About three days ago, I had never heard the term multicultural education. However, I had been reading about it, and I think it is an important subject to think about. It is quite easy to know what multicultural education is by looking at the name only. It refers to the integration in the classrooms of students who are different concerning religion, social class, gender, and sexuality. Multicultural education is also related to the ability of teachers to employ different teaching techniques depending on the students'needs in order to make them feel comfortable. I must say that my experience in elementary and secondary school, and even high school was quite different from what it would have been if I had studied in the United States. That's right! I had most of my education in Cuba, my birth country. I consider my elementary and secondary schools as multicultural, but my education there was not very multicultural. What I mean by saying that my schools were multicultural is that these schools accepted everybody who wanted to study, and there was not any discrimination based on religious beliefs, race, social status, or sexuality. It does not have any influence in education if someone has more wealth than others because schools in Cuba are public and not private, and students do not need to pay for tuition. Also, my schools were not for boys only but also for girls. Race was not an issue either because students with different skin color shared the classroom without feeling uncomfortable about it. I knew students with different religious believes to mine, and none of us were discriminated for being religious. Professors treated each of the students equally and dedicated the same amount of time to answer their questions and explain the subjects. In summary, I think that my school was multicultural because there was diversity among the students. I remember I treated everybody as an equal, and I did not feel uncomfortable with someone who was different in a certain way because professors thaught the students that everybody had the same rights and oportunities as human beings, and this way, students learned to see others like brothers or sisters with the common goal to study. However, I think that my elementary and secondary schools are not as multicultural as a school in Miami can be. Classrooms in Miami are usually composed of students from different countries who speak different languages, have different religions, and were raised in different cultures. So, it is my impression that schools in Miami are more multicutural than my schools back in Cuba. Also, I consider that my education in elementary and secondary school was not multicultural to a great extent. My experience on these schools is most indicative of the contributions approach because the education was not taken to a higher level of commitment. What I mean is that in these schools, students did not have to take a determined course during a special week or month because there was not a special period dedicated to other races or only for women. Consequently, students never received an additive approach to our education. Likewise, students did not experience the transformation approach because professors taught from only one perspective, the government's perspective, because schools belonged to the state. So, any source of information contrary to the government's precepts was not disscused or mentioned during classes. Consequently, students were confined to the government's way to see history, and they did not have the chance to form their own opinion about a determined issue. I think that level four to multicultural education which is the social action approach would have been considered treason in my country. I said this because not only students but all the people were aware of issues in the country, but we could not take any action, or we would be punished. The only approach that professor took in my elementary and secondary schools was the first phase to multicultural education which is the contributions approach because professors talked to us about several ethnic heroes on other countries. If I could go back in time to my elementary and secondary schools, I would prefer my teachers take a transformation approach to promote multicultural education. So, this way I would have a broad perspective of the different points of view about a determined issue, and I would be able to form my own opinion and express my feeling without being afraid to be punished.
About Me
- Manuel
- I was born on December 22nd, 1986 in Sancti Spiritus, a small city in the center of Cuba. My mother was Luisa Legon and my father Orlando Herrera. I coursed my first studies in Carlos de la Torre Elementary School beginning in September 1991. Then, in 1997, I continue my studies in Ernesto Valdes Munoz Middle School. By the time I graduated there, in 2000, I had taken the required tests to go to a vocational high school called IPVCE Eusebio Olivera where only talented students were allowed to go. I began course studies in this vocational school and then finished them in 2003 when I transferred to the University Marta Abreu de Las Villas located in Santa Clara province to study English Literature. I was in the University for a year only because I traveled to the United States and stablished my residency here. I started to work in a Seven Eleven in 2007 and I am still an employee there. I began my studies at Miami Dade College in 2007 starting by an English course for foreign speakers. In the fall of 2009, I started to work toward my degree on Graphic Design, but now in the spring of 2010, I changed my major for Anthropology. I am currently a student at Miami Dade College.
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