William Cope
Daniel Kim
Wafa NiazNegotiating Learner Differences MOOC’s Updates
Race and Cultural Diversity in US Education - James D. Anderson
Comment: From your perspective as a resident of the United States, or as a resident of a different country, what are your impressions of the current state of play of race and ethnic relations in the United States? If you are not a resident in the United States, you may wish to mention the ways in which the situation is similar or different in your country.
Make an Update: How are demographics changing in your country or school? What are the consequences? For society and education?
In Kazakhstan we have been witnessing the emergence of Muslimization of the population for already several years. (https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/formirovanie-kontseptsii-veroterpimosti-i-etnicheskoy-konsolidatsii-v-obrazovatelnyh-formatah-kazahstana/viewer)
It started when enourmous wave of ethnic Kazakhs began immigration from Iran, Iraq and Afganistan and brought traditions and culture of those countries. They differentiate from local population by their appearance (men have beards and wear short trousers and women wear burqa or niqab). They represent ortodocs muslims and behave themselves extremely defiantly. Therefore, our population is very wary of them and tries to avoid them.
Nowadays we have become a little accustomed to them, but they still have a negative reputation. Unfortunatetly, they increase in number because involving young people in their communities. For this reason, we need to adjust educational programs in educational institutions in order to increase the humanitarian component of the educational process. Now measures are being taken to prevent their extremist activities. At the legislative level, documents were adopted prohibiting the public demonstration of external signs. For example, these may be things characteristic of radical movements in Islam. (https://cabar.asia/en/kazakhstan-s-ethnic-policy-1991-2021-what-needs-to-change)
Because of Kazakhstan providing secular education, at schools it is prohibited to wear niqab or burqa, girls and boys study together in one class, there is no discriminations towards other religions.
As a person who is currently teaching outside my home country, it is great to see the differences between the classroom setting in my country and where I am working right now. In Japan, where the classroom is predominantly Japanese students, foreign students seem to be given a level of treatment that is extreme. Either they are strongly favored or least favored in the classroom. We can also observe that discrimination is present to specific students with darker skin color than the majority. However, it can be observed that the discrimination is through silent treatment.In my experience teaching Japanese classrooms, I observed that there was no initiative to ask these foreign students to be a part of a group work, or they don’t have peers to talk with during free time. The Caucasian students can sometimes get the upper hand in the classroom, like being asked to lead a group work, or performing in an activity with a big audience. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, students seem to be more welcoming with foreign students. Similar to Japan, we can observe that Caucasian students have instances of receiving better treatment than other races. Because of a more outspoken kind of environment, students can easily blurt out feelings of dislike without hesitation. More than diversity by race, the Philippines being an island has prominent diversity in religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and so on. The current education system aims to promote inclusivity and while there is progress, there are still more things that need to be done.
Reference: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1064202
It is saddening to know that US Education experiences various kinds of discrimination for various ethnic groups. It is very similar to some places in the Philippines where indigenous people live, and may also experience difficulty in adjusting to new environment in the city.
https://www.philippinesbasiceducation.us/2012/08/inclusive-education-that-promotes.html
Even though the minority group already makes up a larger percent of the group, varying opinions between diversity, multiculturalism, and the other’s opinion of preserving heritage, race, and national interest are two positive but appear to be conflicting ideas in the eyes of dividing perspectives.
Multicultural education -America and India -Week 2
The United States consists of a diverse society and can be understood in terms of melting pot theory. It means that people of different cultures and religions etc. come together in a society like the immigrants and natives in the case of America and eventually produce a new hybrid social and cultural identity where a new breed of people from various groups forms a uniquely American identity and thus is often referred to the process of Americanization. This is an ideal situation but in reality, this diversity brings various issues along with it that need to be addressed. The fear of majority whites being replaced by Latino and Hispanic minority students in school is a major concern in America. Claude Steele in his book Whistling Vivaldi (2010) gives the example of his own life experience when he realized his black identity that restricted his everyday activities. He could go swimming only on Wednesday afternoons as the rest of the days were restricted only to white kids. He referred to this, as conditioning of life tied to one’s identity. He argues that an individual has to deal with certain situations because of one’s social identity like being old, young, gay, black, woman, etc. which he termed as “identity contingencies”.
