Every country has different ways of improving their education system according to Forrest, Lean & Dunn, (2016). Coming up with education policy is one of the ways to improve the method of education. In this essay, it is going to analyze multicultural education policy in Australia. In the analysis, it is going to contain the background of the policy, the reason for implementing the policy, a critique of the policy and the reflection of the policy based on the learning outcomes.
Hartas, (2015) argues that multicultural policy is a directive from the government that require schools in Australia to appreciate the cultural diversity in the country. By recognizing the difference in culture, the schools should revise their academic programs to incorporate lessons that lessons that will consider every community’s way of life. When every community feel appreciated in school syllabus, there is harmony within the society as everybody thinks that he or she part of the community. Apart from recognizing the culture of the community, the policy also aims at accommodating the refugees who come to Australia according to Manning, Baruth & Lee, (2017). The Australian authority notes that many people who find their ways to the country do not know how to express themselves in English. Most of these families feel segregated from the rest of the nation. The policy would like to bring the families to feel they are part of the society by teaching them English language.
Apart from the above aims of the policy, Spring, (2016) argues that multicultural policy also would ensure that students understand and appreciate other cultural practices through the programs they learn in school. After understanding the issue of cultural diversity, the Australian student not only get easy time to mingle with their fellow citizens but also the international students according to Spodek & Saracho, (2014). The multicultural policy will combine all the staff members in NSW government and public schools, all the state offices and educational services. Consequently, the students who attend NSW government schools must also adhere to the policy according to Scarino, (2014).
The government of Australia measures the outcome of this policy through what the students show to the society, school communities and the staff members. From government research, it is evident that about one-third of the students who learn in government schools are not used to English. It is their second language; they mostly use their local language to communicate with others in society. Besides that, there are over two hundred languages in Australia and it the expectation of the government that these students fall in either of these languages.
Another critical issue is the implementation of the multicultural policy. The government would rely on deputy secretaries in schools to ensure that the system receives full backup. However, school principals would contribute to the more significant amount in providing the implementation of the policy. The first issue during deployment is the change in school programs to incorporate other subjects which ensure that the government achieves the harmonization of society. Secondly, the school principals must propose plans to produce whatever in the policy. Every school have a system of evaluation to measure the proficiency of the students. They should advance in English and other subjects that come with the plan.
Every school has a different composition of the students; therefore, therefore the method of evaluation differs for every school. Consequently, there is a leader that coordinates how the evaluation process takes place for every school. After the evaluation, the leader of the evaluation will come up with the report to show what the school have been doing and where they need to improve in reference to Tsolidis, (2015).
There are several reasons why the government of Australia adopted the multicultural policy. The first main reason is to bring harmony in the society. From research, the Australian nation is made up of various cultural groups. Many communities feel they are left out in the country’s development if no one recognizes them. However, the multicultural education policy acknowledges the existence of various cultures in the nation. The policy has created school programs that would enable the student to learn other cultures and appreciate why they exist. The other reason for the adoption of this directive is the existence of many people who do not know how to express themselves in English. Apart from the refugees who come to the country, other local communities are used to their local dialect and speaking English is a challenge to them. With the implementation of multicultural educational policy, the learning process would start from what they know moving to what they do not understand well. From there, every child will have a quality understanding of the new language.
On the other hand, the issue of communication is a huge challenge for many students in Australian schools. The reason for the difficulty in communication may be due to the lack of English knowledge to boost their understanding. However, with the multicultural education policy, every student will be able to communicate effectively with both teachers and fellow students. Another critical issue is to put Australian student at the same level with students from other nations. For instance, many countries have revised their school programs to ensure that national reconciliation and harmony is within the student. When these students go out, they have the spirit of promoting unity regardless of where the individual comes from in the world. The multicultural would instill the capacity to recognize and appreciate other cultural practice different from where the individual comes from in the society in reference to Cushner, (2014).
Apart from the above issues, another push for the implementation of multicultural education policy is the increasing diversity of the Australian nation. For instance, a report that the government released in the year 1977 showed that Australia is a multicultural society and there is need to come up with a policy that will accommodate the multicultural communities in the nation according to Henson, (2015). As time went by, many people were coming to Australia either as refugees or seeking jobs. These people have a different way of doing things as compared to the ordinary Australian operation. When their children go to school, they feel neglected because they do not understand what the school is teaching at the moment. However, the introduction of the policy would see every school coming up with programs that touch on culture. Every student would learn why other religions exist and why they need to accept every individual regardless of his or her way of doing things. Many leaders have also been fighting for the country to have a multicultural curriculum. For example, the Australian prime minister while addressing citizens recognized the diversity in the country and needed to address it.
Even though the multicultural education policy would promote harmony in Australia, there is some weakness of the policy. The first issue is that the full implementation of the policy would take long. For instance, a child coming from a refugee camp would take a lot of time to learn what the new environment requires him or her to do in reference to Lim & Apple, (2016). Apart from that, the choice of program for the school to introduce its syllabus is another issue. If the government do not pick the programs carefully other communities would still feel that they are not part of the program. The second issue is that some teachers do not employ the multicultural diversity in the nation, they always look down at the minority groups while teaching the new programs in the new school syllabus.
