Critical Evaluation of Barriers and Biases in a Multicultural Educational Environment

Canada is a democratic community that has enjoyed a global reputation of integrating diversity
into society; programs and policies by the government at provincial and federal levels were
established through multicultural principles since the early 1970s (Seiler, 2002). The
multi-layered situation of cultural backgrounds, people with varying ideals and the nation’s
proximity to the worlds’ most powerful and influential country has not deterred the integrity and
autonomy of Canada is a remarkable standard for any nation. The process of creating social and
political structures that stabilized the differences to appear equal in Canada, and making society
safe both for and from diversity is the huge challenge. Multiculturalism is still a difficult
concept to define because of the contradictory attributes it relates to a pluralistic society like
Canada. The double-edged representations which the principles and practices of multiculturalism
are perceived as being ideal as well as pessimal, while promoting creativity and compliance
alike. More participation is evident with the kind of exclusion that criticism for a change; so
many citizens express emancipation, and other condone control to permit diversity while
conforming to the concept of multiculturalism (Vasta, 1996). Educators have identified cultural
pluralism within the discourse of diversity in Canada, and they associate it with social justice
where equal treatment is demanded without the compulsion to relate to the cultural values of any
other ethnic groups (Hazard and Stent, 1973). Cultural pluralism shares the many ways in which
human beings can exist within the same society as first class citizens who maintain law and order
with their different cultural heritage.

Canada has majorly been French and English before the Second World War, and these two
ethnic groups accepted the standards of God, king and empire; the government did not tolerate
ethnic diversity as public considerations. Around the year 1969, Canada was experiencing some
cultural politics where groups of ethnic minorities lobbied for relevance to the Quebec Province
like Germans and Ukrainians arguing that they share strongly in the development of Canada
(Jaworsky, 1979). The Quiet Revolution by Québécois nationalists mounted pressure on the
government to act orderly (Breton, 1989); the character of Canada towards recognizing the many
ethnic groups as integral to its evolving society. This period was the origin of multiculturalism in
the Nation, and unity in a diverse society became the focus for policy reforms; ethnic minorities
began to participate fully in social development, hatred and discrimination was seen as uncivil,
while entry into Canada was no longer determined by racial standards. The neoliberals handle
the initiatives as political ideas (Ball, 1998). The direction of the debate for framework is
concerned with the minority refusing the standards that Canada was founded by a bilingual
partnership; the Libral government made an official commitment to a multicultural society
within a bilingual structure, and four main principles were premised. Equal Status was the first
one that establishes all cultures as equal, the Canadian people held diversity to heart, they could
make personal choices, and they had the right to protect their freedom of participation and
equality.

Canadian institutions have modeled their service operations and experiences to promote
multiculturalism which the larger society endorses; the stakeholders understand that activities
must accommodate diversity in socio-cultural interactions. Every corporation, enterprise, and
more especially the education institutions improved their level of response to ethnic minority
groups; the synergy which many of these institutions discover through multiculturalism have
been exemplary. More international competitive strength is one of the advantages which local
businesses could benefit through cultural diversity; media, policing and educational institutions
have always been at the forefront of the discourse for adoption of diversity in Canada. Minority
interests are projected and normalized in the institutions, and an embracive environment is
created to achieve safe transactions experiences for workers and customers (Fleras and Spoonley,
1999). Inclusiveness in the media has been questioned in some occasions especially about
discrimination of minority ethics groups, gender-inequality, and racism (Henry and Tator, 2000).
Propaganda which is a very inevitable part of media since it reflects more of the interests and
with certain information angles of the owners of the media. The integration of multiculturalism
into policing is observed to include minority identities into responding to crimes, and taking
actions towards criminal justice. Some friction ensued between the minorities and the police
which daunted the confidence of the people in Canadian policing; good interaction patterns have
been the approach of redefining police credibility (Cryderman et al., 1998).

Education has been influenced by cultural, social-economic and political factors; the school
system was conservative with a dual role of instilling core social idea, and consolidating
relationships (Alok Mukherjee, 1992). Schools helped with self-development, transmitting
culture, preparation for work and citizenship, social reproduction and national improvement; the
multicultural education considers more programs, practices and policies for inclusive learning by
students of diverse cultural backgrounds. Textbooks and classroom knowledge are not allowed to
be selected for the minority students; these members of the society cannot be restricted access
from quality programs, higher education and deserving jobs. Multiculturalism is experiencing
some relevant criticism in the education arena about the impacts of its approach towards
accommodating minority students; the historical context is not portrayed originally since the
material culture is projected through an outsider’s perspective (Mukherjee, 1992). The
enrichment model is a major approach in education for diversity, and it targets every student with
its welcoming curriculum that contains activities to promote multiculturalism; specific days are
programmed for awareness through studying diverse cultures. The relationship among students is
the major aim of the enlightenment model of multicultural education which is the second major
approach; it maintains focus on the social interactions between minority and majority students to
help smoothen our challenges encountered because of cultural diversity. This second approach
accommodated the attitude and values of the teachers towards competency in education for
diversity, language and heritage, school curriculum, community participation, teachers’ ethnic
composition, instructional materials and assessments. A third model adopted the empowerment
approach of education for diversity which focused on the minority students unlike the first two
models that service the needs of the non-minority students in the context of multiculturalism.
The learning environment provided by this approach ensured that the school curriculum cater for
minority cultural groups values; some of the empowerment models established a conducive
atmosphere for minority students to learn within existing schools, while special schools were
also created for minority students.

