Multicultural in school setting Essay

The article, what makes a school multicultural? talks about social change in the society. The concept of multiculturalism has not been clarified but everyone has an idea of what it is and they are thus left to judge with their believes and biases. The article is well written and talks of the 21st century as a century that is very sensitive to culture focused on international matters as a way of getting orientation to the future because industrial changes that are taking place have caused the environment to suffer greatly. Multiculturalism has been shown to promote respect for all different type of people from the various races (Roysircar & Sandhu, 2003). The schools according to this article regard themselves as multicultural because of the diversity that they have racially and ethnically. The article does not however give a clear answer as to if; this is what makes the schools to be multicultural. The article discusses multiculturalism in the schools as an imperative of the law and the society. It also says that diversity should be valued. The article says that for a school to be considered as a multicultural it should implement it policies, perspectives, programs, practices and personnel to have a reflection on the heterogeneity of the affirmative action, which is dynamic. It should also be sensitive to needs of the groups, which include the student population. They should also be in a position to create an ambiance socially and culturally. The schools overall mission should be incorporated by its policies. The article says that the society is changing in a rapid rate and this is what forces the schools to also embrace the changes. Question #1 Opportunities and challenges that ethnic diversity poses to our society and our schools (N. Y) Some of the opportunities that the ethnic diversity poses to our society are that, it allows the people to immigrate into the other countries. For example, the United States has many immigrants who have come from different parts of the world some to work and some to learn. We have seen that many students who have are immigrants perform very well in schools due to availability of resources. It is also important to educate children about ethnic diversity so that they can understand about the stereotypes and the negativism that is directed towards various groups of people. When students get to learn that their ethnic group is valued, they get a very high self-esteem and become confident that they are indeed living in a society that is free. Some of the challenges brought about by this diversity are that, the society lacks a common heritage on which to base its education system on (Roysircar & Sandhu, 2003). Ethnic Diversity poses issues of insecurity in New York and majority of other countries through terrorism in the society because people especially the Muslims are stereotyped to be involved in many bombings. Ethnic diversity faces prejudices because it is regarded to be the cause of some of the social problems that are modern. These problems are unemployment, competition among groups in the society and in general the urban decay. Especially when the economy is not doing, well the minority in the New York are undermined. For the schools, they become flooded and the children end up dropping out. In addition, the college education becomes expensive for the immigrants since they are in a foreign land. Question #2: Contributions of the Arab Americans in the society and Challenges that they face. Arab American have greatly contributed to America in the sense that, they have lawyers educators and doctors among them in America. They are hence are in a position to help fight against diseases such as cancer and leukemia. Danny Thomas who was an Arab American Doctor, helped to establish a cancer centre for children that bore his name and today so many American children have benefited from this foundation. They have also helped America to diversify its cultures and languages, which even though it required a huge funding they were able to raise it with time. They also hold other positions that American can hold and hence contribute to the economy in the same measure. The Arab Americans face the challenge of being distrusted. This makes the Arab Americans feel that America is being unjustifiably hostile towards them. However, as much as the mistrust exists, majority of the Arab American love America (Donaldson, 2001). They also face the challenge of racism, misinformation about their history, discrimination and negative stereotyping. A stereotype goes that says they are the majority in the American prisons. The misconception about Arab Americans is spread through teachers, peers and mostly through the media, which depicts them as terrorist in movies. To solve some of the challenges that face them, the media has to change its stand and support the Arab Americans so that they can be treated equally in the society. If this does not happen the Arab Americans have, the task of having to work more than they have usually work in order to be treated equally it the society (Pope-Davis, 2003). REFERENCES Donaldson, K. (2001). Shattering the denial: protocols for the classroom and beyond. London. Greenwood Publishing Group, Pope-Davis, D. (2003). Handbook of multicultural competencies in counseling & psychology. London. SAGE. Roysircar, G. & Sandhu, D. (2003). Multicultural competencies: a guidebook of practices. Dublin. AMCD. Rosado, C. (1995). Critical Multicultural Pavilion: what makes a school multicultural? Print viewed on July 24th, 2010. http://www. edchange. org/multicultural/papers/caleb/multicultural. html