Question 1 The article, “Growing worry of social immobility”, talks about how there is a general concern about the increasing social immobility in Singapore that could lead to further income disparity and inequality between its citizens. In the following paragraphs, I will identify the specific issues that have contributed to this growing social immobility. After which, I will proceed to argue how Banks’ (2005) ‘Dimensions of Multicultural Education’ have managed to address only some of these problems albeit superficially. The first concern stated in the Straits Times article points out how the “entry into more prestigious primary school is not based on merit, but on factors such as the location of the family home and parents’ connection to the school.” This creates an uneven playing field for students whose parents’ social status disadvantages them from gaining entry into schools that “had more “frills” and better teachers”. Hence, giving them a lower chance for academic success as compared to their better-off peers. Parents’ educational background also plays a huge part in determining students’ academic success as identified in the article where, “more than half of students in top schools like Raffles Institution had fathers who were university-educated.” This forms the next concern of a …show more content…
Multicultural education is impossible to achieve in a globalised world as globalisation brings about a certain set of challenges, such as “quests by racial, ethnic, cultural and religious groups for cultural recognition and rights”, due to the increasing diversity within nation-states from worldwide immigration (Banks, 2004, p.
The multicultural movement in education is deeply rooted, and the movement as we know it today dates back to the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Stemming from the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) decision and out of the demand by ethnic groups to be included in public schools, colleges, and universities, the main thrust of the mo...
According to Mannes (2001), the primary characteristics that influences responsibility for education is an individual relatives’ positions, inspiration, contribution, and demonstration. When I was growing up, education was always emphasized in my family. Even when we were poor, my parents did not let that hinder us. They tied education to success and my dad always voiced that he desired better for me than he had for himself, even though he became quite successful despite not having a high school diploma. Consequently, it was quite natural for me to pursue college after high school as that was the subject of numerous discussions in my
One problem is defining the tem "multiculturalism". When it is looked at simply as meaning the existence of a culturally integrated society, many people have no problems. However, when you go beyond that and try to suggest a different way of arriving at theat culturally integrated society, everyone seems to have a different opinion on what will work. Since education is at the root of the problem, it might be appropriate to use an example in that context. In 1980, the American school, Stanford University came up with a program - later known as the "Stanford-style multicultural curriculum" which aimed to familiarize students with traditions, philosophy, literature and history of the West. The program consisted of fifteen required books by writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Aquinas, Marx and Freud. By 1987, a group called the Rainbow Coalition argued the fact that the books were all written by DWEM's or Dead White European Males. They felt that this type of teaching denied students the knowledge of contributions by people of colour, women, and other oppressed groups.
The parents as the role models for their children that means many children will do what their parents mostly do, hence, is really important that the parents teaching their child. However, the research find out that the parents with higher socioeconomic states are more involved in their kids’ schooling (Chu et all, 1996) The reason seems obvious to me due to the importance of parents’ education, if the parents having more school, than parents could be like a ‘coach’ for their kids, that parents could guide the road of succeed. Also, the parents with higher education might provide a favorable environment since is easier to get a steady job with higher education. According to Kean, (2005), the parents with higher education have positive influence on children’s outcome, cause the majority of parents who are very educated might influence their kids though beliefs and behaviors, that will lead children and youth to a positive outcome (Kean, 2005).
important role on the ability of students to succeed in schools. Although family income produces
In recent research studies have shown that there are several factors of a child’s academic performance, such as parental time commitment and family economic status. I want to understand whether family economic status impacts a child’s academic performance. My hypothesis is that there is a correlation between children academic outcomes and family economic status. It is significant to research because the correlation between family economic status and a child’s academic performance demonstrate the detrimental impact on children from low economic families. Children are important because they are the future leaders. Many children will become nation leaders or lawyers while others may become doctors who will nurture the next generation. The most apparent issue concerning children form low income families today is low academic performance. Every aspect of a child’s life determines whether or not they will succeed. Therefore, we should be very concern and involved. The correlation of both aspects hinders children from low economic families. The importance of answering the research question allows us to determine whether or not there is a difference between children from low income families and children from high income families.
Parsasirat, Z., Montazeri, M., Yusooff, F., Subhi, N., & Nen, S. (2013). The Most Effective Kinds of Parents on Children’s Academic Achievement. Asian Social Science, 9(13), p229.
Multicultural education is a process of comprehensive school reform and basic education for all students. It challenges and rejects racism and other forms of discrimination in schools and society and accepts and affirms pluralism (ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, economic, and gender, among others) that students, their communities, and teachers reflect (Nieto, 2000).
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
It can be argued that the academic performance of children has nothing to do with their socioeconomic status, because there have been many cases of children from very poor families who have excelled greatly in academics (APA, 2017). Furthermore, many predominantly high-end schools have posted poor results when compared to school with poorer backgrounds. This is despite the fact children from lower socioeconomic classes do not have access to the best forms of learning materials. The high performance of children from poor backgrounds is often attributed to the fact that they are not preoccupied with many activities which would otherwise hinder them from concentrating on their studies (Sacerdote, 2002). Therefore, some believe it is false to say that poor performance is associated with children who come from low socioeconomic classes. Rather, they believe academic achievement is genetic (Sacerdote, 2002).
Banks, J., and McGee, C. A. (Eds.). (1989). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
A well-educated parent can have a better understanding of raising children and molding them for their adult life. For instance, an educated parent will probably make higher wages, therefore are able to invest more money in their child’s welfare. (Kaushal, 2014). Parents that raise their children in an impoverished environment most likely won’t have the money, which could decrease their chances of procuring the resources needed for their child’s education. Kaushal, (2014) stated, “Children learn from the attitudes and behaviors of their parents, which are often informed by knowledge, acquired through education” (Introduction, para. 6). For that reason, learning patterns of the poor social class could be passed down from one generation to the next which may make it more difficult for kids to gain a proper knowledge. Since culture is passed down from generation to generation, a parent’s actions may always affect the decisions their children make in life. This could make it extremely challenging for children to achieve a better lifestyle for their future families as
Parental involvement in a student’s learning career can make the difference between a C student and an A student. This is not a very controversial idea. However, factors outside of the parents control often make it harder for them to become involved. Today I am writing to you; the parents of my students. I will be asking all of you to take an active role in your young one’s education. I understand that long work hours make it difficult to set aside extra time. But, it must be noted that any extra time you can make will be a huge difference.
9). Hence, the advocacy for multicultural education focus is not the content but rather on value each ethnic group places on human rights and environmental issues. Therefore, in a multicultural education classroom the teacher must have a working knowledge of each student’s ethnic beliefs and values about the world around them. Armed without these tools, the teacher may tread into unknown and uncomfortable waters without comprehending they have drowned before they have
According to David O. McKay (2013), multicultural education is constructed to prepare pupils for citizenship in a democratic society by facilitating them to take into account the needs of all individuals; it shed light on how issues of language, ethnicity, culture, religion race, abilities/disabilities, and gender are entwined with educational content and processes. A multicultural curriculum is needed to accommodate for diverse learning and teaching styles of facilitators and pupils and to expose biases, stereotypes, and policies that can restrict achievement. What is more, a multicultural curriculum is also needed to help pupils, faculty, and staff become advocates for multicultural awareness, to ensure that content is fair, accurate, and inclusive, and to prepare pupils for diverse workplaces and multicultural environments. In writing this paper, the author will describe key issues of culturally diverse students, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In addition, she will describe three key issues of male and female students recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected. In closing, she will describe three key issues of students with disabilities, who are mainstreamed, recommend a curriculum approach to address the issues, and discuss the challenges and benefits expected.