How society and education shape British multicultural life today

Multi Brit

Education, Society, and British Life

The modern world is exponentially smaller, in terms of the ease of transportation and the transfer of information, than it ever has been in the past. Technologies like the Internet and satellite-based communications mean that most points in the human-occupied world can be accessed almost instantaneously from anywhere else in the world, leading to a much greater exposure of all the world's citizens to other cultures, values, and belief systems. In addition, increased travel has been accommodated by airplanes and increasingly efficient rail service, and the spread of trade to encompass and interconnect the entire globe has spurred immigration on an international level, making disparate cultures not only aware of each other but actually making next-door-neighbors out of them. In the British educational system and British society in general, this multiculturalism has had a major effect on British life.

There are those that perceive, perhaps with some justification, distinctly negative effects of the increased diversity in educational settings. Students that are considered "British" by the traditional definition -- i.e. white, primarily Anglo-Saxon descended individuals -- might feel attacked due to the diminished attention and importance that is attached to their own culture, which will necessarily occur as other cultures are also examined and accommodated in the curriculum. This can be taken even further, and has been by some extremists, with the claim that the increasing multicultural emphasis in Britain is tantamount to an attack on the nation of Great Britain itself, and an insidious attempt to degrade British culture. This has made British life somewhat more tense in some aspects.

There are also many positive aspects of the multiculturalism that is recognized and receiving emphasis in British schools, however. By increasing the degree to which "non-British" cultures are accommodated, respected, and studied in British schools, British society can ensure that all students receive the same level of education. Currently, many minority students and families have felt uncomfortable attending British schools due to well-founded fears that their own values would not be upheld, and that they might fall victim to prejudiced and racist behavior, and for this reason many parents have sent their children to private elementary schools focused on their particular minority culture or religion (Berliner 2004). Making all students feel respected and comfortable in British schools ensures that all students receive the same education, and it also begins exposure to a diverse society that needs to work together -- which is how the adult world works -- very early on.

In British society at large, growing multiculturalism also has a host of benefits simply in the variety of different experiences that are available to every British citizen. A simple walk down any High Street demonstrates this quality -- there are no longer simply the standard "British" shops, but signage can be seen in Arabic, Polish, Chinese, and any number of other cultures, and the products, tastes, and sounds of these countries are all available for purchase or even just perusal in these shops. Regardless of how one feels about one's own culture, the ability to appreciate this diversity of experiences without needing to travel to a foreign country is something that has truly only happened in the modern world on this scale.

There are also, of course, numerous restaurants that ca be visited to enjoy cuisine from practically any corner of the globe. This is even more the case in Britain's major metropolitan areas, where communities of immigrants and their descendants are larger and support a greater diversity and number of restaurants, shops, and all manner of multicultural experiences. Cultural centers focusing on specific neighborhoods and cultures also exist, both as places for people of these cultures to congregate and form community bonds, and also as a way of welcoming others into an understanding and respect of these many cultures that now make up British society. Rather than seeing multiculturalism as a replacement of "British be recognized that British culture has long been a conglomerate culture, and while the white Anglo-Saxon and Protestant culture might be dominant, it is still only a part of the patchwork of British culture today (Phillips 2004).