Chapter 2

I think it's very important to start exposing children to other cultures and ethnicities at a young age. Children need to see that there isn't just one way of living, one way of eating, one way of learning, etc... Students must understand that it's not only one color that makes a painting (for example) successful- each color has its unique purpose but wouldn't be anything without the others. Everyone must come together, like colors, and acknowledge each other to make the big picture look good. The more we know about other cultures and practices (surface and deep), the less we will tend to focus on our differences. There is so much to be learned all over the world, but the first step is acceptance. The truth is that, even within our own cultures, we have differences. The perfect example is eating at a friend's house and having different table rules. So the objective becomes clear- learn how to accept as many different ways of living as possible. Easier said than done! Students from other countries must adjust not only to a new school, but a new school culture as well. Most of these students have their backs against the wall to begin with, which is why many of them never get the chance to graduate. Not only do they miss out on graduating, chances are that any dreams they might've had have been shot. Sadly to say, it's not only today's students that need to pratice accepting other cultures, but the teachers as well. They tend not to show minorities the attention that they need. I like the idea of labeling major items in your classroom with different languages- or atleast the ones that might be spoken in that class, or at a child's household. Therefore, there is good chance, these days, that all the children in these types of classrooms are learning spanish, german, and chinese/japanese. Parents must encourage their children that it is awesome learning about other cultures. What would this world be like if all 6 billion of us worked M-F, bbq'd on saturday, and went to church on sunday? That spells B-O-R-I-N-G! That's like coloring a rainbow with only a brown marker available. Teachers must have a wide variety of literature available in their classrooms- meaningful literature. There must be books about the little Indian girl, or the foriegn exchange student from Asia, or the African-American boy going to school. As I was walking through Target over the weekend, I happend to pass by the literature stand. To my surprise, there were a lot of books that were culturally relevant to many, and not just Dora. These are fabulous ways of getting students to want to learn about other cultures. Let them become bests friends with a book of that sort, and they will look forward to other books that have similar themes. In the end, the bottom line is that all children deserve an equal opportunity to read and understand the idea of great cultures all over the world. Accpetance within the education system is the responsibility of students, teachers, staff, and parents.