The Aboriginal people, especially Indians in Canada were neglected, and they formed a force as
Saskatchewan Indians; some opposition seemed necessary in the direction of education for the
non-Natives. They wanted to go away from resident schooling, and wanted a revisit to schools
policy which would accommodate the interests of Indians in Canada. A large number of men
volunteered to stand for diversity, and they argue that a child will experience difficulty with
social inclusiveness when they return from residential schooling around 16 to 17 years old.
These people expressed their displeasure in a bicultural society that enforces its desired culture
on the Indians in Canada, and criticism had also been used as a tool to expose the biases which
they experience. The Aborginal people in Canada are a culturally disadvantaged group that
experience barriers with education in Canada; they are observed to most likely be poor, victims
of different crimes, and even get abused sexually, physically or emotionally. The aboriginal
people have been deprived of the appropriate protection of human rights for many years. Early in
the 1970s, aboriginal education in Canada was contested by the aboriginal people who wanted
control over their learning experiences; this is a significant instance of empowerment education,
and they insisted that some reforms had to be implemented. The important requests they agitated
for were that the educational power and structures should be decentralized to the community
levels, local authorities were to be in charge of funds, and parents should take more
responsibility for their children’s education. These requests appeared valid since the cultural
values of the aboriginal community were affected by the centralized focus of government on
Western cultural and social norms; they needed to eliminate the disadvantages which the
historical disruption imposed on the people, so they taught the children skills they need to
succeed in the outside world, and then surround them with aboriginal contents and lifestyle.

Social justice and equity received more commitment than ethnicity and culture (Agocs and Boyd,
1993), and non-European immigrants had to engage with the multicultural education better to
expel racial barriers to inclusion and opportunities. The year 1985 was a prominent time for
multiculturalism in Canada when the ​Charter of Rights and Freedom m ​ ade it an integral part of
the Constitution to be interpreted into Law when necessary; this official pronouncement of
multiculturalism in Canada is one of four notable documents where the others are the 1971
Official Language act​ which had a Statement on Multiculturalism, ​Constitution act of 1982 ​and
the Multiculturalism act in 1988. These official endorsements of multiculturalism in Canada do
not focus on promoting cultural differences, but they exist to allow individuals choose which
cultural interests and values to identify with; it is premised on the principle that of the choices of
people do not interfere with equality, citizenship and participation, the society can stay united.
The educational policies of multiculturalism that influence the school curriculum is propelled by
the Multiculturalism Directorate which was instituted in 1972; this program was assisted by the
federal government (Ghosh, 2004). In 2002, a protocol was introduced for four provinces in
western Canada and two territories; it was popularly known as the Western Canadian Protocol
for Collaboration in Basic Education. The curriculum for schools contained perspectives of
diverse cultures and it was relevant to the Common Curriculum Framework for Social Studies;
even around 2008, multiculturalism got accommodated in the policy framework of the British
Columbia Ministry of Education. At the provincial level of Canada’s education policy for
multiculturalism, Saskatchewan province was the first to pronounce a policy that promotes
diversity in 1975; other provinces like Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and
Ontario were actively developing multicultural policies for education (Ghosh, 2004).

These efforts to ensure inclusiveness through multicultural policies contribute to the strategies
which continue to help resolve the barriers and recognize equality; the interested scholars
understand how deep rooted the history of multicultural policies are. Educators who intend to
create a classroom curriculum that accommodates every student equally in a multicultural
learning environment will need to pay attention to the learning style of different students. It will
help align the contents of the school curriculum and teaching methods to the child’s assimilation
capabilities; the cultural backgrounds will no longer function as barriers to learning. The efforts
which the teachers make with the observation step should be accompanied with encouraging the
students to be proud of projecting their cultural heritage while maintaining respect for other
people of different cultures. It is completely important for teachers to examine their personal
cultural values, beliefs and biases, make the effort to learn the vital contents of the cultures of the
many students they will be responsible for, and ensure to arrive at the best compromise for the
best interest of the learners. The best attempt at this strategy is making sincere interactions with
some people of the same cultures as the students in order to familiarize with their communication
and relationship style, traditions, learning preferences, and values.

Educators acknowledge that multiculturalism has made the school system very inclusive for
learning; but criticisms from both right and left ideologies have failed to recognize how social
learning foundations have shifted towards diversity as a central agenda (Gay, 1997). A slight
misconception of multicultural education is the automatic relationship with anti-racism education
which people assign to it. Anti-racism education challenges racial discrimination directly by
isolating racist expressions at institutional and individual levels. Notwithstanding the differences
of multiculturalism and anti-racism education, the aspect of a multicultural learning that is based
on equity had to deal with race relations, removing discriminatory barriers as well as anti-racism
at institutional levels. The existing system of education in different territories and provinces
instituted policies for diversity to ensure that non-European immigrants get absorbed into
society; the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada states the principles of equity and
multiculturalism as an integral part of the school. Objectives for anti-racism exist as guidelines in
the school curriculum as a requirement which was adopted by the Ontario Ministry of Education
and Training (1993). The Indian Act, Section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA)
repealed in 2008, and the Canadian Charter of RIghts and Freedom have been made available to
constitute the safety and elimination of biases and barriers to traditionally disadvantaged groups
in Canada.

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