Issues in Multicultural Education

There are many issues in multicultural education. Historically, in the United States, the public school system was seen as racist, sexist and classist. However, today it can be argued that the conditions have improved over the years and practices have been changed in order to make the education system more accessible to every student regardless of their faith or background.

There are many issues in the local community which can affect the education of diverse students. The issues include teaching materials, quality of school programs, funding for cultural enrichment activities and so forth.

Teaching materials are very resourceful as it can cater for the needs of all students regardless of their culture, faith and background and hence, these tools can be used to teach the students. Funding for cultural enrichment activities is an important issue. In most cases, funding for these activities is a problem as there is a fixed budget which often caters for the needs of the children from the West. However, this problem is gradually being tackled.

Students from different faiths, ethnic groups and environment should be included in every aspect of the education system. Inclusion comprises of student-centered and critical inclusion as well as the voices of the students, their thoughts and perspectives and their individual educational experience. A multicultural curriculum encourages them to provide context and perspectives on all subjects covered in school.

There are many other multicultural issues which can affect students at all levels. The multicultural curriculum decreases the skills and the knowledge which are vital to students to help them succeed. Hence, this presents knowledge from a single perspective and students fail to engage actively with each other.