It is
undeniable that “Education and schooling
are two of the most important ways in which we learn to live within and
contribute to our own cultural lives” (Wadham, Pudsy & Boyd, 2007). For
example, within my own experience of schooling, I found that education is an
all encapsulating experience. It offers a representation of a diverse range of
cultures (and subcultures) resulting in an unbridled sense of cultural
awareness and understanding that ultimately transformed my cultural life.
Moreover, cultural diversity within education provides essential foundations
for the youth of the nation to begin identifying and analysing various aspects
of identity such as; Essentialism, classification systems and identity markers
whilst simultaneously forming an understanding of their own identity as “our immersion in particular cultures shape
how we see and feel about the world, how we behave within it, and the range of
choices we have to operate with” (Wadham et.al, 2007).
To say that my
experience of education was culturally diverse would be an understatement. The
first educational institution I attended was in the heart of Singapore which
actively encouraged diverse cultural immersion for families of all backgrounds.
The school itself was called ‘The Overseas Family School’ and was predominately
aimed at accommodating for students of international backgrounds. It was a
multifaceted community in which students from various different cultural
backgrounds would wear different clothing, speak in a different manner, eat in
a different way and interact with one and other based on culturally specific
norms. Giving testament to Wadham’s et al. theory of establishing ‘how we see the world’ based on cultural
immersion whilst also experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis. Nothing was
done the same between students of two disparate cultural backgrounds. Therefore,
I was inevitably left to ask myself “what
time do I eat, and with what implements- knife and fork, chopsticks, my hands?
With whom should I eat?...should I eat or will this jeopardise my relationship
with divine powers?” (Wadham, et.al, 2007). I relate to this clear example
from Wadham et al. with ease. I was the minority, a boy from a Western
background, being raised in Indonesia, in the company of students from all
around the world. Within this experience of education, there was no escaping
cultural mixing and diversity.
My culturally
diverse experience of education continued as I returned to Australia and was
enrolled in a lesser, yet still multiculturalist school. It was at this time
that I truly began to recognise and analyse different identities and
subcultures of human beings, ultimately derived from their cultural backgrounds.
I experienced an abundance of classification systems and notions of
essentialism as certain groups of students based on ethnicity would become
isolated into groups of their own. Groups that inevitably resulted in various
titles and stereotypical connotations to be contributed to them, despite the
fact they are all ‘technically’ Australian. My most interesting experience of
culture in regards to education was an instance in which students from
international cultural backgrounds were prohibited to speak their native
language in public domain in an attempt to encourage students to mix with other
cultures. This ultimately gave me the sense that schools can at times be a site
of “cultural struggle” (Wadham,
et.al, 2007) in which “culture is
produced, consumed yet regulated, that is, different people with different
beliefs propose ideas, some of which are taken up and some of which are refused”
(Wadham, et.al, 2007).
References:
1. Wadham, B., Pudsy, J., &
Boyd, R. (2007). What is Culture? In: Culture
and Education,
(pp. 1-6). Pearson Education Australia.
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