Education and Cultural Differences

New Perspectives

Douglas Ray, Deo Poonwassie

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780415793001
• eBook ISBN: 9781351812153
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

First published in 1992, this book looks at the interaction between ideals and reality, with the focus upon social inequality and education in modern society, as well as the possibilities for education to lessen the related problems.

The essays in this volume examine three forms of inequality in global society: aboriginal societies in modern industrial states; long-established communities that have been denied full status; and differences arising from recent population migrations. In doing so, it considers how education might support the efforts of all members of society to pursue the goal of equal status for all.

SECTION III

LONG ESTABLISHED STIGMAS

LONG ESTABLISHED STIGMAS IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION: AN INTRODUCTION

Douglas Ray

Discrimination is a way of human life. Schools are responsible for some of the inequality in the world and are one means by which inequality may be transferred from one generation to the next, but in a society where many agencies are responsible for forming attitudes and controlling behaviors, schools may not be successful in breaking through the influences of other institutions like the family to become part of the solution.

The grievances of divided societies often continue through many generations, and may be aggravated by wars in which foreign interests are involved. This situation in evident in several states where civil wars figure in recent experience: India, Ireland, Israel, Spain, the USSR, China, Sudan, and Colombia. Some of these nations have been selected for case studies because their traditional divisions are now being tackled more imaginatively: The Caribbean, Canada, the United States. It is probably better to examine the progressive cases than to lament the failures, so some obvious possibilities were excluded. The “long established grievances” category is here slotted between discussions of “aboriginal status” and treatment of the “foreign born,” but this distinction may not be observed in the case studies. Nations may have all three kinds of population divisions.

The Soviet Union. Few nations are so divided linguistically, racially, culturally and religiously as the Soviet Union. It contains several nationalities, ethnic groups, autonomous peoples, provinces, former colonies … many of them peoples conquered hundreds of years ago, for the Czar expanded the nation and met rebellions with force,¹ A century ago few of the minority populations had the right to education in their “national” language, for Russian was the imperial tongue. The USSR used education in preference to the sword: schools and even written languages were created for minorities-sometimes for the first time; colleges and universities admitted minority scholars who could then participate in the federal bureaucracy; and progressive constitutions and practices identified the intent to end the old kinds of discrimination. Some minorities became heroes of war and industry. Two major problems remained: there were continuing economic, social, cultural and political advantages for some; and demagogues diverted attention from significant gains. This is a revolution that is not yet finished.

China is often examined over a long period of history—even thousands of years. In this case, the focus is upon the minority peoples that are not regarded as part of the Han people. In many cases they live on the fringes of China, perhaps sharing their language, religion, and culture with cousins in other nations: USSR, Korea, Mongolia, Kashmir, India, Burma and Vietnam. Education for the minorities of China links them with the Han people, but their roots in another culture are not severed. Some of the minorities have only recently been introduced to general schooling, and they may still resist sending their children to school long enough for them to become literate. Their interest in another language and sometimes an alphabetic symbolism for writing may make them less proficient in Chinese, and they rarely contribute to the overall community of scholarship in China. In many cases (in Tibet for example) their chief goal is to ensure the survival of their culture, which they want to protect from change as much as possible. The Chinese authorities want to ensure the pervasive impact of Han society, so although minority objectives may be understood and respected, they will not determine policy.

The United States’ diversity arose from migration from all regions of the world. The focus, however, is upon a single and unshakable problem: that of racism. African American underclass status has its roots in slavery, which officially ended in 1865. The status of descendants of slaves has been studied repeatedly and incisively, always with the conclusion that the hierarchical arrangement remains little changed despite significant advances. Mistreatment continues to be associated with race, with discrimination in many dimensions of society: income, housing, health, and the justice system. Although education can be criticized for contributing to these inequalities, it remains one of the best possible tools for bringing about improvements.

Segregated schools have officially been forbidden since Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, yet segregation of society, and thereby of neighborhoods, hospitals, employers, jails, and sports clubs remains. Since schools reflect many decisions that can reflect racism (enrollment, employment, curriculum materials, guidance advice, discipline, scholarship recommendations, etc.), it is hard to reverse the determination of the dominant population to retain existing conditions. Some studies show how education might have a ripple effect, ending the century of underclass status that has been the lot of the African American.

The Eastern Caribbean. Slave societies were to be found in many regions, and among those populations counting a very high proportion of slaves among their ancestors are those of the West Indies. Here the aboriginal population has been almost eliminated, and on most islands entirely so. Indentured laborers from impoverished families brought some Asians and Europeans, especially after the effective end to slave trading in the mid-nineteenth century. Over time, intermarriage blurred racial lines from being typical of its later populations. The eastern Caribbean is now a region where social class structure is important and race is a factor in one’s place within the structure, but education is also important. For this reason, the schools acquire a great significance.

