Deleny Leon (Group X Unit) DB 4

1. “In a system where multicultural education is intended to ensure that all children feel welcomed, African youth need to have written evidence that would help them to challenge the negative images that arise in the classroom. Consistent with its goal of providing a well-balanced representation of various people and a holistic portrayal of various cultures, multicultural education can provide the space where African scholars and students can challenge the misperceptions of African cultures. The first step in this endeavor should be the revamping of existing practices such as diversity celebrations in schools.”  (Harushimana and Awokoya, 2011, p. 39)

• Based on the article the above excerpt was taken from, “African-Born Immigrants in U.S. Schools: An Intercultural Perspective on Schooling and Diversity”, by Immaculee Harushimana and Janet Awokoya, it is clear that further promoting and supporting cultural awareness within both a classroom environment and multicultural curriculum can benefit African-born immigrant students. This paragraph is a response from the authors to the idea of a multicultural education system in which is meant to welcome “all” students, regardless of gender, diverse racial language, and cultural groups so that “…they will have an equal chance to achieve academically in school.”, as according to Banks and Banks (2007). The authors explaining, prior to this paragraph, that there are challenges with this ideology as immigrant students, especially African-born immigrants, are not acknowledged correctly along with their culture and country which is commonly misinterpreted. This ignorance being seen within the media (e.g., textbooks and films) which mis-portrayal African society and leads to many African-born immigrants feeling ashamed as their country, culture, and the people within it are being stereotyped as “primitive, diseased, and uneducated individuals”, as according to Harushimana and Awokaya. This resulting in African-born immigrant students feeling ashamed and , perhaps, unmotivated to further instigate themselves into American society which can pose an issue for further education in the future. The inadequate transition between the curricula of Africa and the U.S. and lack of acknowledgment of prior education before transitioning leaving many immigrant students to feel intellectually inferior and misunderstood within schools. From this, we arrive at the excerpt above in which Harushimana and Awokoya respond to the multicultural education of the U.S. by suggesting proposals to combat the stereotypes and lack of acknowledgment many African-born immigrant students feel when transitioning into a new curriculum. According to Harushimana and Awokaya, discuss how African-born immigrant students should be provided a space which can be shared with both students and African scholars to challenge any misperceptions or miscommunication about Africa and African cultures for the purpose of multicultural education. Students being provided “written evidence” to support them when they are challenging negative perceptions of their culture.  These ideas being meant to achieve the goal of a well-balanced representation and a realistic portrayal of various cultures and its people. The first proposal to achieve this, according to Harushimana and Awokaya, should be to review and apply adjustments to diversity celebrations in schools.

“Thornhill (1999), a Canadian social critic, has denounced this celebratory practice as a deliberate distraction from a serious debate on multiculturalism. There is a lesson to be learned from the following admonition made to the Canadian Consultative Council on multiculturalism, at one of its national hearings:

Regular international folkloric festivals with week-end multi-ethnic conferences punctuated here and there by an international buffet, by themselves, cannot create a harmonious pluralistic Canadian society. The real problems are being shoved aside, ignored amidst the folk dances, ethnic costumes and exotic dishes… (As cited in Thornhill, 1999, p. 85) 

Thornhill‘s criticism can be applied to the United States. The widespread practice of International/Diversity Day/Night in K-12 schools provides more entertainment than substance.” (Harushimana and Awokoya, 2011, p. 39-40)

• The excerpt above, taken from the article, “African-Born Immigrants in U.S. Schools: An Intercultural Perspective on Schooling and Diversity”, by Immaculee Harushimana and Janet Awokoya, supports the authors first proposal to challenge multicultural education with the U.S. which does not support or acknowledge African-born immigrant students through stereotyping and sharing of misperceptions on African culture. The first proposal presented to benefit African-born immigrant students is to adjust and review diversity programs which are meant to educate teachers and students about the various cultures and diverse backgrounds within a student population. This goal seems great, but Harushimana and Awokoya criticize that it is not developed correctly for education, but more for entertainment. This idea is made clear in the excerpt provided above in which Thornhill (1999), a Canadian social critic, criticizes, to the Canadian Consultative Council, how these programs or celebratory practices which showcase folk dances, exotic dishes, and costumes are simply for showcase alone to provide entertainment instead of implementing true multicultural education. Teaching “substance” to students and teachers to gain knowledge on many cultures instead of distracting students and teachers from information and providing entertainment alone which can be forgotten quickly. Overall, Thornhill’s argument provides a lesson that Harushimana and Awokaya want others to realize in which no one truly asks the meaning behind a culture’s food or exotic clothing unless realistic information about its meaning and background is provided to them firsthand. The issue with diversity programs being that they leave people only to amuse themselves with how exotic a culture’s food is for its taste instead of its history. A lesson in which the authors of this article want the U.S. ‘s multicultural curriculum to acknowledge and fix.

2) Discuss something you learned and/ or can relate to from one of this week’s assigned videos.

• Based on the provided video for this week titled, “Challenges for Africans in U.S. Schools.”, I was reminded of the importance of multicultural education within the U.S., especially, for immigrant students. From the video, I learned that immigrating to another country can cause a disruption of a students transition from one curriculum to the next. In the case of the former ESL female student shown within the first half of the video, she migrated from Ghana to the U.S. and was met with a curriculum and language she was not used to or knew about. This left her feeling a bit insecure and unsure of what steps to take next, but, luckily, she pushed herself and decided to work hard. Her teacher and school’s ESL program contributed to her high grades and becoming one of the best students in the ESL class. From her example, a lesson can be taught that transitioning into a different curriculum for immigrant students, especially African-born immigrant students, can not only disrupt their learning abilities due to possible disruptions within the classroom such as language barriers, but cause students to feel intellectually inferior or insecure about their abilities to continue their education in another country. This reason contributing to the idea that the multicultural education system of schools should focus on not only the language barriers of students, but acknowledge their feelings and find the best method to support them in which the former female student’s principal quickly understood after learning about her background and recognizing how she may face issues with learning material. Therefore, informing her of his recommendation to put her in an ESL classroom which would provide her with the support she would need to succeed within the education system.

3) Share your source on this topic–let us know what it is, why you selected it, and why it matters.

• Based on the topic for this week about African and American Indian and Alaskan Native Perspectives, I believe a great source to further focus on African-born immigrant students, mainly female, within the U.S.’s multicultural curriculum would be the 2020 article, “Navigating Multiple Worlds of Ghanaian-Born Immigrant Adolescent girls in US Urban Schools”, by Lydiah Kananu Kiramaba, Adaurennaya C. Onyewuenyi, Alex Kumi-Yeboah, and Anthony Mawuli Sallar. I selected this article not only because it was recently written, but due to it using research methods (“Multiple Worlds Model (MWM)”) to discover more about the cross-cultural educational experiences and lives of young Ghanaian-born adolescent girls and the complex transitional challenges they face when combining school with their culture, prior education, family values, and simply adjusting to their new school environment to succeed in a multicultural education system. The article further elaborating about how racial and ethnic misinterpretations and discrimination from peers negatively effected the students with their chance at academic progress and social adjustments to their new environment. The article being a part of a larger study that examines the experiences of immigrant adolescents of African descent in urban schools. This idea and the use of research methods to study the experiences of African-born immigrant students as they adjust to new schools is important because not only is this area understudied, but it will allow immigrant students a chance to be acknowledged and how to adjust the U.S. multicultural curriculum to fix misperceptions or lack of acknowledgment of immigrant students origins and culture. Contributing to allowing social adjustments of immigrant students and their transition into a different curriculum to be smoother and be provided with any help needed.