In most cases, the decisions that focused on education are believed to be neutral. The outcome of education tends to create a different perspective since other performs well compared to other groups. Richard Rothstein asserts that Immigration during 1880 to 1915 saw few Americans succeed on issues of academics. On the same note, immigrates of all backgrounds underperformed in school. The children and grandchildren of European immigrants fared well in school. The myth that first-generation immigrants made it in academics tends to create various debatable issues. Immigration is one of the contentious issues in the United States. Education is one of the institutions that are traditionally believed to take various roles, which include the isolation, rejection, assimilating agent, as well as failure. These have accompanied immigration and are mostly left at the schoolhouse door. Historically, the United States is steeped in conquest and slavery. Many descendants of American Indians, Africans, Puerto Rican and Mexicans have experienced a disagreement of their languages and culture in schools.
Colonization and immigration are critical issues that tend to elaborate on multicultural education. In critical analysis, the myth on first-generation immigrant’s success in academics does not persist. It is worth noting that the second generation of immigrants continues to face tremendous challenges, yet they do all the best to improve in academics. Studies show that the second-generation immigrants continue to improve academically compared to the first-generation of immigrants (Nieto 38). The roles of school seem to influence the nature of the myth in the United Stated. The schools seem to have various roles that are not streamlined towards education. Traditionally, schools are perceived to be avenues of assimilation and rejection, especially in relation to immigrant population. A greater percentage of second-generation immigrants have received high school diploma, which the first-generation immigrants did not achieve. In addition, others have obtained bachelor’s degrees in various fields. In the modern society, immigrants learn faster compared to other population.
The children of European immigrants did well due to various reasons. It is worth noting that the success is driven by several factors. One of the dynamics that led to success is the use of English language. In institutions, English language was encouraged, and other languages were not allowed to be used in the school environment. This condition favored European immigrants since they could understand English language (Ji-Yeon 20). In fact, in most academic institutions students were forbidden from speaking native languages in cafeteria, halls, playground and classrooms. These were an indication that other languages were not welcomed. Subjecting children to speak English placed children of Europeans immigrants in a better position. Such ideologies continued to create structures and avenues that favored European immigrants over others.
The curriculum also favored the children of European immigrants. In these perspectives, the curriculum excluded the culture, art, and history of other groups. The culture of European immigrants was viewed to be superior and could have tremendous significance (Nieto 41). In addition, the socio-political context influences the success of children of European immigrants. Practices and policies that favored European immigrants were set in place. Some of these issues include parent outreach hiring of teachers, as well as disciplinary policies.
Children of European immigrants enjoyed best socio-economic environment. These means that the children from European background had better economic resources and accessed basic needs. Those from other backgrounds suffered due to poor socio-economic situations. The variation in accessing quality education and school facilities influenced the success of children of Europeans immigrants (Rios & Christine. “Understanding Multicultural Education: Equity For All Students”). These mean that the children of Europeans immigrants accessed all the necessary facilities; hence, their main focus was to study. The Europeans immigrants received various favors that increased their stability. The children from such families enjoy social and psychological stability, as well as parental support in undertaking their academics and other related activities. In the general perspective, the children of European immigrants did well because they received better opportunities and resources to undertake their academics.
Multicultural education for all children is very important in society. In the contemporary society, the world has been converted into a global village; hence, there is a need for individuals to be part of a dynamic society. Multicultural education for all children is one of the tools that will make individuals better candidates in the world. Multicultural education for all children is essential since it deals with the issue of inequality (Gay "The Importance Of Multicultural Education."). Inequality in society is very harmful and could reduce the economic performance and social interaction in society. In addition, multicultural education manifests acceptance and respect of all the cultures, especially in a pluralistic society. Children are the leaders, parents, and citizens of tomorrow, and through multicultural education they are in a better position to make the society a better place to live.
Multicultural education is a platform for quality education. These are based on the fact that multicultural education incorporates several activities and practices from diverse cultures. Children are in a position to learn beyond what their culture can offer. In such situation, children are in a position to be all rounded in terms of skills, experiences, language, and cultural issues. In fact, it streamlines a child to face all cultures in the world and appreciate the unique nature of other people (Gay "The Importance Of Multicultural Education."). It fosters positive attitudes towards the culture of other people and also develops positive self-regard. Children who go through multicultural education can function productively and harmoniously in a multicultural environment.
On the same note, multicultural education of all children promotes harmonious working relationship among communities and institutions. It is a valuable component that trains children to co-exist and be tolerant to other cultural values (Ji-Yeon 23). Children are exposed to diverse cultures and get opportunities to learn diverse instruments, people, homes, traditions, rhythms, music, celebrations, as well as instruments. Children who go through multicultural education get apprenticeship in various opportunities to become productive and innovative members of a pluralistic society.
Racism is still a key difficult in the United States. Perhaps, multicultural education for all children is essential in elimination racism. Multicultural education teaches children to respect other people cultures and embrace diversity (Nieto 42). Racism continues to reduce productivity and cohesive existence. Through multicultural education, children will comprehend that race is only one of the factors of diversity that should be valued. In the general perspective, multicultural education among children is indispensable for economic growth and social stability.
Educational structures play a key role in determining the accessibility of education. There are several educational structures that might limit immigrant children from performing well in school. The annual budgets tans spending is one of the educational structures that will influence immigrant children. Studies show that there is high spending in wealthiest schools compared to the poorest school. Evidently, most of the immigrant children go to district schools. In addition, the English-only policy could that is in place could hinder immigrant children from performing well. As a matter of fact, when students learn English their identities depreciate leading to losing of culture.
The curriculum system in place is another crucial structure that is a barrier to success among immigrant children. The current curriculum tends to eliminate the art, language and culture of immigrant communities (Rios & Christine. “Understanding Multicultural Education: Equity For All Students”). In the long run, the children will forget their cultural values and practices. The government spending on education seems to be discriminative in nature. Most of the immigrant children begin formalized education without social and economic resources that other students receive. The educational benefits provided by the government are not sufficient to facilitate smooth academic process among immigrant children.
The affirmative action is also another educational structure that will affect immigrant education. Affirmative action focuses on considering race as a major factor during admission. The racial affirmative action seems to favor the middle and upper class at the expense of immigrant’s children from the lower class. Lack of equity among all students in school due to contents of the curriculum is another issue. There is less focus on issues of immigrant culture, language and art, which means that they are forced to forego what they are best in at the expense of other cultures.
In the general perspective, multicultural education is one of the critical issues in society. Immigrant education has been a major problem in the United States for many decades. The analysis of immigrant schooling has been analyzed, focusing on the academic performance. The children of Europeans immigrants did well academically because of social and economic platforms. In the modern society, multicultural education is essential for all children. The major issue is that there are education structures that may hinder immigrant children from performing well.
Work cited
Gay, Geneva. "The Importance Of Multicultural Education." Educational Leadership 61.4 (2003): 30. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Ji-Yeon O. Jo, Patrick C. "Neglected Voices In The Multicultural America: Asian American Racial Politics And Its Implication For Multicultural Education." Multicultural Perspectives 6.1 (2004): 19-25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Nieto, Sonia. Language, Culture, and Teaching. Critical perspective. New York: Routledge, 2010
Rios, Francisco, and Christine Rogers Stanton. Understanding Multicultural Education: Equity For All Students. n.p.: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2011. ERIC. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
