EDF 1005 Reflection Paper #3

Jackie Lawrence
Reelection Paper #3
EDF 1005

Multicultural education is no longer just a fight to end racism in our country’s school system. It now also considers student differences in gender, social class, disability, and sexual orientation. Its main purpose it to develop children’s minds so they are capable of learning about people completely different from themselves. As globalization and technology continue to flourish, our world will continue to shrink. The more educated society is about diversity, increased effectiveness will occur in terms of functioning and communicating. Furthermore, hate crimes, discrimination, and wars will decrease. The best way to achieve greater understanding between diverse groups of people is through multicultural education, which starts in the classroom. James Banks developed four different approaches, including the contributions approach, the transformation approach, the additive approach, and social action.
Personally, I think Banks’ various styles can definitely intermingle with each other in the classroom. I’m pretty sure that back when I attended middle school and high school, the contributions approach and the additive approach were dominant. We studied various cultures, took foreign language classes, and celebrated other culture’s holidays. Our classes weren’t incredibly in depth or complex though. I had a basic understanding of various languages, geography, and significant historical figures. But even my Spanish classes didn’t teach me the complexities of the various Latin American cultures. Looking back, I wish someone had told me how incredibly important it was to truly comprehend as many different cultures as possible. As an aspiring school psychologist, I love to watch people today. I attempt to figure them out, based on their body language, tone of voice, choice of food, choice of clothes, etc. I wish my school system concentrated more on the social actions approach. At my school, we never even came close to becoming involved in solving our community social problems. As a result, I often felt that the classroom and the real world were entirely separate entities. The streets I grew up on did not represent what I was taught in school by any means whatsoever.
The People for the American Way conducted a survey of 1000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24. The results, to me, were devastating. Over 50% of the people surveyed feel that race relations in the United States are still not good. It is necessary to fix this terrible dilemma, and promptly. The main solution lies in our classrooms, with our children. According to Gloria Ladson-Bilings, academic success promotes self-esteem and helps to develop a critical consciousness towards society. Focusing on multicultural education will create mature, academically successful adults that are prepared to develop relationships with all walks of life.