A similar pattern can be observed in India recently, where certain fundamental religious groups and organizations are inculcating a hate ideology as a collective consciousness within the society and believe that the majority (Hindu) religion is under threat by the minority religious groups, especially Muslims and Christians. India is a secular democracy where all citizens are equal before law be it majority or minority and multiculturalism is a way of life. But until recently there is efforts made to change the history and modulate the curriculum, Muslim students denied to wear hijab in educational institutions (Karnataka case), minority schools are under threat, the madrasa is seen with suspicion, an effort to de-recognize madarsa as seen non-schooling, shift from a heterogenous to a homogeneous society with one religion. Diversity is seen as more of a problem than a blessing as can be seen with increasing incidents of hate crime, violence, lynching, denial of equal opportunity, etc. towards minorities. All these things have adversely affected the psychology of the people and students as well where they have started to recognize people with their religion and identity markers and not as fellow classmates belonging to a larger student community. They identify each other more in terms of in-group vs. out-group and there is a tendency to consider in-group superior to out-group as a result conflict is bound to happen. It has led to the development of stereotypes, prejudices, and misconceptions around certain identities, and as Steele argues that by imposing on us certain conditions of life, our social identities can strongly affect things as important as our performances in the classroom and on standardized tests, our memory capacity, our athletic performance, the pressure we feel to prove ourselves, even the comfort level we have with people of a different group. Thus, such differential behaviour affects not only academic performance but the everyday lived realities of the people. Efforts need to be made at the policy level to educate people about the diversity in a multicultural society and help them learns ways to negotiate and live in harmony with each other
My opinion of current state of race in America
Learner Differences Week 2 Update 2
Theresa Schantz
I do believe that at times I can be a very naïve person. I would like to believe that the state of race and ethnic relations in America is a minor problem. But as I come back to reality I realize that I am so off base. The fact of the matter is, that many Americans in general still struggle with the concept of equality. And the more that I investigate the topic, the more dumbfounded I am by the reality of the situation.
So when I decided to look up some numbers on racial inequality in America, I came across a few interesting and quite sad facts:
“1 in 1,000 Black men and boys can be expected to be killed by police at some point in their lifetime; that Black males are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white males; and that dying at the hands of law enforcement is a leading cause of death among young Black men.”
“Views about racial inequities are shown in the 2021 Best Countries report and rankings, an annual survey on global perceptions of countries. Of the 78 countries evaluated, the U.S. is seen as among the 10 worst countries for racial equality.”
“(CNN)The nationwide protests following the death of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of white police officers has once again shone a spotlight on the long-standing racial divide in the US.
This, along with the coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately killed black Americans, has drawn renewed attention to the persistent inequities in wealth, health and opportunity between blacks and whites despite economic prosperity of recent years.
Those disparities exist because of a long history of policies that excluded and exploited black Americans, said Valerie Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning group.
Racial inequality has become so normalized in this society, she said. It's what we expect to see. That's the way it's been for so long. “
Links to all of these sources are indicated below.
I could have posted many more sad and concerning facts and statistics that deplorably haunt America today. We as a nation wear blinders when we think that racial inequality isn’t a major problem in America. One important way to work on overcoming this problem, is proper education, not just for the youth of our country, but for everyone who suffers with concepts of racial inequality.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/07/27/the-demographics-of-racial-inequality-in-the-united-states/
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/americas-struggle-to-overcome-racial-inequities
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html
I have been outside the United States for many years now, and from the news, I have felt a very different atmosphere around race than I remember. Growing up, I lived in a suburb that had people from both lower and middle SES. A personal estimation of the diversity of my high school would out the percentages at about thirty percent black/African American, sixty percent white/caucasin and ten percent of students from other races (from my recollection). I can remember people of similar races, especially among the black-white line, socializing primarily with their own race. To me, as a working class white kid, race relations seemed somewhat strained at times, but generally was not the specific cause of arguments or fights usually. There was a major discrepency in the number of minority students in different streams however, with the honors/advanced placement stream that I was a part of having few students of non-Asian minorities. Clubs and activities that led to intermingling between races promoted understanding and often led to friendly banter that embraced our differences rather than avoiding the topic. Many of the jokes that were made in good fun (from both sides) would be considered offensive in today's climate.
Over the last few years, news coverage has focus on the expanding rift in race relations especially pertaining to those in the alt right and Black Americans or even the average American public. During Trump's presidency, social media often contained language and dialogue that would have been considered offensive even in much of the 1900s and public opinions on the perceived acceptability of derogatory language about race seems to fit my observations (https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/how-americans-see-the-state-of-race-relations/) . Since President Biden has taken office, I have noticed much less of this open rhetoric from people on my own social media feeds.
