Teaching for Cultural Diversity: A Reflective Paper

I argue that the ideologies behind The Assimilation Policy were evident since the first white settlers had arrived in 1788. Since first contact, Aboriginal people’s values, customs, beliefs and traditional way of life began to erode. From the 1850s onwards, Aboriginal people were forced onto reserves, and then into towns and cities in the mid 20th century . Many people feared that the ‘Australian’ culture was being affected by immigrants. Since the early 1900s, there had been a ‘White Australia’ policy and assimilation was expected upon arrival. However, Aboriginal people did not immigrate, so their policy, dictated by the Australian States and Commonwealth Government was known as The Policy of Assimilation. Assimilation policies were supported by racist assumptions and represented by settler nationalist imperatives . In the 1950s, assimilation policies for Aboriginal people were supported by the

Culture can shape a person’s identity because it is something that directly affects all people. People who grow up in a culture that is quite different from that experienced in the home or local community may feel isolated and may struggle to forge an identity. At times it is necessary to make some concessions in order to belong. Very often new arrivals to Australia find themselves struggling with the demands that their original culture places upon them as well as the pressures of Australian culture.

The teaching resource selected to support diverse literacy and language learning in a grade one classroom is a children’s book ‘I’m Australian Too’ written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Fox, M. (2017) ‘I’m Australian Too’ Australia; Scholastic Australia). The book is available for purchase both online and at ‘Readings’ stores in Hawthorn, Carlton, Malvern and St Kilda for $19.99. It can also be accessed as an audio copy from http://memfox.com/books/im-australian-too/. The book details all the multiple cultural identities that can be found across Australia. It poetically details that no matter where our families come from, or the hardships that may have faced, we can all find a home in Australia. The resource is useful in

Poverty is a serious issue which our society and children faces every day. It is a constant struggle that shouldn’t be ignored. UNICEF states “The study of OECD countries in 2007, over fourteen percent of Australian children under the age of eighteen are currently living in households who are defined as poor or with incomes less than half of the median national income”. The increase in the number and percentage of children living in poverty within our society has contributed to making today's classrooms more diverse than ever it has been. This highlights and makes both teaching and learning more challenging. Diversity exists in the students who are living in poverty and the education assistant and teachers must provide the concept of diversity

I have grown up with Education being my catapult through life; I love it. I love to study children and figure out how they learn and how our educational experiences shape us as adults. Five years ago, I found myself accepting a position as a Toddler teacher in a government facility. To describe it simply, I was a fish out of water. I had experience with children, but not with children so small. This experience taught me a great deal about learning in our great world. I was amazed to witness the pure relationships between children of all races in that little toddler room. All color aside, the children seemed to embrace each other's differences and celebrate in their dedicated

America now is a very culturally diverse nation; most of the minority and immigrant population lives in cities, which indicates that the public school classrooms in urban areas are full of versatile cultural identities. According to the 2000 Census record, minority and immigrant populations has grown in increasing numbers, and most of those people live in urban areas and attend public high schools; also, the level of residential segregation still remains as high as in 1990, which proposes new problems for immigrants and minorities. Monocultural schools are very rare and the global society is very multicultural; it is very logical to prepare students in schools to enter this diverse society (Le Roux 48). Teachers are largely responsible

Public schools are beginning to see a shift in demographics in the United States. There is now a culturally diverse student population and educators need to respond to this shift in order to ensure an equal education for all students. Culture aids in determining how students learn, and culturally responsive teaching is a way teachers can educate culturally diverse students and provide an equal education for all. Culturally responsive teaching is defined by Geneva Gay as using the various characteristics, perspectives, and experiences of many cultures to effectively teach culturally diverse students (2000). Culturally responsive teaching prepares teachers to work with and teach a culturally diverse classroom of students and allows teachers to create a classroom environment that is similar to their students’ home environments so students do not have to assimilate to the dominant culture or change from their home culture to their school culture depending on their setting (Brown). Multicultural education is not only important for ensuring equal education for all students, but also creates youth who will be able to function and be effective citizens in a pluralistic society (Gay 2003). In order to implement culturally responsive teaching, teachers must acknowledge potential biases and reconstruct their attitudes, create a diverse knowledge base, be caring and empowering, and create a classroom environment that is conducive to a culturally diverse

