The Australia educational policy makers have been debating with having school children to accept a multicultural or a global look on education. Under the multicultural curriculum, students will learn about “cultural-competency” in an attempt to remove racial and cultural stereotypes. Already, teachers have been interviewed and questioned about the implementation of the program and how it will affect the Australian society. The whole blue-print for the implementation of the program was borrowed from the essay “Rethinking Multiculturalism in Education”. Another strategy involves study ambassadors that actually travel to other countries to study how the cultures operate. The benefit of such mission is the hands on understanding of the workings of different cultures (Nottage, 2007). It is aimed that a first-hand experience on how other cultures work will give Australian kids an edge in the understanding that in a highly globalized society, an understanding of different cultures would be pivotal for their own success.
While the premise of the multicultural-education program is the elimination of stereotypes, it is also a business view point. Australia is geographically located in a region where it is fully surrounded by people of other races. A cohesive and dynamic of a super-aggressive business environment requires Australian students to understand the languages, cultures, and way of life of their neighbors. This will not only facilitate their business skills, but also increase opportunities. Already studies have proven the need for a multicultural type of education (Muller, 1991). One study conducted by Scranton Foundation reported that one in ten Australians have racial supremacist beliefs, accounting to ten percent of the population. In the same manner ten percent of Australians believe that interracial marriages are detrimental to the success of the society. An entire 25 percent of Australians belief that diversity would compromise the security of the Australian society thus making multicultural education vital for both the well being and healthiness of the Australian society.
- Perhaps one of the most formidable ways of developing intercultural communication is through the development of partnership. Forming partnership between early childhood programs from different countries, cultures, and allowing children to learn from other cultures is a good start towards the realization of the needs of a multicultural society.
- Given these reports, it is important to know that Australia has a long way to go in terms of discrimination based on race. This issue has always been the strongest wall of class rule in matters relating to social welfare. Though the country is composed of different groups of people, the Whites come out as the dominant group with most privileges, despite the claim of democracy. They own most of the big corporations and companies (Lock, 1998). They also occupy most high and important positions in work places and government jobs. As a result of this dominance, they take charge of most resources within the Australia as well as determine the minority living standards by deciding on their wages. This partly explains why most minorities are either unemployed or under employed. I believe that racial discrimination in the Australia can only end of Aussies are made aware that it exists and it is a problem in the society. I think that everyone must have equal opportunity as stated in our constitution. The equality of people while clearly stated in the constitution must be accompanied by cultural understanding and respect for other cultures.
- Moschis et all (2011) reported that another challenge faced many minorities is identity crisis. In the Western society, there is a greater influence on the role of the individual on the society. On the other hand, the culture places emphasis on family loyalty and extended community engagement. The children of immigrants in often have a problem finding a balance between the two very distinct aspects of the cultures. In the light of the common problems, it is important that solutions are realized. Overall, every culture has so much more than any given language can express. This distinctiveness however should not be used as an excuse to discriminate on others when many groups come together. Everyone should be considered a citizen of the world and with greater tolerance for one another, greater humility for ourselves; we can all share our world with Love.
So why do we need multicultural diversity? Workforce diversity is the similarities and differences in such characteristics as age, gender, ethnic heritage, physical abilities and disabilities, race, and sexual orientation among the employees of organizations. Globalization presents opportunity for companies to realize diversity at work (Katsuura, 2012). Workforce diversity has become an increasingly important issue in the last few years as employees, managers, consultants, and the government finally recognizes that valuing diversity only benefits the workplace and when a workplace does discriminate, an issue arises (Parker & Rutherford, 2011). The world offers a very big market for companies to exploit. Because of globalization, firms are given unlimited opportunities across the globe that they can effectively exploit for their own benefits. The global market, when effectively used, provides a room of expansion. However, for companies to reap the benefits of globalization, they must be ready to play with the rules of the games. One such rule is the diversity of opinion and of cultures.
References
Katsuura, M. (2012). Lead-lag relationship between household cultural expenditures and business cycles. Journal of Cultural Economics, 36(1), 49-65. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10824-011-9155-1
Lock, M. (1998, February 1). The Japanese. Unpublished working paper, The Encyclopedia of World Cultures.
Moschis, G. P., Ong, F. S., Abessi, M., Yamashita, T., & Mathur, A. (2011). Cultural and age-related differences in reliability Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 19(3-4), 141-151. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jt.2011.15
Mueller, B. (1991). An analysis of information content in standardized vs. specialized multinational advertisements. Journal of International Business Studies, 22(1), 23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197161046?accountid=12085
Nottage, L. (2007). Changing contract lenses: Unexpected supervening events in English, New Zealand, U.S., Japanese, and international sales law and practice. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 14(2), 358-368.
Parker, P., Koshiba, T., & Rutherford, T. (2001).. Environments, 29(3), 15-34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/207672910?accountid=12085
