This week is "Multicultural Week" at the nursery school. When I heard, I immediately got nervous. Instead of fond memories from my high school's multicultural week (Hmong dancers in tradition dress, a food fair with Filipino lumpia, Mexican tacos, learning new sports and bits of different languages), I have been shock and awed by the ideas for the week.
First, the school decided that multiculturism means "triculturism" - Chinese, African and, of course, Spanish. Not only is China a country and Africa a continent, the week has apparently been created to perpetuate the stereotypes that exist - that people who have any Asian ancestry or are black are not Spanish, but from other countries, and that Chinese means slanted eyes and dragons and African means drums. In one conversation, I was asked if I would be dressing up on Friday. Dressing up as what? What does that mean? Do I really paint my face black? I don't think so...
To top it off, the conversation was continued and my co-teacher began describing the children's costumes. Each class has one culture (between Spanish, Chinese, or African of course) and will be dressing up as that culture. Our class will be "Chinese" and be painting their faces white and lips red, cheeks red, and adding eye make-up to make them "slanted." I was asked if I had additional ideas and I stared, wide-eyed and speechless. I informed my teacher that I didn't understand the lesson this would teach and that in my experience, it wouldn't be PC to do something similar in the States.
I'll add another tidbit that plastered walls and buildings during the 2016 Olympic nominations. Look at all the colorful people next to the Spanish old people... very classy, Spain.
First, the school decided that multiculturism means "triculturism" - Chinese, African and, of course, Spanish. Not only is China a country and Africa a continent, the week has apparently been created to perpetuate the stereotypes that exist - that people who have any Asian ancestry or are black are not Spanish, but from other countries, and that Chinese means slanted eyes and dragons and African means drums. In one conversation, I was asked if I would be dressing up on Friday. Dressing up as what? What does that mean? Do I really paint my face black? I don't think so...
To top it off, the conversation was continued and my co-teacher began describing the children's costumes. Each class has one culture (between Spanish, Chinese, or African of course) and will be dressing up as that culture. Our class will be "Chinese" and be painting their faces white and lips red, cheeks red, and adding eye make-up to make them "slanted." I was asked if I had additional ideas and I stared, wide-eyed and speechless. I informed my teacher that I didn't understand the lesson this would teach and that in my experience, it wouldn't be PC to do something similar in the States.
I'll add another tidbit that plastered walls and buildings during the 2016 Olympic nominations. Look at all the colorful people next to the Spanish old people... very classy, Spain.
1 comentarios:
Interesting post. I read "Cultural Globalization and Language Education" by Kumaravadivelu, (kind of a tongue-twister) last term that addresses this very notion of "multiculturalism" and what it actually purports. Some times it's hard to see, but in your experience it seems blatantly, almost comically, obvious.
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