In the first half of the 20th century, the Australian Government sought to create a white, uniform society. After observing an increase in the Aboriginal population and realising that they would not just ‘die out’, the Government developed assimilation policies that encouraged ‘half-cates’ Indigenous to assimilate into white community and ‘full-blood’ Aborigines would be left

Culture is always changing. Beliefs, behaviours and presentation, religion and language all form part of what is an individual’s or community’s culture. (Bowes, Grace, & Hodge, 2012, p.75 & 77). Due to its intrinsic nature, when people migrate to Australia, they bring their culture with them. As migrants come from all over the world, and not the one place, their

Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen today I’m going to be informing you all about how migrants have contributed to Australia’s identity and culture since the post war period. Shaping Australia, each one of us could define ourselves with multiple of diverse identities. These identities can be seen as outlining us, as people, and may be cultural, ethnic, religious, gendered, or ideological. Throwing it back to the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Australian government committed to a strong and sustained immigration program. The purpose of this ambitious program was to encounter Labour shortages, look after Australia from outside danger and create prosperity.

Green and Saggers (2013) write that governmental bodies had the legislative right to remove Indigenous children from their families and force them through a strict Christian education in encampments across Australia. With purposes of assimilation, Aboriginal protection policies allowed the possibility to physically and culturally coerce young Indigenous individuals into absorbing into a white Australian society (Green and Saggers, 2013). In the early twentieth century particular attention was directed towards children of mixed race were widely viewed to be capable of merging into a non-Indigenous lifestyle. In saying that, Anderson (2003) writes that individuals who were mixed race were socially viewed as being confined between two different cultures, hence they would have the ability to adjust into a European lifestyle. This idea demonstrates how the lack of connection to Aboriginality for mixed race children took a significant toll on their mindset and their sense of belonging.

Acculturation as a concept is a relatively new theory in the fields of sociology and anthropology, even more so in the world of psychology. In recent years, it has been throuroghly investigated and analysed as the immigration rates increase in Australia and worldwide since world war two. Acculturation has become an ever increasingly relevant concept in today’s eclectic blend of cultures. Immigrants are usually caught in limbo between two different cultures of their own and the host country, with little idea as to how to successfully assimilate. They are confronted with being separated with their culture, unfamiliar aspects of life and uncertainty. Many researchers have studied the assimilation process regarding the best approach and causal factors that may interfere in doing so. Although the literature presents acculturation in a variety of contexts, this literature review’s primarily focus will be on suggested approaches for immigrant assimilation and associated implications with a strong focus on the work of John Berry.

During the first half of the 20th century, the government wanted to create a uniform white Australian culture (Australians Together, n.d.). Thus they implemented the Assimilation policy wherein Indigenous people were to be ceased to exist while half-castes (half Indigenous and half another nationality) were encouraged to live with the White Community (Australians Together, n.d.). It was assumed that the implementation of the Assimilation policy was because they thought that the Indigenous people would enjoy living the Western way. However, because of this policy, the consequence for the Indigenous people were immense. Not only did they lose their cultures and traditions, they also lost their identity.

‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan and ‘Growing up Asian in Australia’ edited by Alice Pung, explore the different experiences of migrants when moving to a new and foreign culture. These texts discuss the broad and individual stories of migrants, including the many positives aspects of migrant life, as well as the many negatives and hardships that are faced. In this essay I will endeavor to discuss the similarities and contrasts between these two texts in regards to the difficulties migrants face when moving to a new country and assimilating into into a new culture. When migrants relocate they often struggle with language and communication barriers, which creates many limitations for them. Migrants may also have difficulties with being accepted by

There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then