Diversity in Education

As a child, I grew up in a small town and everyone knew each other. The schools that I attended were small and did not have much diversity. Even, the people that live there are all white. When I went off to college, I had to adjust to the diversity. In undergraduate school, I learned a variety of things about diversity. I believe it has helped me in my career. Now this is not the case for everyone? There are people that never leave the small towns and learn about other cultures. It is hard for them to interact with others from another racial background.

Waxler's article made valid points about multiculturalism in schools. I agree that we should stop celebrating months of diversity. Should we not celebrate them all and not make people feel secluded? Waxler does believe we should "move away from the traditional curriculum to a theme based curriculum as many suggest. Different cultures and perspectives can and should be incorporated throughout the various units within the traditional curriculum" (Waxler). This is a plan that would help our students. As teachers we should be teaching about diversity the first day they walk in to our school. Learning about diversity is going to help these students succeed in their career path.

The article called "Toward a Centrist Curriculum: Two Kinds of Multiculturalism in Elementary School had interesting points about diversity. Hirsch believes "that cosmopolitan is the only valid multiculturalism for the modern era. Centrist core curriculum can enable all children to be well educated" (Hirsch, 1992). Would students not be well educated if the curriculum was focused on diversity? I believe if the students are well educated about other racial backgrounds they will be more knowledgeable. Employers will want to hire someone that has a diverse background.

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/articles/index.pl?noframes;page=3;read=1621

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/pndivers.html

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