Multiculturalism in School Curriculum

While reading the artilcle Multiculturalism in School Curriculum, there were a few articles quotes that stuck out. First of all, the article stated that teachers should include all the cultures that make up our history, but "we must not do so in a way that we are forced to pull out each culture and teach it as a separate entity such as Black History Month or Women’s History Month. This is not multicultural education, but rather what I call "intellectual segregation" and it is wrong." They go on to further state that, "having separate months for different cultures is exactly opposite of what a true multicultural education should be trying to achieve."
We have many months that recognize specific groups or cultures, and perhaps that is just to acknowledge certain triumphs or achievements over time. It did cause me to reflect on my students and comments they have made before, such as "why do we celebrate this day, or why is this acknowledged?"
The article went on to discuss that various perspectives should be presented to the students and they should be allowed to draw their own conclusions. To simply single out a culture is not the answer. I found the idea about developing respect for each other at the elementary age to be very relevant. I think that trying to understand others ideas, thoughts, and cultures helps children gain a respect for diversity. This will be beneficial to them as they mature and go through life. I do agree with them that, "whatever the curriculum, children need to have basic foundations and share common points of reference that will enable further learning."

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