E Pluribus Unum?
1995-05-01 00:00:00
UP FRONT The United States, from its found- construct meaning and thereby cre- States. A nation that is truly demcc- ing days, has boasted of its diversity ate an empowering environment. ratic must provide equal oppor- As this country‘s population tunity for all citizens. Life in a This country proudly has offered safe hart>our to other nations’ “bred, becomes increasingly diverse, culturally plmhstic society presents pooq homeless, and tempest-tossed.” America faces a pat challenge: all people-be they adult learners, Its very motto, epZudm unum- How does it maintain and embody workers, parents, citizenswith in its institutions the democratic both challenges and opportunities one out of many implies an expx- tation that all its citizens, regardless principles around which the coun- and may require new problem-solv- of cultural identity, will become try was created and at the same ing, cooperative, and intepxsonal allow its citizens to maintain their assimilated into the mainstream or skills. And it pmnts adult educa- dominant (Wh~te, Anglo-Saxon, cultural identities? Can it restruc- tors with new programming pi- bilities that will carry us well into Protestant) culture of the founding ture its institutions to be inclusive fathers. But this eighteenthcentury of all citizens, not just those from the twenty-first century. A expectation has met with wistance the dominant culture? And just -&y Mary Ann cmley in American society in the last what is the “dominant” culture of GZmtEditor decade of the twentieth century. the United States of the 1990s and GED Admin&m Asshulation means giving up beyond? Ron Crouch’s article MarylandStateDtpati9nd one’s identfy and uniqueness and speaks to the “new demographic OfEduCation becoming absohed by the domi- ballgame,” one that projects a pop- nant culture. Because the unspoken ulation made up of a “majority of message in enforced assimilation is minorities.” (An aside he-won’t that the minority culture is some- we need to find a word other than how “less than” the dominant cul- “minorities” to refer to groups of ture, many citizens of color and citizens who will comprise more many speakers of languages other than half the country‘s popula- than Enghh often feel alienated tion?) Who will define the rules of and forgotten; they are isolated this new ballgame? from mainstream society by their Weaver and Berk discuss some differences. To validate his or her of the cultural and communication sense of “self,” the individual needs conflicts that can and do arise in to feel incl~ded-in schools, in the classroom, and they suggest places of business, in society. strategies that teachers can employ The past two decades have wit- to more ef€ectively meet the needs nd the birth of multicultural of all students. Howe and Lisi out- education in US. schools and of line steps in an action plan for cre- diversity training in the workplace. ating a multicultural cumculum, The assumption of multicultural and Sheckley and Keeton report education is that we can create their fmdingi on strategies that equal opportunities for all students increase the sum of adults from (and workers) by ensuring that the diverse populations in college pro- total school (or work) environment grams. Finally, Ewert, Rice, and deck the diversity of its citizens. Iauderdale discuss the effects of cultural diversity on organizational This persptive of culturalplural- l;mz promotes a society in which development and offer suggestions ethnic and cultural groups remain for training programs. intact, with their idiosyncratic ways Our agenda for the future is clear creating schools and business of knowing and acting respected by institutions that are multicultural othen. Pluralist teachers work in concert with their students to is a matter of survival for the United 18 A Adult Learning
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UP FRONT The United States, from its found- construct meaning and thereby cre- States. A nation that is truly demcc- ing days, has boasted of its diversity ate an empowering environment. ratic must provide equal oppor- As this country‘s population tunity for all citizens. Life in a This country proudly has offered safe hart>our to other nations’ “bred, becomes increasingly diverse, culturally plmhstic society presents pooq homeless, and tempest-tossed.” America faces a pat challenge: all people-be they adult learners, Its very motto, epZudm unum- How does it maintain and embody workers, parents, citizenswith in its institutions the democratic both challenges and opportunities one out of many implies an expx- tation that all its citizens, regardless principles around which the coun- and may require new problem-solv- of cultural identity, will become try was created and at the same ing, cooperative, and intepxsonal allow its citizens to maintain their assimilated into the mainstream or skills. And it pmnts adult educa- dominant (Wh~te, Anglo-Saxon, cultural identities? Can it restruc- tors with new programming pi- bilities that will carry us well into Protestant) culture of the founding ture its institutions to be inclusive fathers. But this eighteenthcentury of all citizens, not just those from the twenty-first century. A expectation has met with wistance the dominant culture? And just -&y Mary Ann cmley in American society in the last what is the “dominant” culture of GZmtEditor decade of the twentieth century. the United States of the 1990s and GED Admin&m Asshulation means giving up beyond? Ron Crouch’s article MarylandStateDtpati9nd one’s identfy and uniqueness and speaks to the “new demographic OfEduCation becoming absohed by the domi- ballgame,” one that projects a pop- nant culture. Because the unspoken ulation made up of a “majority of message in enforced assimilation is minorities.” (An aside he-won’t that the minority culture is some- we need to find a word other than how “less than” the dominant cul- “minorities” to refer to groups of ture, many citizens of color and citizens who will comprise more many speakers of languages other than half the country‘s popula- than Enghh often feel alienated tion?) Who will define the rules of and forgotten; they are isolated this new ballgame? from mainstream society by their Weaver and Berk discuss some differences. To validate his or her of the cultural and communication sense of “self,” the individual needs conflicts that can and do arise in to feel incl~ded-in schools, in the classroom, and they suggest places of business, in society. strategies that teachers can employ The past two decades have wit- to more ef€ectively meet the needs nd the birth of multicultural of all students. Howe and Lisi out- education in US. schools and of line steps in an action plan for cre- diversity training in the workplace. ating a multicultural cumculum, The assumption of multicultural and Sheckley and Keeton report education is that we can create their fmdingi on strategies that equal opportunities for all students increase the sum of adults from (and workers) by ensuring that the diverse populations in college pro- total school (or work) environment grams. Finally, Ewert, Rice, and deck the diversity of its citizens. Iauderdale discuss the effects of cultural diversity on organizational This persptive of culturalplural- l;mz promotes a society in which development and offer suggestions ethnic and cultural groups remain for training programs. intact, with their idiosyncratic ways Our agenda for the future is clear creating schools and business of knowing and acting respected by institutions that are multicultural othen. Pluralist teachers work in concert with their students to is a matter of survival for the United 18 A Adult Learning
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