Importance of multicultural education in early childhood education Essay

Importance of multicultural education in early childhood education - Essay Example Conventional patterns of travel has been replaced by new avenues, and destinations (Silverstone, 2005, p.9). Mass media has allowed better cultural interactions and in turn has people and communities to understand each other quickly (Silverstone, 2005, p.39). The overall result is that people are now settling in areas which were perceived to be hostile and unfavorable to human life decades ago. Each and every society has now its own special group of migrant populations resulting in social diversity, and new patterns of social living but this has posed each society, a great many challenges as well (Reitz, Breton, Dion and Dion, 2009, p.11-17). The original communities have developed a fear of losing their cultural identity while the migrant groups fear a hostile environment (Reitz, Breton, Dion and Dion, 2009, p.168-175). The original dwellers tend to have a dominating trait that result in newcomers suffering suppression and cultural hegemony (Reitz, Breton, Dion and Dion, 2009, p.168 -175). When this is not restrained, minority cultures will be forced to assimilate majority culture and the result is that they loose their own culture (Reitz, Breton, Dion and Dion, 2009, p.168-175). As Robinson and Jones-Diaz (2006) have pointed out, such a change will eventually lead to racism and homophobia. This study is of the view that one way of making a deliberate effort in building respect for and safeguarding different cultures is including multiculturalism in early childhood education. This way, children can grow up under equitable environments which treat all cultures equally. Neither majority or minority culture is put in a more than or less than equal position in such a scenario. Thus this study dwells on the merits as well as reasons why multicultural education should be adopted or incorporated in early childhood education. The choice of this topic was inspired by the current social context in Singapore. The country is home to many cultural groupings,