Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multicultural Education - Essay Example As the paper discusses  multicultural education means different things to people and this has led to its complexity and since it has so many definitions teachers or instructors implement it in a variety of ways, based on their own understanding of this type of education. There are many reasons why teachers introduce multicultural education in their classrooms and these reasons are implemented to address the following issues: the development of ethnic and cultural literacy; the personal development of individual students especially those from underrepresented communities; the clarification of attitudes and values among students; and finally, the development of a multicultural social competence.  From this discussion it is clear that the main reason for the use of multicultural literature in class is to get the students to appreciate each other’s culture in order to have a positive understanding and respect for each other, no matter their background. This encourages the posi tive development of common relationships, honesty and interest in the others’ culture. Multicultural books should also be used to engender racial pride in students and not to only create an appreciation of the culture of others. Literature affects how students look upon themselves and if some of these students are from a minority background for example, and the literature taught in class does not have any minority character as a hero, then this would lead to a low opinion of their own people, hence a low esteem of themselves. There are many multicultural books that have come into the market and some of these are not the best type of literature to teach to a multicultural class. Teachers should therefore be very careful about the quality of multicultural literature that they introduce to their classes. Given the rising cost of books, teachers might be tempted to only get those books that are cheaper, not considering their quality, as long as it is a multicultural book. However , teachers should always do their best to ensure that their students get only the best quality of material for their classes, no matter their cost. According to Keengwe (2010), teachers should select books that do not display racism by modern standards and should avoid those classics, which openly display racism as well as cultural hatred. They should not only select those books that portray minorities in a positive light, but they should also look at the language quality of each of the books they get because language is an essential part of how students receive the message that the book is attempting to convey. Most teachers have very little understanding of the kind of multicultural literature they should introduce in their classes and because of this, it would be best for them to carefully do their research before making any

Smoking in public places should be banned Essay

Smoking in public places should be banned - Essay Example Thus, they become passive smokers. This argumentative paper tends to persuade the reader that smoking in public should be banned by throwing light upon the hazards of passive smoking. Just like active smokers are apt to acquire many diseases, same is the case with passive smokers especially those who are actually living with the smokers. When in public, smoking does not only irritate others but tends to impart many illnesses to those around like sore eyes, sore throat causing smoker’s cough, nausea, headache, and trouble to people with asthma. This is not fair to the non-smokers because they are inhaling smoke and impure air for no reason of their own. This smoke is of two types: side-stream smoke and mainstream smoke. Side-stream smoke is one which rises from the tip of the cigarette while mainstream smoke is that which the smoker exhales. There are around 4000 toxic chemicals and gases present in both types of smoke which when inhaled by others in public cause many illnesses . â€Å"Non-smokers can get affected by breathing in cigarette smoke at home, at work, in bars and other smoky environments outside the home†¦About 2.2 million people in UK are exposed to passive smoking in their places of work†, states Gardezi (2005, p.30). ... Those children are at increased risk of SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome; lung infections such as pneumonia; ear infections; and more severe asthma.† The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s report also states that second hand smoke is a major cause of sudden death in children and chances of SIDS is greater for children who are exposed to second hand smoke either at homes or in public (American Cancer Society, Inc., 2010). This is because some children are born with weak immune system while in others the immune system may become weakened due to diseases, infections and medications, states Young (2009, p.32). Toxic gases in the polluted air weigh heavily on the poor immune systems of young kids thus making them ill quite rapidly. Another hazard connected to public smoking is that it tends to inspire other immature minds like those of young kids and youngsters. Their frail minds accept public smoking as pop culture and they also start following the same trend. Mature people under stand the hazards related to smoking but young minds are not familiar with the hazardous nature of smoking. Children tend to have less-developed ability of decision-making or critical thinking so they cannot realize what is wrong with what they are watching and their minds learn or absorb every act they see. Wishik (1963) state in their research that, â€Å"As one looks around to see 18 and 19 year old boys and girls smoking, one is impressed with the number of them who have already become heavy smokers.† This increase in the number of young smokers is due to the pop culture that is imparted by their elders to them. Public smoking is an important example of pop culture that tends to destroy young minds