"Children have the right to their own language, their own culture. We must fight cultural hegemony and fight the system by insisting that children be allowed to express themselves in their own language stlye. It is not they, the children, who must change, but the schools. To push children to do anything else is repressive and reactionary."

I made a star beside this quote as I was reading. I found it very interesting and something that has a lot to do with multicultural education. I personally want to do the most I can if I have students with other cultural backgrounds to include them and aloow other students to see the differences, but celebrate them! It is so important to expose children to things that are different from what they have always known. If there is a child in my class who celebrates different holidays and other events, I want other students to be able to learn about it and have some insight. I do not want to continue the ignorance of some by simply avoiding multicultural education. I think it is vital to let children learn in the best ways they can. Do not punish them for being different, but rather allow that to be included in the class and a valuable learning experience for the other children. I really go started thinking about this in a class I took last semester when we had to write a paper about our ethnicity. I had never reeally thought about the privilege that goes along with being white and part of the hegemonic culture. Throughout school, I haven't had to get permission to miss school for my holidays or other important events, because my holidays are the traditional holidays that the schools follow. I had never thought about this until I realized that if I had different beliefs it would be much more of a challenge.

I was just wondering what other people thought about this quote and multicultural education. I would love to know your opinions.

I agree that students should not be ashamed of their heritage or made to erase any part of their heritage. Regrettably, to prepare students for the world outside of the classroom teachers have to show them what society deems as acceptable. This often means hiding their heritage. One thing we can do as teachers is to cover social diversity. This can be done with any subject through research projects or how other cultures study a certain subject. Hopefully, the students we have today will change this thinking when they become the leaders.

I read something wonderful one time that used Dr. Martin Luther King as an example of someone who could "talk both languages." He could use the cultural dialect of his congregation when addressing them but also use the standard English of his PhD dissertation when needed. I would like to be able to show kids that they need BOTH and that saying they don't need standard English because they have their own culture will limit their opportunities, just as adopting a style while ignoring their culture will diminish them. I just wish I knew how to do that.

I like the example in the text (p.160) of the Alaskan teacher explaining to her students that they are lucky to know what they term "Village English" and "Formal English". She does a good job in explaining that to make it in the real world, "out there", they must use "formal english" because that is what is socially acceptable, but to always remember to cherish and never forget their "village english". It's like she's showing them the ropes, the tricks of the trade, and I think that is a very valuable lesson to be learned. A lot of black students get criticized for improper grammar and sentence structure - but it's their culture. If they start changing that, they'll be called "white" or start "acting white" and that can be detrimental to their relationship with family and friends. I think by explaining the importance of "proper" english yet emphasizing the importance of cultural differences, a student can begin to feel safe with both ways of speaking, as well as feel secure in both environments.