Americanize Individuals Of Other Cultures And Beliefs example essay topic

Modern times and advances in technology and lifestyles have produced a multicultural society. With a multicultural society comes the importance of respect for individual difference. Differences should excite and stimulate other's to become more knowledgeable of other cultures and beliefs that exist. It is important that individual's of a modern society have a respect for facets they may lack in their own lives. Diversity whether it is in the form of race, gender, religion, culture or ethnic background is something that should be embraced by all who are fortunate enough to have exposure to it. It is too often that individual differences are shunned due to ignorance, often backed by stereotypes that surround the diverse individual or group.

The passage on multiculturalism examined religious beliefs in Megan Loughin's classroom. This was a case study on a classroom that was studying only the "traditional" seasonal holidays, in which a few members of the class belonged to different religious backgrounds that did not permit the celebration of Halloween or did not include it as something they believed in. The teacher in this classroom was faced with the daunting task of rethinking the method in which she was going to present holidays without offending the group of students who did not celebrate. The teacher attempted to make changes to her program allowing those students to discuss what they celebrated and to give some more background on their culture. From the perspective of Loughin, this was enough to satisfy everyone in the class. Yet, what she failed to take into consideration was the impact this change would have on the majority of the class who celebrated the "traditional" holidays causing them to become the segregated population in the classroom.

This matter raised the question as to how to satisfy all of the cultures in one classroom. I feel that it is very important to honor diversity; one's background is the basis for the story of their lives. Without that, we as individuals would lack the unique aspects of our personalities. I do feel it is possible and vital to provide a multicultural education, this nation is seen as a melted pot for many other great cultures. The point should not be to Americanize individuals of other cultures and beliefs, but to provide them with an appreciation of cultural differences. Multiculturalism is something that should be included in both racially and culturally homogenous and heterogeneous districts.

At some point in a child's life, they are bound to come across diversity and it is our responsibility as educators to provide them all the tools they need to become accepting adults. In Laughlin's case, a possible way to integrate all the values of the children in her diverse class would be to split the time that is spent on studying one particular holiday to teach excerpts of other cultures and their beliefs. She should not exclude any group or belief. All of the children in the class deserve an equal opportunity to discuss what is important to them. If multiculturalism is not honored, it could produce feelings of shame and lower the self-esteem of a child whose culture is excluded. As educators, we must consider that not everyone in our class is going to come from the same background and use that to our advantage in teaching..