Culture And Learning.docx

Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak Jalan Dato’ Mohd Musa, 94300, Kota Samarahan Sarawak. Program Ijazah Sarjana Muda Perguruan (PISMP)

Name

: Doreen Ting Jia Chzin

Index Number

: 2014312340019

IC Number

: 950521-13-5760

Class/Group

: PISMPBI 1614

Code/ Subject

: EDU 3063 (Culture and Learning)

Lecturer’s Name

: Mr. Adrian Luat

Contents No. Contents 1. 1.0 Concept of culture and multiculturalism 1.1 Concept of culture 1.2 Concept of muticulturalism 2. Questionnaire ( Interview of a teacher from SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, Sarikei) 3. Effects of multiculturalism in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom 4. Programs and activities taken by SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese to handle the challenges of multiculturalism in the school. 5. References 6. Appendices

Page

1.0 Concept of culture and multiculturalism

1.1 Concept of culture Culture is a fuzzy set of basic assumptions and values, orientation to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioural conventions that are shared by a group of people and that influence each member’s behaviour and his/her interpretations of the meaning of other people’s behaviour. (Spencer-Oatey, 2008 :3) Faizah A. Majid (2008) cited Abdullah (1996) in saying that the culture of a society is the “glue that holds its member together through a common language, dressing, food, religion, beliefs, aspirations and challenges”. Hence, culture could determine how the society makes a living, the social units in which they live and work, and meanings they assign to their lives. Faizah A. Majid (2008) quoted Quinn & Holland (1987) in pointing out that notion of culture can be defined as “culture is acquired knowledge, including beliefs, concepts and standards, organised by cognitive structures that people use to function properly in a cultural context. According to Spencer Oatey (2008), there are some key characteristics of culture. First, culture affects behaviour and interpretations of behaviour. Spencer Oatey (2008) quoted Hofstede (1991) in saying that although certain aspects of culture are physically visible, their meaning is invisible: ‘their cultural meaning lies precisely and only in the way these practices are interpreted by the insiders. Similarly, choice of clothing can be interpreted differently by different groups of people, in terms of indications of wealth, ostentation, and appropriateness. Besides, culture can be differentiated from both universal human nature and unique individual personality. Culture is learned, not inherited. It derives from one’s social environment, not from one’s genes. Moreover, culture is associated with social groups. Culture is shared by at least two or more people, and live societies which have larger population of people. Besides, another characteristic of culture is culture is both an individual construct and a social construct. Culture exists in each and every one of us

individually as much as it exists as a global, social construct. Individual differences in culture can be observed among people in the degree to which they adopt and engage in the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours that, by consensus, constitute their culture. If you act in accordance with those values or behaviours, then that culture resides in you; if you do not share those values or behaviours, then you do not share that culture. Besides, another key characteristic of culture is culture is learned. Culture is learned from the people you interact with as you are socialised. Watching how adults react and talk to new babies is an excellent way to see the actual symbolic transmission of culture among people. Culture is also taught by the explanations people receive for the natural and human events around them. Malaysia is a country which is culturally diverse. Malaysia comprises of different ethnics such as Malays, Chinese, Indian and indigenous people. Faizah A. Majid (2008) quoted Abdullah (1996) in identifying that Malaysia have five cultural values. According to Faizah A. Majid (2008) research, although each group retains its own identity, certain values appear to be common to all Malaysian groups. Malaysians are collectivistic, that their identity is not determined by individual characteristics, instead by the group to which the person belongs. For example, Faizah A. Majid (2008) quoted Abdullah (1996) in claiming that the identity of a person who is Malay is determined by the Malay community. The Malaysian society will normally not see him/her as an individual but instead will generalize his/her identity to that which describes Malays as a whole. Likewise, for someone who is a Chinese, his identity is determined by what the local society knows about the Chinese community and for an Indian’s identity to be determined by what is known about the Indian community. Besides, Malaysians are relationship oriented. Their lives are all centred on family, village, country and four social group ties. This entails the mutual and reciprocal obligations they have for each other.