On the other hand, the citizens are not fully aware of the new programs. For instance, the minority groups feel that their way of life is getting absorbed by the new programs that the government have introduced. Feeling that other communities are influencing their method of operation have made the minorities not to participate in the school programs fully. Another issue is that the policy did not look into the issue of language before implementing the multicultural education policy. Australia is made up of many cultural groups who speak different languages. Teaching students who do not understand the language the teacher is using to communicate.
Furthermore, some of the students come from places where English is not their first language. The government would have strategized on how to make every student understand the English language, and from there they can teach them the cultural diversity in the country. However, the government have assumed that the children followed the word and started implementing the policy. There is also a challenge of resources, before the implementation of special programs that accommodate every culture in the nation, every school need resource such as books. However, the government implemented the policy without considering such resources. The teachers should understand the culture they are teaching in reference to Spring, (2017). What the government could have done before the implementation of the directive. Secondly, the teachers should undergo some training to ensure they are also able to appreciate the diversity in culture in reference to Miškolci, Armstrong & Spandagou, (2016). No teacher should exercise some bias while teaching children from various cultures. It is therefore essential for the government to look into the issues despite implementing the policy some time ago.
The multicultural education policy is an effective directive to improve the education system. Education aims to improve the knowledge of the students. Education is one of the ways to improve national unity. Including the programs that recognize different cultural group is right to ensure harmony in the country according to Banks, (2014). However, many people may not understand the aim of the government in this directive. It is necessary for the authority to come out and teach the citizens why they are implementing the policy and any challenge the country may face during the implementation of the system
Resistance is a common challenge to all government policies not only education policy. There are instances where other communities feel that the authority of Australia has neglected them during the implementation of the system. To avoid such cases, it would be important for the government to elaborate to create awareness in all communities whatever the policy contains and how it will improve the status of the society. Apart from that, when comparing how other countries implemented education, all the stakeholders are always given the opportunity to provide their comments on how the policy is working and where the state can improve on in reference to Shapiro, & Stefkovich, (2016). In this case of the multicultural system in Australia, the students are the primary stakeholders, but there is no place the government have created for the students to give their comments regarding the directive. However, apart from the school principals who will be providing annual reports concerning the policy, parents and children should also have a say in the matter.
On the other hand, there is the issue of the methodology of implementing the policy. For example, the government should have started the program in few schools to confirm whether the system is bearing fruits as education is concerned before rolling it down to other places in reference to Rubin, (2018). The above methodology works well because the authority would be able to identify areas they can improve they make it a national issue. Consequently, implementing the directive once in the whole country may end up failing its objective of promoting cultural diversity and harmony. However, the fact that the government had rolled the policy countrywide the best thing is to find ways to ensure the policy do not fail its objective. They should give resources such as more educational books, experience literature teachers among others to assist the school in pushing for the national agenda.
In summary, multicultural education policy is an excellent way to promote national harmony. The implementation of the policy gives the students from the cultural divide to learn the way of life of other communities and appreciate their culture. However, the implementation of the policy needs resources, strategies and the involvement of all stakeholders. The government may experience resistance from other people because they do not recognize what the policy is all about according to Watkins, Lean & Noble, (2016). They think that their culture would fade because of different dominant culture. However, this is an opportunity for the government to teach them that the directive is not having a negative aim but to bring harmony in the country.
References
Banks, J. A. (2014). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Journal of Education, 194(3), 1-12.
Cushner, K. (2014). Human diversity in education. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Forrest, J., Lean, G., & Dunn, K. (2016). Challenging racism through schools: teacher attitudes to cultural diversity and multicultural education in Sydney, Australia. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(3), 618-638.
Hartas, D. (Ed.). (2015). Educational research and inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Henson, K. T. (2015). Curriculum planning: Integrating multiculturalism, constructivism, and education reform. Waveland Press.
Lim, L., & Apple, M. W. (Eds.). (2016). The strong state and curriculum reform: Assessing the politics and possibilities of educational change in Asia. Routledge.
Manning, M. L., Baruth, L. G., & Lee, G. L. (2017). Multicultural education of children and adolescents. Taylor & Francis.
Miškolci, J., Armstrong, D., & Spandagou, I. (2016). Teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between inclusive education and distributed leadership in two primary schools in Slovakia and New South Wales (Australia). Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 18(2), 53-65.
Rubin, D. I. (2018). From the Beginning: Creating a Diversity and Multicultural Education Course at Jacksonville State University. Education and Urban Society, 0013124517713612.
Scarino, A. (2014). Situating the challenges in current languages education policy in Australia–unlearning monolingualism. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(3), 289-306.
Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge.
Spodek, B., & Saracho, O. N. (2014). Handbook of research on the education of young children. Routledge.
Spring, J. (2016). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States. Routledge.
Spring, J. (2017). The intersection of cultures: Multicultural education in the United States and the global economy. Routledge.
Tsolidis, G. (2015). Does the New Doxa of Integrationism Make Multicultural Education a Contemporary Heresy?. In Controversies in Education (pp. 113-127). Springer, Cham.
Watkins, M., Lean, G., & Noble, G. (2016). Multicultural education: the state of play from an Australian perspective. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(1), 46-66.
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