Which Culture Should We Teach? Which Version of History is Correct? :: Teaching Education Philosophy

The educational process should not just be a process aimed at relaying information to students. Students have a rare opportunity to experience their youth and grow intellectually. College provides a chance for young people to experience life in a loose setting where they can grow as individuals and form their own opinions about life. When developing a school curriculum, members of college boards need to remember how vulnerable this time is in a student's life. The question of, whether colleges should emphasize a unified view of culture and the things that we have in common or whether they should emphasize people's differences is a complicated one. When first looking at this question many of people would be adamant about the fact that colleges have a certain responsibility to teach about different cultures, and I agree with that, but only to a certain extent. I think always wanting to emphasize peoples differences could be a problem. In today's multi-cultural world it is important to know about ones own culture and the cultures of others, but we can't forget to teach about our own culture. The culture we share as a whole, the American culture. Many people forget about the rich culture we have in America. A lot of the time people get wrapped up in looking at the differences between us and forget to look at all the similarities. Another problem that can arise when different cultures refuse to integrate is it thickens the walls between us. Everyone is always talking about trying to tear down these invisible walls between racial groups and religious groups, but then these same people, high ranking government and school officials are constantly pounding into peoples heads how different we are, and in some cases why some group should be angry at some other racial group. All this is doing is causing trouble and putting resentment into peoples heads, which just adds to the barriers between us. When a student graduates from high school he is faced with a decision about what he is going to with the rest of his life. One option that is open to these students is college. In college a student is given a chance to learn about a subject of his choice. While getting this education the student is surrounded by a rich wealth of knowledge and ideas that can influence the way he looks at life. High School a vulnerable time in many of these students' lives.