So, culture is a complex whole thing which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

1.2

Concept of multiculturalism Multiculturalism is a system of beliefs and behaviours that recognises and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organisation or a society, acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organisation or a society. (Najeemah Mohd Yusof, 2011) There are five key terms that can explain the concept of

multiculturalism:

beliefs

and

behaviours,

recognition

and

respects,

acknowledgement and values, encouragement and empowers. Multiculturalism is a set of interrelated parts of beliefs and behaviours which make up the whole of how humans experience today’s world. It includes what people believe about others, their basic paradigms, and how this impact and are impacted by behaviour. Multiculturalism also entails acknowledging the validity of the cultural expressions and contributions are of equal value and social worth, or that all should be tolerated. Multiculturalism thus means valuing what people have to offer, and not rejecting it simply because it differs from what the majority regard as important and of value. Multiculturalism will also encourage and enable the contribution of the various groups to society or an organisation. According to Hall (2000), multiculturalism is used to describe “the social characteristics and problems of governance posed by any society in which different cultural communities live together and attempt to build a common life while retaining something of their original identity. According to Najeemah Mohd Yusof (2011), multiculturalism, as the art of managing diversity, is an inclusive process where no one is left out. In an age of cultural pluralism, multiculturalism is needed to manage diversity effectively. Malaysian school classrooms are characterised by its diversity whereby students (Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak and other ethnic groups) come from

various cultural backgrounds. Education system is the best tool for these various ethnic groups will work together. Education is a deliberate attempt to construct human beings who will participate in society as productive citizens. A multicultural classroom must thrive on these differences and use them as a foundation for growth and development in Malaysia classrooms. Multicultural education incorporates the idea that all students regardless of their gender and social class and their ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics should have an equal opportunity to learn in school. The main aim of managing multiculturalism in Malaysia is to maintain national integration in which all these various cultural communities could live alongside each other while maintaining their original identities. Aligned with the globalisation era in education, Malaysia faces challenges in creating a new multi-chanelled learning environment where pupils from different cultural backgrounds can connect and work with one another across classrooms and community. So, in conclusion, according to Sharifah Norsana Syed Abdullah (2010), multicultural education in Malaysia will be successful if the education system can provide opportunity for students of different ethnic groups to interact with each other through the subject ‘Pendidikan Moral’ and ‘Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan’. The education system should bring all ethnic groups together will lead to cross-racial contact, lead to better understanding of other races and promote greater social tolerance and interaction.

2.0 Questionnaire ( Interview of a teacher from SK Methodist AngloChinese, Sarikei)

Questionnaire on multiculturalism in Malaysia 1. Describe the ethnicity in your school? (Example : Chinese, Malay, Iban…the most ethnic, the least ethnic) Malay, Chinese, Iban, Melanau (I’m not sure which ethnic has the most number of pupils) 2. Do your school celebrate different culture celebration of different ethnics ? Instead of grand celebration, our school usually holds a special assembly and the teachers of that ethnic will treat the other teachers to eat. We will only have slightly grand celebration for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri which sometimes it will be held at night. 3. Have you ever felt that your pupils had been treated differently due to his/her culture background? Example of the treatment. How do you treat other pupils of different races? No, so far I do not see this problem in my school. 4. How important do you think it is that your pupils learn about other cultures in Malaysia? I think it is very important for the pupils to learn the culture of other races and ethnics so that they know how to respect the others from different races and ethnics which leads to unity, peace and harmony in our country. 5. Are you aware of any activities taking place in school that make children aware of other cultures? Can you explain what these activities are? Activities such as RIMUP, special assemblies and celebration of festivals in our school will raise the pupils’ awareness of the culture of other races and ethnics. 6. Different schools have different culture. Can you see the differences of culture between the previous that you had been taught before and the recent school? In terms of the pupils’ relationship, I think my recent school has a better one as my recent school consists of pupils from more races and ethnics which gives the pupils chances to mix around and communicate with each other. In my previous school, I always noticed that the Chinese pupils will be neglected and isolated as they are the least among all the pupils which consists of a majority of Iban pupils.

