What is meant by the term
‘culture’ and what does it entail? It could be said that culture is the shared
ideas and activities through which a group of people understand and construct
their world. However, although many people have put forward a definition of
culture, the term ‘culture’ cannot exactly be defined as it does not entail a
concrete definition. This is due to the fact that the term ‘culture’ is very
broad and can have multiple meanings depending on the context the word is used
in.
Cultural diversity is the
cultural differences that exist in the world, a society or a particular
institution; it is the inclusion of diverse people in a group or organisation.
In a school setting, cultural diversity promotes unity, equality, a fair
learning environment for everyone and gives most of the students’ confidence as
they are able to interact with people from many different countries whom all
have different types of cultural practices. Cultural diversity in a school
setting is very broad and can be associated with many differences. According to
Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd (2007) in Culture and Education, “there are so many
different types of clothes, music, food, beliefs, rules, languages, religions
and values among different types of people”. These examples portray the variety
of cultural differences that exist in any multicultural environment and can thus
also be relevant to a school environment. According to an article in the Sydney
Morning Herald on 14th of October titled “rich themes of cultural
diversity in belonging HSC question” students were able to draw on their or
their families past experiences in the 2013 English HSC in the creative writing
section. One student who sat the HSC said, “I wrote about a little asylum-
seeker boy who comes here and gets rejected” (Tovey, 2013).
However, because there is a wide
variety of cultural differences that exist in schools, some students may feel
like they are part of a minority group in the school, eg. Muslim girls wearing
the scarf to their local public school. The article by Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd
(2007) states, “schools are a site of cultural struggle” and gives an example
of Muslim girls wearing the scarf to school in France. Although France claims
to be a secular state, administrators have passed legislation banning the
wearing of the headpiece in any school environment. France claims to be neutral
to matters of religion and treat all its citizens equally regardless of their
religious beliefs but then the banning of the scarf in schools suggests a
non-secular education system. This example gives reason for students in France
to discriminate and not accept people who wear the headscarf as they don’t
interact with this type of culture and might come to a conclusion that what
they are wearing is bad due to it being banned.
However, in Australia it is
completely opposite. Instead of administrators passing legislation neglecting
certain students because of their cultural beliefs, there are policies that are
used to help create a fair learning environment for all. The Anti-racism policy
(2005) eliminates all forms of racism in the school environment and in the
school curriculum. Although racism and bullying still exists today, it is the
responsibility of each generation to continue to work against it. The
Multicultural education policy (2012) acknowledges and values all backgrounds
and cultures of students. This as a result promotes community harmony within
the school context. The main aims of these policies is:
§ to strengthen intercultural awareness/
consciousness,
§ to teach students that there are multiple
historical perspectives,
§ And to prevent prejudice and discrimination.
References
•
Wadham, B. Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture
and education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?
•
The NSW Department of Education and Training.
(2005). Anti – Racism Policy. Retrieved October 8 2013 from http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/yrk12focusareas/antiracism/index.php
•
The NSW
Department of Education and Training. (2012). Multicultural Education Policy.
Retrieved October 8 2013 from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/student_serv/equity/comm_rela/PD20050234.shtml
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