Pamela
Student No:
Unique No: 795320
ETH305V Assignment 2
QUESTION 1
a) Describe in your own words the following concepts and give one example of
each:
i) Multicultural education: is a method used to include ethnic studies and
provide an antiracist education. It is a way of changing the environment at
schools so that individuals from different backgrounds experience educational
and academic equality. This includes people from different ethnic groups and
learners with special needs.
An example: The education system in South Africa has achieved
multiculturalism to a certain extent, majority of which can be found in big
urban areas.
ii) Prejudice: The judgement or opinion of a person or thing before getting to
know the facts. It is the irrational feelings, attitudes, passive aggressiveness
and opinions unfairly targeted towards a group different from your own.
An example: Disliking someone because they are of a different race. “I don’t
like Indians because they smell of curry”
iii) Assimilation: people from a minority group in society must obey the rules and
adopt the values and norms of the majority and more dominant social group. It
does not celebrate diversity.
An example: ignoring the needs of learners from diverse groups.
b) i) Describe any TWO different social groups of learners that exist in the school
where you teach or know
- Ethnic groups: this is a different social group within a larger society. Members of
similar ethnic groups share the feeling of a common language, culture, history and
traditional bonds.
- Disabled groups: this group includes learners who have similar mental or physical
disabilities. Learners with similar disabilities tend to bond over their differences and
find it easier to talk to someone who has a similar condition as them.
ii) In your opinion do the two groups enjoy the same quality of education?
Yes. The learners at the school where I attended where both taught equally. Learners from
different religious groups were given leave days for festive occasions (diwali/ eid) and where
taught and given the same learning materials for when they were absent. Muslim boys were
granted permission to leave school early on Fridays to attend their prayers at the mosque and
, then returned to school. Teachers gave them a recap on what they might have missed.
Learners with physical disabilities were given easy access entrance points to the school
premises and learners with learning impairments had a special needs teacher who assisted
when necessary.
c) Explain how a teacher could promote prejudice reduction in multicultural
education.
By reducing prejudice, the teacher assists learners in developing affirmative attitudes towards
different racial, ethnic and cultural groups. A teacher can help in promoting prejudice
reduction by assigning leadership roles and distributing responsibilities and tasks equally to
learners. They should avoid placing learners in groups on the basis of their race and gender
and they need to get rid of the separate social and play areas (ie boy grounds and girl
grounds)
QUESTION 2
a) “South Africa does not need multicultural education”. Support or disagree with
this statement giving two points of argument.
South Africa does need multicultural education for an assortment of reasons, two of them
being empowerment and diversity.
- Empowerment: multicultural education needs to undo the disadvantages of the past
and promote all social groups in education. Marginal groups in South Africa tend to
endure discrimination; therefore the need for education empowers them.
- Diversity: South Africa needs multicultural education as there is a high level of social
diversity in our country as there is a wide range of different race groups, language and
ethnic groups. Our country is well known for its cultural diversity around the world.
Therefore it is important to accommodate our countries diverseness in the educational
system.
b) Explain how the following can influence your teaching. Give ONE example in
each case:
i) Language: South Africa has a total of 11 official languages. Many teachers and
learners tend to have poor multilingual abilities which can complicate teaching.
Majority of schools use one language of instruction in spite of having a diverse
range of languages. For example, a learner’s home language may be IsiZulu but
the schools language of instruction is English only. This may disadvantage the
learner as they will not be able to fully understand what is being taught in class.
ii) Family structure: Alternative family structures are now found all over. The child
may come from a divorced home, a single parent house, and a homosexual home,
and in some cases kids may be orphaned or lives in a dysfunctional family. It is
important for teachers to be aware of the learners family structure and to be
Student No:
Unique No: 795320
ETH305V Assignment 2
QUESTION 1
a) Describe in your own words the following concepts and give one example of
each:
i) Multicultural education: is a method used to include ethnic studies and
provide an antiracist education. It is a way of changing the environment at
schools so that individuals from different backgrounds experience educational
and academic equality. This includes people from different ethnic groups and
learners with special needs.
An example: The education system in South Africa has achieved
multiculturalism to a certain extent, majority of which can be found in big
urban areas.
ii) Prejudice: The judgement or opinion of a person or thing before getting to
know the facts. It is the irrational feelings, attitudes, passive aggressiveness
and opinions unfairly targeted towards a group different from your own.
An example: Disliking someone because they are of a different race. “I don’t
like Indians because they smell of curry”
iii) Assimilation: people from a minority group in society must obey the rules and
adopt the values and norms of the majority and more dominant social group. It
does not celebrate diversity.
An example: ignoring the needs of learners from diverse groups.
b) i) Describe any TWO different social groups of learners that exist in the school
where you teach or know
- Ethnic groups: this is a different social group within a larger society. Members of
similar ethnic groups share the feeling of a common language, culture, history and
traditional bonds.
- Disabled groups: this group includes learners who have similar mental or physical
disabilities. Learners with similar disabilities tend to bond over their differences and
find it easier to talk to someone who has a similar condition as them.
ii) In your opinion do the two groups enjoy the same quality of education?
Yes. The learners at the school where I attended where both taught equally. Learners from
different religious groups were given leave days for festive occasions (diwali/ eid) and where
taught and given the same learning materials for when they were absent. Muslim boys were
granted permission to leave school early on Fridays to attend their prayers at the mosque and
, then returned to school. Teachers gave them a recap on what they might have missed.
Learners with physical disabilities were given easy access entrance points to the school
premises and learners with learning impairments had a special needs teacher who assisted
when necessary.
c) Explain how a teacher could promote prejudice reduction in multicultural
education.
By reducing prejudice, the teacher assists learners in developing affirmative attitudes towards
different racial, ethnic and cultural groups. A teacher can help in promoting prejudice
reduction by assigning leadership roles and distributing responsibilities and tasks equally to
learners. They should avoid placing learners in groups on the basis of their race and gender
and they need to get rid of the separate social and play areas (ie boy grounds and girl
grounds)
QUESTION 2
a) “South Africa does not need multicultural education”. Support or disagree with
this statement giving two points of argument.
South Africa does need multicultural education for an assortment of reasons, two of them
being empowerment and diversity.
- Empowerment: multicultural education needs to undo the disadvantages of the past
and promote all social groups in education. Marginal groups in South Africa tend to
endure discrimination; therefore the need for education empowers them.
- Diversity: South Africa needs multicultural education as there is a high level of social
diversity in our country as there is a wide range of different race groups, language and
ethnic groups. Our country is well known for its cultural diversity around the world.
Therefore it is important to accommodate our countries diverseness in the educational
system.
b) Explain how the following can influence your teaching. Give ONE example in
each case:
i) Language: South Africa has a total of 11 official languages. Many teachers and
learners tend to have poor multilingual abilities which can complicate teaching.
Majority of schools use one language of instruction in spite of having a diverse
range of languages. For example, a learner’s home language may be IsiZulu but
the schools language of instruction is English only. This may disadvantage the
learner as they will not be able to fully understand what is being taught in class.
ii) Family structure: Alternative family structures are now found all over. The child
may come from a divorced home, a single parent house, and a homosexual home,
and in some cases kids may be orphaned or lives in a dysfunctional family. It is
important for teachers to be aware of the learners family structure and to be