7. Are the mixture of culture brings effect to your teaching and learning process? What are the effects and how do you handle it? Give some examples. Yes, of course. As a teacher who teaches pupils from different cultural background, I have to be very careful and aware of what I am going to say when I am teaching so that I will not touch on any sensitive issues which may offend the pupils from other races and ethnics. Besides, when I am teaching, I need to consider all the pupils so that I will not neglect pupils from any race or ethnic. 8. What is your school policy to handle the issue of mixture of culture in school? All the pupils must be treated same way regardless of their races and ethnics. 9. Describe the on-going programs carried out by the school to handle the pupils of different cultural background. RIMUP, awareness campaign, talks 10. Do you think that the pupils at Malaysia respect and appreciate other cultures? Give some examples how the pupils respect other pupils from different cultural background based on your experience. Yes. The Chinese and Iban pupils will use their right hand when they shake hand with Malay friends. There are a number of Chinese girls wear baju kurung as their uniform to the school instead of wearing pinafore. When there is a prayer before a ceremony, the pupils will remain silent. 11. How much do you feel that your pupils know about the practices and values of different cultures in Malaysia? They learn through friends’ sharing and from Pendidikan Moral, so most of the pupils they know about the practices and values of different culture in Malaysia. 12. Are you aware of any tensions or problems between children at Malaysia due to cultural backgrounds. Give some examples based on your experience. So far I do not encounter this problem.

13. Do you have any ideas that you think would help the school enrich the children’s cultural awareness? As a teacher, I think an educator plays an important role in enriching the children’s cultural awareness. Teachers need to instill the right thinking and values among the pupils so that they are always aware of cultural differences in this multiracial country to ensure all of us can live peacefully. 14. What are the methods of provision to special needs children? (Example : Inclusion, mainstreaming, segregation , exclusion) Segregation. This group of children needs extra care and attention. Segregation does not mean to isolate them from the crowd, but to let them to have a chance to learn how to take care of themselves and learn something under extra care and love.

3.0 Effects of multiculturalism in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom

3.0 Effects of multiculturalism in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom (a) Curriculum orientation –pedagogy and resources Multicultural education is not to be taught as a ‘stand-alone’ subject but teacher plays an important role to infuse it throughout the curriculum. According to Robinson & Jone Diaz (2006), good primary school pedagogy reflects and empowers the diverse cultural backgrounds of the children and families with whom they work. According to Anna Christina Abdullah (2009), in terms of pedagogy and resources, pupils in the classroom are seated or carry out their activities in mixed groupings in terms of different ethnics and culture. Based on my interview with a teacher, Mr. Wee from SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, Sarikei, he did arrange their pupils’ seating arrangements in mixed ethnics and culture and also mixed ability in order the pupils can share their cultures among themselves and high-proficiency pupils can help lowproficiency pupils. Teachers also should choose posters, books, CDs, images, songs and other resources used in either in the classroom or outside the classroom represent realistic linguistic, cultural, and social practices of the pupils. The challenge that are related to the provision above that the teacher faced include the choice of children’s books. Teacher who want to share other cultures may unintentionally choose books that are racialist in content. So, Anna Christina Abdullah (2009) cited Council on Interracial Books for Children published Guidelines for Selecting BiasFree Textbooks and Storybooks (1980) in saying that when teachers choose a story book for the teaching purposes, there are nine guidelines to be considered. The guidelines are : (i) checking illustrations for stereotypes, (ii) checking the story line (do not touch the sensitivity of any ethnic groups in the class or political issues), (iii) looking at the lifestyles, (iv) weighing relationships between people (suitable to the primary school pupils), (v) noting the heroes, (vi) considering the effect on a child’s self-image, (vii) considering the author’s or illustrator background, (viii) examining the author’s perspective, and (v) watching for loaded words. Based on my interview with Mr. Wee, he agrees with me that mixture of culture brings effects to the teaching and learning process. He tells me that as a teacher who teaches pupils from different cultural background, he has to be very careful and aware of what he is going to say

when he is teaching so that he will not touch on any sensitive issues which may offend the pupils from other races and ethnics. Besides, when he carried out teaching and learning process, he needs to consider all the pupils so that he will not neglect pupils from any race or ethnic. For example, he will not tell the animal story that related to pigs that may touch sensitivity of Malay ethnic. So, suitability of materials and resources for the pedagogical purposes will affect the effectiveness of teaching and learning process in the classroom.