Far and moderate right-wing beliefs about race seem to be holding steady or becoming worse, with conservatives rallying against critical race theory and teaching about systemic racism (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-right-wing-meltdown-over-critical-race-theory-is-spiraling-out-of-control) and failing to recognize and police racist beliefs and rhetoric within their own political communities (https://www.vox.com/2019/7/23/20697636/trump-race-gop-conservatism-racism). However, amongst the general population, people report being more aware of the disadvantages that are still held by POC and the discrepentcies that have yet been dealt with (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2017/10/05/4-race-immigration-and-discrimination/). Programs, like this one in Coursera, that teach about the history of racism and ways for individuals to be and teach about anti-racism are becoming more common with courses by Microsoft Education, Futurelearn, and EDx as examples. This suggests a turning point in relations for the better and hopefully we will see these results beginning in the near future.
Mauritius is situated in the Indian Ocean, off the Eastern coast of Africa, with Port-Louis as its capital city. It is often called a ‘rainbow paradise island’ because of its rich cultural diversity and peaceful blend of religions. Mauritius does not recognise any official language, but the majority of the population can converse in French and English, with Creole being the mainstream every-day language among locals. Mauritius forms part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Reunion Island and Rodrigues Island, a territory of Mauritius.
The country’s ethnic composition is the result of more than two centuries of labour migration and European
colonisation. The people of Mauritius are descendants of European (mostly French) settlers, the Franco Mauritians; African slaves and creoles, the Afro-Mauritians; Chinese traders, the Sino-Mauritians; and Indian labourers, the Indo-Mauritians. Although the country's past contains dark chapters of inequality and exploitation, modern Mauritian history has been remarkable for its relatively smooth and peaceful transition from colonial rule to democracy. Ethnicity, religion, and language have been important factors in shaping the way Mauritians relate to each other in the political and social spheres.
Such cultural diversity and geographic isolation have led to a nationalised sense of pride. There is unity in being a Mauritian despite not having a shared language and customs. Mauritius is often considered a global
example of successful cultural integration.
Update
This cultural diversity is reflected in our education system. It is crucial to acknowledge diversity in our classrooms as this helps learners to function properly in a multi-cultural environment and to understand the perspectives of different backgrounds. Mauritian learners are taught to respect and value people’s differences. We may have cases of bullying as a result of ethnic differences but these are easily dealt with since our schools accommodate students from different spheres and diverse backgrounds.
Education plays an important role in the development of the country. The education system in Mauritius is divided into pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Mainly based on the British system; the education in Mauritius has been widely influenced by the British colonisation. Long after the independence
of the country in 1968, the Mauritian government has worked hard to improve education among the people to better facilitate the country’s literacy. Budgets in the education sector have been allotted to manage, facilitate, and provide free, universal, compulsory primary education, free textbooks, free secondary and tertiary education, free transport for students and a fairly wide range of higher degree education in the government-funded universities of Mauritius for all Mauritians irrespective of race and cultural differences.
http://countrystudies.us/mauritius/10.htm
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/indo-mauritians-is-the-largest-ethnic-group-of-mauritius.html
It is interesting to hear how integrated the schools in Mauritius are. It does seem like an integrated system like that, complimented by empathatic communication and education about race and heritage, would be the most effective way to promote inclusivity and understanding.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learnerdifferences/discussions/all/threads/tMfdQ7s1EeuAwA5JxuJq6Q/replies/5pEmAsyuEeueoQpSz9l9Pw
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learnerdifferences/discussions/all/threads/tMfdQ7s1EeuAwA5JxuJq6Q/replies/5pEmAsyuEeueoQpSz9l9Pw
The play of race and ethnic relations in education in the us, to me, becomes worse as they recognize the issues. it is heartbreaking that preschoolers know these problem early.
As a resident of another country, this concern is also present in some educational areas as US curriculum is sometimes considered as the standard.
This is an interesting way of thinking about this and I wonder then, what do you think the solution or alternative is? If knowing more and working towards inclusion is making the problem worse... then how do you think it can it be resolved?
The changes that happened in the educational system in the US and the challenges that they faced is same is true to the challenges that we face most especially in breaking and unlearning the stereotyped concept that the learner have already have in mind as they enter the school. Thus, as early as preschool teachers should be aware the environment of the classroom and recognized the diversity of the learners. It is also important that we engage our parents and other stakeholders to do the same. In that way what the children learn in school will be recognize at home and so parent can facilitate it and confirm it so that confusion will be avoided.