Multiculturalism in our schools by Penelope Waite

When politicians face the threat of militant action it can concentrate their minds tremendously.

According to Penelope Waite, the immigration explosion of recent years in most of the Western World countries has focused the attention of both politicians and educators on the problems of multicultural education to an extent hitherto unknown.  It has been brought into sharper focus by the nature of the expanding immigrant groups, many of whom are deficient in the language of the country to which they are emigrating and have strong religious, racial and nationalistic ties to which they frequently cling ferociously. 

Multicultural education should not strive for homogeneity but co-equality and consistency of opportunity.  Assumptions about homogeneity often underpin much of what happens in the classroom, but the importance of diversity needs to be acknowledged, regardless of any political pressures put on educators to regard diversity as a "dirty word".

Penelope ends her article with nine prescriptions for a multicultural strategy in education that provides equal opportunity to learn while acknowledging and respecting cultural differences.