Multicultural Teaching

Multicultural education is just as important as any other form of teaching. I'm a firm believer that racism stems from both ignorance and fear of the unknown. When one does not understand what is in front of them, they are much more likely to reject it. The same can be said about different cultures. People often display racism and prejudice not because they are bad people, but because they do not understand the culture that another person is coming from. Not only does teaching different cultures in schools, help to deter prejudice, but it's also important in the world we live in now that values understanding as many cultures as possible. Globalization continues to be on the rise and more and more employers are seeking people who understand other cultures (if not speak the language from the other culture themselves).

Even with all this though, often times it seems like multicultural teaching fails to incorporate our own culture, and fails to teach us how similar we are to each other. Often times it seems like multicultural teaching is teaching and celebrating the differences, when we should be celebrating how similar we are as human beings.

Books like "Same, But Different" are children's books that encourage teaching the similarities between cultures and not just the differences. In this way, students can understand how similar they are and effectively eliminate prejudice against others. I mean, why would you want to be prejudice against someone you can relate with?