Impact of Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Education

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Topic: PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Answer 1:
There is an important correlation between education and culture, as it is the culture of
the teachers and the students that affect the learning process in the classroom. Culture makes
everything that makes a group or a community within a society or a classroom different from
one another- language, literature, values, culture literature, food habits, clothing and world
views (Banks, 2015). In recent times the early childhood classrooms are becoming diverse as
children come from various social backgrounds and various ethnicities. This enables the
children and the teacher to experience multiculturalism (Alsubaie, 2015). One of the most
prominent existing problems among the communities all across the world pertaining to early
childhood education considered here is Multiculturalism among children in early childhood
care. The term “multiculturalism” can be referred to as the coexistence of different cultures,
customary behaviors and values, patterns of thinking and the communication styles within a
single classroom (Ghosh & Galczynski, 2014). Multiculturalism is often considered as the
solution to the various democratic educational processes to the problems which are associated
with authoritarianism as well as the problems which are usually presented by multiple
organizations (Spring, 2017).
This assignment will deal with the ongoing issue of Multiculturalism existing in the
backdrop of early childhood education centers and focus on the potential impact of the
multicultural differences among children, their families (Banks, 2015). The subsequent effect
on the education providers along the childhood sectors being involved would also be
highlighted throughout the essay.
A multicultural classroom encompasses the theories and practices that supports equal
opportunities for students from various cultures and ethnicities. Currently multiculturalism
has become a pressing issue due to certain problems like low academic achievement, trust

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problems with self as well as new culture. Cases also have been found that children are
lacking their own cultural identity owing to the concept of multicultural early childhood
classrooms (Alsubaie, 2015).
There had been suggestions that that multicultural education should be kept for older
children because children of higher age are less ethnocentric. Alismail, (2016) have stated
that understanding one’s own culture occurs by the age of five. Children learns new culture
more easily than the adults (Aydin & Tonbuloglu, 2014). Bigger children can develop their
self-identity by comparing themselves with the other. As a part of the socialization process,
children could generate their self- identity. By observing how other are responding to the
situation, children develops positive or negative feelings about the observed differences
(Guo, 2015).
2. Multiculturalism is an important issue in early childhood setting due to factors like low
academic achievements. Arasaratnam, (2014) have admitted that teaching and learning is not
easy, even if the children and the students are of the same ethnic background. Hence, children
in early childhood setting faces difficulties in classrooms where teacher or the students are
from different ethnicities. This can not only affect the academic level of the students, but can
also developed a predetermined schema in the brain of children, which might deter the
children from understanding their own culture (Bailey & Blagojevic, 2015). For example,
children in westernized classrooms might follow certain eating patterns or clothing patterns
that might be different from Asian countries like India, Bangladesh.
Language barrier is an important issue of a multicultural classroom. Teaching
becomes difficult when children possess imperfect mastery over the language that is being
followed in the classroom (Clay, 2015). Again, the general process of presenting an argument

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might vary across a culture, for example, The Americans are taught to be specific and direct.
They are taught to present their viewpoints and refute others viewpoints. On the other hand
an ethnic minority might have been raised to become submissive or otherwise indirect.
Teachers managing multicultural classrooms might be at disadvantage while communicating
with the parents (Henson, 2015). Even if the child have mastery over a particular language,
his/her parents may not have the same.
Another important issue of multiculturalism in the classroom is the development of
the curriculum orientation – the pedagogy and the resources. In most of the cases, the
curriculum does not pertain to the multicultural needs of the classroom. For incorporating
multiculturalism in the classroom, it has to be infused throughout the curriculum (Henson,
2015). Manning, Baruth and Lee, (2017), had recommended four approaches to set up a
multicultural classroom- the additive approach, the transformation approach, the social action
approach and the contributions approach.
Another issue related to multiculturalism is adjustments to the new cultural
environment. A new cultural environment in western education can become an issue for the
children to different ethnicity and culture. A research by Clay, (2015) has reported that
parents of Asian children are reluctant to participate in activities or are less likely to attend
any meetings or speaking in a multicultural classroom due to the environment that is
unfamiliar to them. Studies have shown that some of the activities in a multicultural
classrooms, like circle time activities, cooperative playing, that require communication and
interaction might not be familiar to all the children (Clay, 2015).
Trust problems with self and the new culture are the important issues in the
intercultural classrooms. A study has found that confidence between the students and the
teachers in the intercultural classrooms is necessary in creating trust between the teachers and