(b) Teachers’ awareness towards multiculturalism Multicultural education is not only reflecting the diversity of society, also to raise

awareness towards

inequality,

discrimination,

stereotypes

caused

by

differences. Teachers’ attitudes have direct implications and may determine the success or failure of multicultural education in schools. As multicultural agents, teachers help pupils of diverse cultural backgrounds negotiate between home, school and community. Based on the research done by Mohamed Najib Abdul Ghaffar, he concluded that most teachers still not really implemented multicultural aspects during instructions and classroom assessment. Many teachers do not know or understand what multicultural education is, and they do not know how to use effective practices, teachers are not providing the best education opportunities that they can for their pupils regardless of the pupils’ backgrounds and learning needs and the curricular content area. So, teachers need to learn how to infuse culturally responsible and responsive pedagogy across the curriculum and throughout the school environment to assure equitable learning opportunities for all pupils. Based on my interview with Mr. Wee, he thinks it is very important for the pupils to learn the culture of other races and ethnics so that they know how to respect the others from different races and ethnics which leads to unity, peace and harmony in our country. For example, in his school, there are a number of Chinese girls wear baju kurung as their uniform to the school instead of wearing pinafore. When there is a prayer before a ceremony, all the pupils will remain silent and pray. Malaysian pupils can learn different ethnics’ culture through friends’ sharing and from two subjects, ‘Pendidikan Moral’ and ‘Pendidikan

Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan’, so most of the pupils they know about the practices and values of different culture in Malaysia. As we all know, in this 21st century of teaching and learning, education should be more fully student-centered and inclusive of the voices and experiences of the pupils. From the interview, in terms of the pupils’ relationship, Mr. Wee thinks that his recent school has a better one as his recent school consists of pupils from more races and ethnics which gives the pupils chances to mix around and communicate with each other. In his previous school at Song, he always noticed that the Chinese pupils will be neglected and isolated as they are the least among all the pupils which consists of a majority of Iban pupils. Moreover, the composition of teachers at SK Cardinal Vaughan are mostly Malays and Iban and only a few of the teachers are Chinese So, teachers should have multicultural awareness. Teachers’ multicultural awareness is the ability to teach pupils with various cultural backgrounds. Teachers should have complex cultural, social and emotional awareness, sensitivity, knowledge in various fields and skills and feel the responsibility to address multicultural issues in the teaching and learning process. (c) Learners’ acceptance towards multicultural education Learners have to accept that our country, Malaysia is a multi-racial country that the learners are from three different ethnic groups namely Malay, Chinese, and Indian. In SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, most of the pupils are come from different cultural backgrounds, for example, Chinese, Malays, and Iban. There are two streams of schooling in this school which are Malay stream and Chinese stream. So, in this school, they do not encounter the problem of racist as all their pupils from different ethnics work together in a group and respect each other race and culture. This can brings the harmony in the classroom environment as there are no racism happened in this school. For example, in the interview, Mr. Wee stated that his pupils come from different cultural backgrounds can work as a team when representing the school to participate in competition like Choral Speaking competition, basketball competition and action song competition. In this school, when they celebrate any ethnic festival like ‘Chinese New Year’, ‘Hari Raya Aidilfitri’ and ‘Hari Gawai’, they will wear traditional costumes like Cheongsam, ‘samfu, ‘baju kurung’, ‘baju Melayu’ and

‘ngepan’ to perform their traditional dance during the assembly. This means that they do not segregate each other. They work together in unity, peace and harmony. In this school, learners accept multicultural education, so this means that this school is a successful school.

4.0 Programs and activities taken by SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese to handle the challenges of multiculturalism in the school.

Programs and activities Based on my interview with Mr. Wee, the activities and programs that held by SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese to handle the multiculturalism in school are RIMUP(Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan), celebration of several festivals like Chinese New Year, ‘Hari Raya Aidilfitri’, and ‘Hari Gawai’, ‘Perkhemahan Unit Beruniform’, ‘Aktiviti Gotong-royong’, ‘Program Masakmemasak’, ‘Sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan’, ‘Sesi Permuafakatan dengan ibu bapa’, and religious class like ‘Kelas Moral di Gereja’ and ‘Kelas Agama’. Based on my interview with Mr. Wee, as a teacher, he thinks an educator plays an important role in enriching the pupil’s cultural awareness. To enrich the pupils’ cultural awareness in SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, the school held a program named RIMUP program. Teachers need to instil the right thinking and values among the pupils so that they are always aware of cultural differences in this multi-racial country to ensure all of us can live peacefully. RIMUP (Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan) is a program that encourages more interaction among students from different school types, ethnicities, and religious beliefs. Its implementation was first institutionalised in the Education Development Master Plan 2006-2010 under the Nation Building Thrust. Through the Malaysia Education Blueprint, the aspirations and implementation of RIMUP have been revitalised and improved by focusing on three aspects: culture and arts; sports and games; and patriotism and national identity. It is an on-going program that held by SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese to ensure that the pupils aware of cultural differences in this country, Malaysia. Unity is best inculcated since young, especially when children are not prejudiced towards any race or religion. So, according to Daily Express (2014, October 20), the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pointing out that unity should be an important goal in the nation's school system so that the country continues to be stable, peaceful and enjoy the fruits of past generations. It is for this reason that the government's RIMUP program was set up in order to focus on unity among

