the key elements of multiculturalism because simply knowing about someone else s culture does not necessarily mean that tolerance for the differences will be practiced.
I believe that the implementation of multiculturalism into classrooms can very beneficial to this society and country. There is such a variety of different people here that sensitivity and knowledge for others is essential for being able to get along with others peacefully. One thing I found in this article that would be hard to implement would be with the parent involvement in the student s education. Some parents view school as simply the place where their children go while they are at work. If the parents don t care what their children are doing at school and don t care about the respect and tolerance of others, it will be harder for these children to be able to practice tolerance and respect. One aspect of this article that I greatly agreed with was that teachers and administrators should be aware of the hidden curriculum. Sometimes teachers unknowingly reflect negative attitudes towards certain students due to various reasons. If multiculturalism is to be practiced successfully in the classroom, close attention must be paid to every action the teacher makes. Self-evaluation of the teacher should be practiced in order to keep themselves in check with the goals of multiculturalism. Another good idea in this article is to make sure that when teaching about another culture and it s history, every side to the story must be explored in order to gain a full understanding of why certain people do the things they do. The example that was given in the article was one about Native Americans. Instead of just saying that they lived in teepees, the reasons why they lived in them should be given.
Multiculturalism can be very beneficial to a community if properly implemented into the classroom. All the benefits won t be reaped overnight, but the hard work of change will pay off if dedication in this area is practiced.