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Is Multicultural Teaching Counter-Productive?

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anotheoldgit | 14:08 Sat 27th Apr 2013 | News
43 Answers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315483/How-anti-racism-lesson-INCREASE-pupil-intolerance-They-cause-animosity-cultures.html

/// The findings echo the views of Bradford head teacher Ray Honeyford, who was driven from his job nearly 30 years ago over his claim that multicultural teaching was harming pupils. ///

/// Mr Honeyford said that pupil performance was hindered by ‘the notion of the multi-racial curriculum urged by the authorities, and of making colour and race significant, high-profile issues in the classroom’. ///

It has also been said that Political Correctness makes racism worst not better.

http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/prejudice/

What are your thoughts on both statements?
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Do you mean in the Netherlands, where the study in the first link was carried out?

Wondering whether a study carried out in another country is relevant to the UK, which is culturally alien to, say, Holland.

The second link relates to racial prejudice, which is common, rather than racism, which is a completely different mindset.
And the second link relates to the subjective feedback of students at a university in Illinois

The relevance of any of this to the opinions of some teacher from Bradford is flimsy to say the least
The report added that bad feelings among minority groups could be generated by discussion of topics such as honour killings or female circumcision. Animosity could also be caused by ‘a one-sided offender- victim approach to racism’.

That's from the Dutch report, too, aog, and should be read to put the findings in context.Picking out or discussing particular practices associated with a minority group makes for greater animosity. (Thank goodness we don't do that on AB).

The second report is from Illinois?

I mistakenly assumed that AOG had sourced a second link from the UK, as the first was from the Netherlands.

Question Author
sp1814

/// Wondering whether a study carried out in another country is relevant to the UK, which is culturally alien to, say, Holland. ///

Since Britain and Holland are white European countries in which both contain a wide mix of different cultures, I fail to see why Britain is culturally alien to Holland, please explain?

/// The second link relates to racial prejudice, which is common, rather than racism, which is a completely different mindset. ///

I would have thought that racial prejudice could only be described as racism, rather than 'a completely different mindset' which apparently is what you class it as being?
Aog

Please explain how the opinions of Illinois university students are relevant to English school children
Question Author
FredPuli43

/// Picking out or discussing particular practices associated with a minority group makes for greater animosity. (Thank goodness we don't do that on AB). ///

It is obvious that you are being sarcastic, but I say "thank goodness we do in fact do that on AB" and why shouldn't we, being Dutch or British should make no difference whatsoever, because some of these practices associated and carried out by our minority groups, are completely alien to the European culture.
AOG

Just because Britons and people from the Netherlands share the same skin colour doesn't make them culturally synonymous. It just means that they're white.

Racism and racial prejudice are not the same thing.

Racial prejudice is an assumption of characteristics based on ethnicity.

Racism is where you use your prejudices to treat someone unfairly based wholly on their ethnicity.

One is passive and the other is active.
'The European culture'.

Please explain what on earth that is.

What do you as a proud Englishman do, which defines your 'European-ness'.

I ask, because I don't feel European at all. I feel British.
AOG

Name me ten things that culturally, Britons share with the Netherlands.
Aog clearly believes he has the same values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours as a Dutch person

Funny ....

I thought he used to consider himself uniquely English
Now we find that he thinks we are a homogenous group

Confused or what?
Zeuhl

Yep...I was thinking the same.
What I'm wondering is this:
If Multi-cultural teaching is the cause of racial prejudice, and (at a guess) anotheoldgit was gone from school long before such a thing existed, what's his excuse?
Given that, for example, the Netherlands has more relaxed drug laws and legalised prostitution, it's safe to say that they are far more liberal a country than we are -- and, therefore, very culturally different.

What difference that means in practice when it comes to racism isn't clear -- but certainly it is an issue there too, if anything more prominent than in the UK. Nick Griffin's BNP isn't realyl taken all that seriously - it got slaughtered in local elections a couple years back -- but Geert Wilders led his far-right party to third place in the 2010 elections, and still holds 15/150 of the seats in the Dutch Parliament.

^
Interesting

Perhaps aog is more Dutch than English after all
I really don't see what's wrong with citing studies carried out in the Netherlands (or Illinois, for that matter). They really aren't alien enough a society to completely invalidate any research carried out there, and there's plenty of cultural similarities. I think it's a bit obtuse to say that nothing at all can be learned by us from studies carried out in Holland/Illinois.

Will respond to the question later when I have a bit of time.
Kromovaracun

I definitely believe their are cultural differences which can skew the results of a survey. If I referred say, to a poll which proves that 46% of people agree that abortion should be illegal, it would unfair not to state that the poll was taken in Donegal, rather than Doncaster.

Even though people can be superficially culturally similar, there are other factors (in this case, religion) that can alter or determine the results of a survey.
Teaching in Bradford is a multicultural experience.
That research is in America or in the Netherlands does not disqualify it from being considered in a British context. It would be no surprise that referring to or focussing on such practices as female genital mutilation or honour killings and relating them to one religion or group would, or could, make young listeners become hostile to the whole religion or group. Likewise, constantly teaching them that they must be sensitive to racism could lead to them to being unnecessarily cautious, self-conscious, and wary about meeting and conversing with those of a different racial ancestry to their own (That is, or would be, 'political correctness gone mad', and counter- productive )
Question Author
sp1814

/// The second report is from Illinois? ///

Once again that make little difference, this is a evolutionary type study, and it matters not whether they are Americans or British, we are all part of the human race.

/// Evolutionary psychologists have found that, as a result of our caveman pasts, we are fearful of those who are different than us. ///

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