What is the impact of multiculturalism in Canada after 36 years of multicultural policy? Are there similar problems to those in the European countries where multiculturalism has been adopted, such as Holland, Britain, and Sweden? France, Denmark and Austria, which did not adopt multiculturalism, are also claiming that social ills are caused by Muslim immigrants. How can we address such a sensitive issue and move to find a more peaceful integration policy, without promoting assimilation? How can immigrants and minorities adapt to and educate themselves about their new geography, environment, culture, and economy, without being pushed to assimilate to existing dominant culture or to emerge themselves or become Westernized, as all ethnic groups have their own cultural identities and religious values?
Many analysts may disagree with my holistic idea of society, but I believe my post-multiculturalism-aware planning approach is applicable to all other Western countries, not only to Canada. All ethnic groups are part of global society; we cannot let one part — Muslims — be excluded when we have a remedy at hand. We have to adopt preventive measures. What are the best possible ways to tackle post-multicultural problems? What are the possible solutions?
The following are broad ideas and topics for further research that may help to address the huge flaws in multicultural readiness programs and their delivery.
Immigration Policy: Jobs and a mandatory language course. In an effort to put an end to racism and discrimination against immigrants, this could be the first step. Before bringing immigrants into the country, the country should think about what areas need skilled immigrant professionals and selectively bring such immigrants in. They must not be merely welcomed to work in non-skilled jobs and contribute to the reproduction of a hybrid population in the new country. This means that highly educated immigrants should not be brought into the country to be pushed out into the wilderness of the white job market, which creates a psychological and social disaster and generates racism and discrimination. Employment offers (according to skills) are the first step in a strong integration policy. Without this, immigrants are placed in a dangerous cycle of social welfare that leads to frustration (and mental health challenges) and prevents them from integrating into society in the first place.
Economic Integration into the Labour Market: There is systemic racism in the case of Canadian employment. In employment, discrimination is visible in terms of access, workplace (treatment of subordinates), and career advancement (promotions). The Employment Resource Agency (ERC) needs to be re-designed, as its service delivery is ill-prepared for providing jobs to newcomers (other than low-quality, stereotypical jobs for highly qualified immigrants). There is a need for further in-depth research into how these agencies can provide assistance from the day an immigrant lands in the new country and assist them to acquire new skills and/or upgrade their skills and overcome language barriers.
Political Integration: This can be in electoral processes and/or other forms of local community-based political participation. For a newcomer, the political integration process could be another way to become more a part of the country.
Social Integration: There is no better way to become integrated into the new society than by joining civil society organizations and networks. Informal networks of friends and neighbours and community organizations should not be discouraged and seen as a ghettoization of immigrants.
Religion: Religion should not be seen as a problem of multiculturalism. Many faiths can live together peacefully as long as they are not disrespected or disturbed or there is any hidden agenda in the assimilation policy.
Multicultural Education Policy: Based on the idea of “education as a practice of freedomâ€, the implementation of a new anti-racist pedagogy in classrooms is necessary for multicultural education policy to liberate the immigrant and host societies from biases, prejudice, and inequality. Such a pedagogical transformation could promote open dialogue and foster relationships among different ethnic communities. In terms of adult education, it is a bit more complex. On the surface, it would appear that there is a strong multicultural classroom environment, but there is a distance between immigrant students and their teachers that is not beneficial. There are cultural and religious differences among students, teachers and parents. These differences need to be better understood by all, including policy-makers.
Negative Coercive View: “Harsh Assimilationism†is the idea that an opportunity was given and now it will be taken away if you don’t assimilate. To uphold multicultural policy, there is a need to stop coercive assimilation. Immigrants should not be categorized according to their ethnicity or religion and then treated with hostility accordingly.
Peaceful Movement: There is a need to clarify the lack of connection between Islamic extremist groups and multiculturalism. These two issues are not intertwined, as Islamic extremism has been found all over the globe, including where multiculturalism policy is absent. We need a critical world view to look at this sensitive issue and urge world leaders to develop responsible narratives. Perhaps anti-Muslim prejudice can help them to achieve easy political gain, but ultimately it may bring our downfall. Who will be responsible for their loose words/hate speech?
Seeking a Fine Balance
I advocate identifying the complex issues of racism and multiculturalism and developing a nationwide research agenda to develop a post-multicultural policy. We all share the responsibility as a part of post-modern global society. Political scientists, policy analysts and researchers must negotiate a balanced view that incorporates not only the “facts†of the lives of the individuals/community under scrutiny, but also the “facts†of the researchers’ own lives and their observation style.
Conventional research methods, commonly used to identify the causes of racism, Islamophobia, inequalities in the education system and barriers for Muslim immigrants have failed to achieve the desired results. In other words, previously applied methods obscure the meaning of multiculturalism and quality education.
Qualitative researchers need to be careful about the “relevance of education†in academic knowledge production. The relevance of education is an important dimension of quality in education, which deconstructs the notion of a certain form of academic knowledge production. Relevance includes how researchers can apply what they learn both in and outside of the academic environment, including in the labour market, and how teaching methods and curricular design respect and respond to researchers’ diverse needs, interests and backgrounds. As needs, social expectations and economic opportunities vary across different social groups and locations, attention to social differences — including gender, class, ethnicity and ability — must necessarily be an integral component of attempts to achieve and assess relevance, including considerations of appropriate school systems, teaching methods, curricular design and spatial accommodations.
However, what is the language of teaching in post-modernism? Post-modernists claim that “theory is a practiceâ€, and post-modernism is a moment of application of our knowledge. In this context, it is difficult to assess what decisions are good or bad, as it is relative and depends on the circumstance. Deciding between good or evil, the choice has to be wise, so no one is to blame. To move from this indeterminacy of the post-modern multicultural global world, I suggest developing a new language of teaching, a new literacy flexibility to reconstruct teachers’ language, bringing sanity to the student-teacher relationship. This flexibility would entail avoiding seeing the student as “otherâ€â€” avoiding otherness and distanced forms of teaching.
Seeking a fine balance, I advocate identifying ways to promote peaceful movements (non-violent co-existence) by incorporating the best policies for broadening our understandings of Muslims and other minority groups. Ultimately, this is aimed at bringing about a radical change in the ecology of school and teacher development, leading to better understandings of minorities and eradicating prejudices. Â
The writer is a Doctoral student in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE),
University of Toronto, Canada. Email: pamelia07@hotmail.com
Multiculturalism and quality education in pluralistic society
Pamelia Khaled | Published: December 21, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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