Defining Multicultural Education

Multicultural Education is the transformation of self, school and society that comes from an open mindedness, a willingness to learn from one another and the exchanging of ideas. I beileve that you can't experience or truly understand multicultural education unless you have multicultural parents and students to learn from. If there are several caucasian students in a class and only one is a Hispanic student, it would be difficult for the class to understand multiculturalism from one student. However, when there is a plethora of cultures presented in a school, it would be easier for students to understand and celebrate different cultures. However, Multicultural education would still not fully take place until the school and teacher begin helping children to become aware of similarties and differences. Also, allow people to influence one another's cultures.

It is difficult to define multicultural education, because it's not one entity, it's an all encompassing education. It's the exchanging, admiring and awareness of the people around us. Multicultural education could not be put in a bowl. It can be compared to an ocean; one is constantly discovering new things and appreciating differences seen.

One of the biggest challenges facing classroom teachers is the isolation teachers feel in their classrooms and the amount of work given for them to do, which limits their creativity and time to devote to promoting multiculturalism in the classroom, which is so important. Building a multicultural community in the classroom takes time, and work, but in the end you reap much more than you have sewn. Multicultural education saves us from the ignorance that plagues our society and our foreign relationships around the world.