Disconnect Between Culture And Education

Too many students’ of racially and culturally diverse backgrounds have not been academically successful in comparison to their counterparts for far too long. Many schools are not effective at educating “minority” students. Thus, “on many achievement measures, students of color perform significantly less well than White students, and in some communities the achievement gap is growing rather than shrinking.” In her research on “Literacy and Identity in the Canadian Classroom” Cynthia Medford-Williams asserted that:

“This diversity, arising from massive population shifts, is a reality not only in the Canadian classroom but in many other Western countries. Such rapid alterations in student demographics have been accompanied by a cycle of continuing underachievement among a disproportionate number of students of racially, ethnically, culturally, …show more content…
These studies consider the disconnect between culture and education serving as the fundamental cause of the achievement gap. For example, “Canadian research continues to affirm that membership in the white middle-class group afford individual within this group certain privileges in society, while those outside of this group experience challenges…” Therefore, according to Die, “many researchers, in Canada and internationally, have found that unequally structured material and social conditions contribute to the success of middle-class white students over that of "other" students.” As a result, numerous Canadian studies attest to “the challenges faced by the school system in meeting the needs of students who are culturally diverse. The high drop-out rate among Black students in Ontario is one example.” Altogether, disregarding the culture and race of students creates a space of disconnect from the school, and ultimately to disengagement resulting in lower academic and social achievement of RCELD