all ethnicity in the country, he said. According to Sarban Singh ( 2015,October 1st ) in ‘The Star Online’, Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said, "Strengthening unity among the various races must be made priority. We cannot be only focusing on doing well economically or academically.” In SK Methodist AngloChinese, the activities that the school held during RIMUP programme are playing traditional game like ‘Ketingting’, cook traditional food and ‘Traditional Costume Catwalk’ So, teachers need to instil the right thinking and values among the pupils so that they are always aware of cultural differences in this multiracial country to ensure all of us can live peacefully. Besides, this school also celebrate different cultural festivals like Chinese New Year, ‘Hari Raya Aidilfitri’ and ‘Hari Gawai’. During the celebrations, the pupils will perform their traditional dance like ‘Tarian Kipas’ during Chinese New Year, ‘Ngajat’ dance during celebration of ‘Hari Gawai’ and ‘Joget dance’ during celebration ‘Hari Raya Puasa’. During the celebration of Chinese New Year, the school will distribute Mandarin oranges to all the pupils. During the celebration, they will greet their friends from other ethnic groups like ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ for the Chinese pupils, ‘Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai’ for the Dayak pupils and ‘Selamat Hari Raya Puasa’ for the Malay pupils. This will help to strengthen the bond between the pupils and help them to be aware that Malaysian of different ethnic groups celebrate different cultural festivals. In this school, one of the activity held to handle the challenges of the multiculturalism in SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese is ‘gotong-royong’. This is an ongoing program that held by the school to ensure the cleanliness of the school compound. Through this activity, pupils of different races learn to cooperate with each other and help each other in order to make sure this activity carried out successfully. To beautify the school compound, headmistress also ask the creative students to draw murals at the wall of school building. Beautifying school compound is an important way to produce a conducive study environment. Pupils would like to study in a school which is beautiful and gorgeous rather than study in a school which is full of weeds.

Based on the interview, Mr. Wee stated that his school also organised ‘Program Masak-Memasak’ where the teachers will teach their pupils to cook different types of traditional food from different culture. This program is an ongoing program that held in the afternoon. For example, teachers will show how to prepare the dough and make kuih-muih. The pupils will help the teachers to make it. Examples of traditional kuih-muih are ‘Ang Koo Kueh’, ‘cucur sayur’, and ‘putu piring’. This will help the pupils aware of different traditional food from different culture and most importantly they can cooperate with each other to make sure the food is cooked successfully. Besides, the activities carried out by the school to handle the challenges of multiculturalism in SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese are co-curricular activities especially outdoor activities. For example, basketball competition involves different types of ethnics of pupils. Not only Chinese pupils can participate the basketball competition, but Dayak and Malays also participate in the competition. Although the pupils come from different cultural backgrounds, they are willing to work as a team to represent the school for the competition. There are also other competitions that involves group of pupils of different races. There are ‘Choral Speaking competition’, ‘Action Song competition’ and ‘Choir competition’. The school also had organised ‘Perkhemahan Unit Beruniform’. Some activities that had carried out during the camp are marching, building the tent, cooking, group discussion and motivational talk.This can indirectly help the pupils to respect each other, cooperate among themselves and learnt from each other as they are from different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, Mr. Wee also stated that this school celebrate National Day every year. The school compound will be surrounded by Malaysia’s flags and Sarawak’s flags. During the assembly of celebration of National Day, the pupils will perform singing the patriotic songs like ‘Keranamu Malaysia’ and ‘Jalur Gemilang’ on the stage with their traditional costumes. During that week, the school will held different competitions like drawing poster competition and also