The poverty of the islands means that families sacrifice heavily to send their children to schools, and illiteracy remains a problem. Similarly, teachers may not survive on their pay, and augmenting teaching income by tutoring or selling extra educational materials may sometimes contribute to indifferent records as teachers. Various formulae for providing the necessary services to small populations must be devised, and these educational decisions combine political, economic, and professional judgments in varying parts. The significance of the government’s role as umpire is somewhat modified by the prospect of additional funds from various external agencies like the World Bank.

Colombia. The Latin Americans generally ignore race and concentrate upon social class and differences in wealth. Religious differences are more or less confined to agreement with Roman Catholicism or indifference to it, and the only minority languages are those of the aboriginals and some small foreign communities in the larger cities.

Colombia is representative of several of these patterns, and its impressive modernization and urbanization has left some traditional parts of the country well behind, in educational and cultural terms. If this neglect continues, the probable result will be further depopulation of rural areas and problems for the burgeoning cities. The educational systems in this hierarchical and traditionally agricultural society are examined here, using a case study from a relatively progressive rural area. The prognosis is only partly hopeful.

The Sudan. Africa may be more complex than other continents in the interaction of languages, religions, races, cultures, and ideologies. To the extraordinary complications of African migrations are added the recent colonial impact by two Asian and eight European powers. The Sudan is at the center of this matrix, and its size and diversity makes it a continent in miniature. Some of the underclass relationships stem from the legacies of conquest, slavery, or religious conversion. Others are explained more easily by the suspicion of, or hostility to, schooling of traditional societies, in part from poverty, and in part because the efforts of the modernizing sector are bent to eliminate the traditions and provide the best available opportunities to the right people: those who support the government of the day. This convenient rule is complicated by the series of coups and restorations of democracy extending back to independence.

Through all this confusion a central principle emerges: the family determines many of the advantages. In addition, it is useful to be rich, to live in or near the larger cities or towns, to speak Arabic and to practice Islam. Where these rules are in conflict with the standards of equity that Sudan follows in principle, there is concern to do the right thing but not the resources for adequate schooling for all. Of all the nations included in this volume, the Sudanese case study shows most clearly the difficulties of the poor nations of the world.

India. The complexity of Indian society makes it a favorite subject for analysis. Here are to be found three thousand years of foreign invasions, a recent and enduring colonial legacy, the interaction of many religions that were indigenous, sixteen major languages and more than a hundred dialects, and poverty within a state of 750 million people. These challenges have been met in part. India is one of the most dynamic societies in Asia, modernizing and urbanizing rapidly, expanding its educational system in a combination of public and private ventures with the public sector guided by notable attempts at equity. The failures at some tasks are inevitable: personal freedoms cannot easily be reconciled with government programs intended to redress ancient injustices.

The Indian case study focuses upon how modern standards of equity confront the traditions of caste and the ignominy of women and the lower castes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Successive governments have extended quotas to these disadvantaged persons—collectively more than half of the Indian population. Those qualified do not wish to wait forever for their turn for employment. Although India is officially secular, Indians remain among the most religious peoples in the world, so a constitution or a government that defies certain religious traditions—even by introducing affirmative action for the largest groups of oppressed—is in trouble.

Basques, in Spain. The Basques are an ancient people who have lived “forever” on the Spanish-French border and have colonized several parts of the world. In Spain, their heritage was that of an independent people, with ancient recognition of their traditions, status, and creativity. This autonomy climaxed in the last century. During the Spanish Civil War, however, they were brutalized by the first aerial terrorism, stripped of their ancient rights, deprived of their natural leaders, schooled in the language of their conquerors, and deprived of hope. Clandestine education preserved the germ from which their civilization could be restored when the dictatorship of Franco failed to outlive the Generalissimo.

Basques in Spain now have their own schools, teach much of the curriculum in their own language, employ Basque teachers, dominate the economy in their part of Spain, and have significant political independence. The Basques in Spain have had their brush with cultural genocide, and will not soon forget.

Ulster (Northern Ireland) has been a divided society since the implantation of English and Scottish landowners centuries ago. Religious differences, augmented by other cultural and economic barriers and political preferences have kept the ancient divisions in place.

Twenty years of widely publicized insurrection has been met with a series of educational programs intended to ens...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• I. Introduction: Ideals and Research
• II. Aboriginal Peoples
• III. Long Established Stigmas
• IV. Integration of Recent Immigrants
• V. Conclusion: Schooling and Teacher Education
• Notes on Contributors
• Index