Entry #4 Diversity

After reading "New Immigration", "Multiculturalism in School Curriculum", and "Toward a Centrist Curriculum" I feel we are still Ethnic loyalist and far from cosmopolitanism. As stated by Hirsch, Ethnic loyalists associate themselves more with the culture of their heritage. Cosmopolitanism is more belonging to a nation or world instead of belonging to a certain ethnic group. I agree with Hirsch when he states that "Ethnic loyalists hold onto their culture and things they have overcome; however, when preservation becomes separation it becomes difficult" (Hirsch, 1992).

I believe everyone needs to know their history and where they come from, but in order to be united as Americans, we need to see ourselves as just that Americans, not African-Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans, Anglo Americans, just American.

Textbook companies are getting better at including different cultures in the curriculum; however, I still believe that Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, and other cultures are under represented in the curriculum and structure of the schools. There is a policy to teach character education in my county but there is not a policy to teach multiculturalism in the county. We have formed ESL classes for students that are learning a second language and through character education we have taught respect for others. This is a step in the right direction but we still have a ways to go.

I agree that multiculturalism cannot be done by teaching a different culture every month. However, incorporating multiculturalism in a middle school social studies classroom is easier than in a 1st grade classroom that mandates you teach straight from the reading series for 90 minutes, straight from the math series for 60 minutes, detailed 30 minute calendar time, phonics, spelling, recess, co-curricular, and lunch. I am at a school where teachers don't feel like they have the freedom to teach the way they want to teach.

Teachers are so overwhelmed with meeting accountability issues that they don't have time to teach diversity. There needs to be a set curriculum where diversity is taught along with reading, writing, and the other subject areas. Hirsch talks about the Core Knowledge Sequence curriculum that teachers diverse cultures while teaching the subjects and skills a student needs in order to graduate. Our main focus still needs to be to give every child in America an equal educational opportunity. All children need to be able to master the standards set by our nation. As stated by Hirsch, "It will do black American children little good, for example, to learn a lot about their African American past if they still cannot read and write effectively, do not understand natural science, and cannot solve mathematical problems" (Hirsch, 1992). Here are 2 links I found. The first is on teaching diversity in the classroom and the second link is about cosmopolitanism.

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/index.html

http://www.kwenu.com/bookreview/obaze/kwame appiah.htm

Hirsch, E. D (1992). Toward a Centrist Curriculum: Two kinds of Multiculturalism in Elementary school. Core Knowledge Foundation, Charlottesville, VA.