writing essay competition based on the theme patriotism. This activities indirectly can instil patriotism in the pupil’s heart and mind. Other than that, the school also give motivational talk to the pupils like ‘Motivational talk for Year 6 pupils’ in order to give them motivation to learn. This school also have religious class for the pupils from different religions like Christians and Islam. The religious classes are ‘Kelas Moral di Gereja’ and ‘Kelas Agama’. This helps pupils to have deeper understanding of their own religion and at the same time respect other people’s religion. In addition, cooperative learning situations can be provided by the teachers during teaching and learning process so that the pupils share common problems, goals, tasks, and success with individuals from groups other than their own. This can in form of . Children will benefit from such inter-group relations and develop a host of interpersonal competencies including respect, empathy, and perspective-taking. Teacher also should infuse 1 Malaysia Concept in his/her teaching and learning process in the multicultural classroom. Mostly, the subjects that the teacher can infuse 1 Malaysia concept through are ‘Pendidikan Moral’ and Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan’. But sadly to hear that most of the ‘Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan class are being replaced by the main subject class like ‘Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Inggeris, Mathematics and Science class. In order to inculcate the sense of belongings, as well as the spirit and values of togetherness regardless of race and religion, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak had launched the “1 Malaysia Concept “ on 16 September 2008. During the launching of 1 Malaysia concept in 2008, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib Razak said,

Under the concept 1Malaysia, being tolerant is just the beginning; the next paradigm is to move from tolerance to total acceptance. In other words, when we accept the differences in our society we

accept diversity as something unique, something that provides us with a very colourful tapestry in our society, something that actually can give us strength and not otherwise.” (Dato Seri Najib Razak, 2008) “1 Malaysia Concept” is a guiding principle to build a united and progressive nation. So, teachers should infused this concept in their teaching in order to create a classroom environment which leads to peace, unity and harmony. Moreover, we can also instil the patriotism in the pupils’ minds and heart. The teachers can encourage the pupils to feel free to share their culture among themselves and all the pupils have to accept other pupils’ culture as they are. Teachers also should allow children to “naturally” explore their differences and similarities among themselves. Teachers should implement equity pedagogy in their teaching and learning in the classroom. Equity pedagogies are pedagogical innovations specifically designed to address issues of educational equity. One focus of equity pedagogies is to develop and use teaching techniques and methods that can address different learning styles and to develop pedagogical approaches that facilitate the educational achievements of lower performing students. In SK Methodist Anglo-Chinese, the school tend to segregate the special needs pupils from the ‘Perdana Class’ pupils as this group of pupils need extra care and attention. Segregation does not mean to isolate them from the crowd, but to let them to have a chance to learn how to take care of themselves and something under extra care and love. However, equity pedagogy go beyond this to articulate a model of learning and teaching in which pupils are expected to actively participate in the creation of knowledge, and in which education is seen as a means to help students re-envision their worlds and opportunities and to think about the role that they will play in larger issues of democracy and social change. So, based on my interview with Mr Ron, as a teacher, he thinks an educator plays an important role in treating all the pupils fairly. Teachers should not bias or prejudice to any ethnic group of pupils. For example, the teacher is come from

Chinese cultural background, so she/he treat the Chinese pupils better than other ethnic groups of pupils. So, implementation of equity pedagogy by the teachers plays an important role to handle the challenges of multiculturalism in school.

Conclusions Creating multicultural classrooms is a growing priority for all teachers and administrators. This includes restructuring the curriculum and classroom evaluation, but, more importantly, it includes embracing difference and opening up the classroom for communication. Our world is multicultural, and children need to experience the diversity outside their immediate environment. If the children are to know about minority groups, they must be taught about them in the same way that are taught about majority groups. Otherwise, children can grom to adulthood unaware of the experiences of other cultural groups. This is a colourful world let us, the future teachers, make sure that we paint our classrooms with these colours every single day.

References Allen,J. (2004). Sociology of Education (3rd ed.).Australia : Ligare Pty Ltd. Carey.C.J., Pedersen,B.P. (2003). Multicultural Counseling Schools. United States of America : Pearson Education, Inc. Linda K. Shadiow, Young Pai, Susan A. Adler. (2006). Cultural Foundations of Education. United States of America : Pearson Education, Inc. Smith,B.T.( 2004). Practicing Multiculturalism. United States of America : Pearson Education, Inc.