Multiculturalism and Schooling

Australia is recognized as a multicultural society, with the 2011 census revealing that one in four Australians was born overseas.¹  The intense diversity brought about by the many migrants to Australia from not only white European backgrounds but many more diverse cultural areas presents a challenge to education – a challenge that is hard to meet, but if handled well, can be extremely rewarding.

In any situation where schools are required to cater to different levels of education in the one class, it is difficult to maintain a good standard and have challenging but attainable levels of achievement for the class. However, when this difference in education is as large as that involved in not only teaching students who either have English as a second language or are not up to speaking it at all, but come from completely different cultural backgrounds and have different ways of learning and behaving, this can present a huge challenge for educators.

In contemporary Australia this challenge has mostly been embraced by schools, with the introduction of extra English classes for migrant students, special programs to bring students who have not yet reached the required curriculum level up to speed, and encouraging students to share their knowledge and customs to educate all involved.

A recent article in The Guardian shows a similar situation in England² (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/feb/28/school-20-languages-gladstone-primary).  Again, a multicultural society with a clear original cultural way of educating has had to make changes to cater to its multicultural population, and in the process has provided a richer education for all students.  Gladstone Primary School is said to be the only primary school in the country where none of its students hold English as their first language (‘About 80% of its pupils are from a Pakistani background: most speak Punjabi but the school's 20 other languages include Dari, Pashto, Gujarati, Kurdish, Arabic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech, German and French’).  Despite this, through work over the past 16 months, it has raised its level to reach the teaching inspectorates standards, and continues to provide a multicultural and culturally sensitive education to its students.

This form of effective education to many different backgrounds is also brought about by the continued education of the schools teachers. The teachers give a short presentation about one of their pupils countries at staff meetings and teachers are encouraged to actively ask students about their lives and cultures.  In this instance the learning process goes both ways, as the teachers education about their students backgrounds allow them to best teach them the curriculum they are required to learn.

Similarly, in an article in the International Review for Learning 2011, Quality multilingual and multicultural education for lifelong learning, it  is recognised that ‘In environments where multilingualism and cultural diversity are viewed as resources, these dichotomies are re-interpreted positively within a context ofadditive bi/multilingualism and multiculturalism, where differences are viewed asborders rather than boundaries and as an integral part of individuals’ andcommunities’ linguistic and cultural repertoires.’ ³  This shows an extremely positive view of multicultural education and the benefits in learning found through making connections with others and each using their own cultural backgrounds as well as individual talents to form a well-educated whole.

The example of Gladstone Primary may be an extreme one, and it may seem more difficult to celebrate multiculturalism and minimize racism in a school that does contain students who speak English as their first language, however the basis of the school’s success can be used as an example to learn from in terms of teaching a multicultural world to multicultural students.  Schools should celebrate the different cultures rather than feel they have to deal with them.  In our roles as teachers in Australian schools, we can learn from the example of interaction with student’s cultures and the two-way learning process, to best open up channels of communication, to fully embrace multiculturalism in schools and in Australia.

References:

1. 2011 Census reveals one in four Australians is born overseas, CO/59, accessed through http://abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/CO-59, published 2012

2. Barkham, P. The School where they speak 20 languages: A Day at Gladstone Primary, The Guardian, 2013, accessed online at http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/feb/28/school-20-languages-gladstone-primary

3. Alidou, H., Glanz, C., & Nikièma, N. (2011). Quality multilingual and multicultural education for lifelong learning. International Review of Education,57(5-6), 529-539.