Multicultural Classroom: A Multi-Cultural Study

treated as an aid for learning more about various cultures and groups of people, studying religious holidays can offer understanding and respect for the different students that make up a multicultural classroom. If we never teach our students about other people and how they believe, our students will grow up ignorant and have a very slim worldview of what they believe to be completely correct. We need to open their eyes to the gray area and refuse for future generations to have hate fueled by ignorance of others. It is not enough to simply say that we accept others as they are, but rather it is important to make an attempt to understand them. Finally, the rights of the educator within the classroom come last. It is important and advantageous …show more content…
Subjects such as religion are things that students and their families hold dear and often make up who the person is in totality. Therefore it is so important that these subjects are handled with sensitivity and excess thought to provide all students with a learning experience that expands their minds rather than indoctrinating them that their family and how they choose to worship is incorrect. It is the educator’s place to pay close attention to what is being presented in their class, whether it is a movie depicting evil characters that are Islam or a small cross with a bible verse on his/her desk, the appearance and place in the classroom can be detrimental to the student …show more content…
The first amendment addresses the freedom of religion and speech as stated before and are further explicated in two ways, the establishment and free exercise clause. The establishment clause clearly states that schools must neither endorse nor deny the ability of students to practice their religious freedoms. This clause also ensures that students with various religious beliefs will not be disadvantaged or given special treatment. The 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman case is still the prominent residing ruling on this matter and presents a method of asking a series of three questions in order to determine if the issue is right or wrong in terms of separation of church and state. The first question being “does it have a secular (non-religious) purpose? This is simply asking if the event or activity has substantial purpose other than simply to promote a religious belief or perspective. An example of this could be a moment of silence. Some say it is a secret was to encourage students to pray, while others, the supreme court included, rule the time as a freedom for students to express themselves without indoctrination. The answer to this question must be yes for the test to proceed. The second question is “does it advance or inhibit religion?” This addresses the concept of making acceptances for students whom may or not be religious. The answer to the second question must be no, due to the fact that