Multiculturalism in Education
Aug 21st, 2007 | 12 responses
Marc Moore wrote a fascinating article at The Gazette about “multiculturalism in education.”
School is about to start in Texas and all over the state children and teenagers are alternately awaiting and dreading the beginning of another 180-odd days of enlightenment that will be delivered by the finest teachers a sub-standard pay rate, a regressive labor union, and a back-end loaded retirement system can deliver (along with more than a few woefully underqualified football coaches who must darken a classroom doorway or two lest their irrelevance in the education process be noted). But this post is not about them.
Along with the life wisdom that will be dispensed this year will come an unhealthly dollop of multicultural spam thick and disgusting enough to stop an artery or a brain dead in its tracks. Western democracies, these fragile young minds will be told, are no better than any other form of society found on Earth, of which there are several that are – or were – just as laudable. In particular, no particular preference should be given to America and her traditional values of strict constructionism, Christianity, the Protestant work ethic, the rule of law, or even the English language itself. What is better, is relative to one’s perspective, after all. Or so they will hear…
In America multiculturalism is arguably less malignant than in Europe. Yet on both continents it is still a corrosive, self-defeating mental balm intended to ease the minds of sensitive souls who feel the pain of other people’s injustices so intensely that they would destroy their own society rather than accept the guilt of having made a judgment against their way of life…
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12 Responses to “Multiculturalism in Education”
Is there a link to the Gazette article? Being quite familiar with Texas public schools I’d be interested in seeing what he’s basing this on.
Umh yes, here.
Unfortunately, all too often in education ‘multiculturalism’ is a thinly disguised misnomer for anti-Westernism, and not a celebration of other cultures and their contributions.
Sorry Michael, I didn’t realize your blog was The Gazette.
I’m not sure what Marc is basing this on.
From what I’ve seen at the Texas Education Agency there doesn’t seem to be anything there to support the claim though I’d argue we Texans might find ourselves in some costly legal battles should we choose to give some sort of “preference” whatever that means to Christianity or any other religion.
The fact is, our schools are for the most part controlled by the local school districts (as it should be) and I believe if you looked into their individual policies you’d find a great disparity of ideas.
Lacking any detail about how Marc arrived at this view (or opinion though it isn’t expressed as opinion) and given what I know about Texas Public Schools I’d have to disagree with his claims.
My thoughts are along the same lines as Davebo (and Xel, sort of, at Michael’s own blog). Marc’s article, and that from the Rand Institute he quotes, tells us all sorts of things about the evils of multiculturalism without ever managing to quote a single textbook, present any dumb quote from a self-defined “multiculturalist” (and it’s always easy to find someone saying something dumb and present it as broad evidence of some movement), make any attempt to find out what is behind text book changes (as the saying goes, the path to hell is paved with good intentions), or what the alternatives are. If a textbook is presenting a certain view of, say, the Crusades or America’s expansion West and its effects upon Native Americans that is in error. How precisely, and how would he present it better? Moreover, no one provides any evidence of harm, or even documented changed attitudes, among the students today versus, say, 15 years ago.
I’m left with the impression, as I’ve said before, that “multiculturalism” is just a grab bag of whatever evils one sees in the world. I’m sure there are flaws to be remedied, but this article doesn’t get there.
Another day, another slogan transforming the complesities of life into existential threats. Today it’s multicualurism.
It’s a totally vague notion, as presented here. To discuss it meaningfully, however, we would need specific examples to examine. I don’t question the need to be vigilant about preserving the core principles of western civilization. Vigilance is undermined by crying ‘wolf’ inappropiratel, though.
Since there are no specific examples to examine here, we’ll have to wait for a post that presents some specimens to dissect in order to judge wether the worlf is or is not among the sheep.
BTW, is our culture really so weak that the whole house would fall down if we gained knowledge agout other curltures? Knowledge is the best defense, I always thought.
For starters, how about stuff like this.
Phin,
And that will affect Texas (or any education) how exactly?
The claim being made is that in a few days Texas school children will return to be educated about how America is bad, capitalism is bad.
And frankly, the author mentions House Res. 808, and then condems it by citing among others Galtung who I seriously doubt will be developing any US curriculum.
But since you seem to admire the author, care to comment on his book “Stealing Jesus”?
Sorry, but this article is right-wing paranoid horse manure. Strict constructionism is one of the nation’s core values? Why doesn’t he add “ending the death tax” and the “healthy forests initiative,” or denying global warming. The article itself is filled with strawman invective against an amoral behemoth that does not exist.
phin,
Your link refers to an even worse form of neoconservatism on steroids. So anybody who refuses to threaten nuclear war is an enemy of freedom? Talk about Orwellian.
Is this supposed to imply that our schools should demonstrate a “particular preference†towards Christianity? If there’s a place for a “particular preference†for Christianity in education, it’s in church and private schools—not public schools.
Frankly, I’m confused about all the criticism over “multiculturalism†is overblown and will remain so until someone provides me with a definition of the term. Criticizing “multiculturalism†for its refusal to demonstrate a “particular preference†towards Christianity is a losing argument given that America is a nation of both Christians and non-Christians.
A far more pressing problems in our education system is ensuring that Americans have an accurate view of American history. That means teaching the good with the bad.
I had another thought on this. I wonder if some of this reaction derives from a shift in the discipline of history itself from a study of nations to one of people. One might make the case that mainstream history, as it is taught at the junior high and high school levels, was traditionally the story of nations as entities. As such, one focused upon the driving forces of those nations – the dominant ideologies, religions, culture, etc. – and the growth and decline of those entities. But now there is more of a shift, not to just teach a history of America (or France or China, etc.), but of Americans as people.
When you start doing that, you start naturally discussing people who were often on the “losing” side of battles. When a nation grows, it often grows at someone else’s expense. It’s like the difference between economic history as a history of GDP versus a history of workers.
Anyway, if you focus on the U.S. as an entity, the story is largely one of uneven growth and a gain in power. It all comes out kinda good. If you focus on American people, you end up with that story still, but also stories of slavery and people lacking the right to vote and the destruction of a hundred cultures. In such a scenario, there has been little direct attempt to change views of America, but there was a change in a view of history as a discipline, which suddenly brought different stories to light.
Just throwing a thought out there.
It used to be that US grade school history books told the story of navive Americans in terms of the savage Indians scalping the noble settlers.
If children today are exposed to a more true-to-facts version of the birth of this nation, then I say ‘welcome’ to multiculturism.
What America has achieved, its form of government as symbolized by the Constitutution, would only be endangered if it’s survival had to depend on a pack of lies and half-truths. Our institutions survive precisely because they can handle accepting the bad in order to forge the good. In order to abolish slavery, we had to accept that this abomination existed and thrived, and then we decided that we would tolerate it no more.
I feel like singing a chorus of The Truth Shall Set You Free” and one of “We Shall Overcome” at this point. There is no challenge this country can’t overcome, unless we fall prey to fearmongering.