Reflection 3 Multicultral education approach in elementary school

The extent to where my elementary and secondary education was multicultural has been exposed to me in many ways. It begins in my neighborhood, of course some of the kids that lived around me went to same school I went to so, so we interacted with each other outside of school also. I was surrounded by Hispanics, Asians, Haitians, Jamaicans, and many more. Everyday some of us would come outside and play with each other; sometimes the Haitian kids got teased at for being Haitian. I can vouch for that because I use to tell them that they eat cat for dinner and do voodoo. Of course now my opinions about them as changed as I grew older because I learned more and interacted with them more. Not just in my neighborhood, in school too. I also understood that when I was in school and got caught teasing other about their ethnicity would result in a punishment and bad consequences. Secondly, the school had several celebrations for different cultures such as Black History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month. The United States schools are so diverse that we interacted with other kids we probably never even heard of the ethnicity background. We tend to learn a lot from others such as the way they are punished, certain beliefs, different types of food, music, and so on. I remember at my elementary school, “Carol City” during black history month the teachers would come together and have an African American parade. The students, counselors, principals, and teachers would wear their African attire and the music would play African American music and bring out the instruments. Another activity that the teachers involved us in was a bibliography project. The teacher gathered up a couple of Hispanic famous people and we had to research information on them, and the day of the presentation we had to bring a Hispanic covered dish or drink of whatever we wished it to be. If I can go back to my elementary education, I would want my teachers to take the social action approach. I feel that this action was already being taken and this was an interesting and exciting approach. With this approach, we are communicating face to face with each other. We can get a clearer understanding of what other students and teachers experience of different cultures. I think that Carol City Elementary did an excellent job in introducing us into and implying multicultural activities to our school work. What do think about your elementary school?