Unit 4
Multiculturalism, Culture and Identity in the Classroom

In an age when identity politics—based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability—are commonplace, educational theories supportive of a recognition of “difference” have begun to percolate down from universities to schools and classrooms. The classroom teacher is now expected to recognize cultural differences, and to teach in a way that affirms rather than denies students’ various identities. However, the issue of affirming differing identities is contentious and difficult to translate into practice, and has been perceived as a threat to the liberal ethos of Canadian nationalism and society.

In this unit, we trace the development of educational multiculturalism in Canada, and we relate debates about multiculturalism to broader issues of equality, culture and identity.

Objectives

After completing Unit 4, you should be able to

1. explain the origins of Canada’s multiculturalism policies, and discuss the limitations of these policies.
2. describe the problems of translating culture into the classroom.
3. explain what influences form students’ ethnic identities, and how those identities might be acknowledged in school.