Are Australian schools a reflection of a Multicultural Australia?

Andrew Stevenson’s ‘The white bread playground: top private schools shun ethnic diversity’ provides recent statistics on the level of multiculturalism in some of Sydney’s top private schools. He notes that in stark contrast to the elite private schools, public selective high schools are dominated by children of recent migrants where at some “ less than 10 per cent of students have a parent who speaks a language other than English”. What does this reveal about the nature of multiculturalism in schools?

Christina Ho’s ‘Respecting the presence of others’ brings forth the concept of ‘everyday multiculturalism’ and provides an overview of what multiculturalism looks like in practice in a contemporary Australia. It offers some suggestions for addressing the most urgent problems confronting our diverse society and is a great starting point for exploring the extent to which Australian schools reflect the reality of the ‘everyday multiculturalism’ that is currently instilled in most social spheres. She interestingly explores the extent to which schools, both private and public, in different geographical locations, possess significantly different levels of cultural and ethnic diversity. “An examination of the school sector in Sydney shows that everyday multiculturalism is unevenly distributed” (Ho, 2011). Ho (2011) believes that “this cultural polarisation should be of concern to anyone interested in building social spaces or micropublics that encourage cross-cultural exchange”.

My own school experience was one which had this element of everyday multiculturalism instilled; school was a place where I gained an understanding of the concept of multiculturalism and where it was a reality, not just something we were told existed. But that isn’t the case everywhere. Through a study of Christina Ho’s work, it occurred to me that the reproduction of a society which understands and values multiculturalism is not going to be a process which occurs in all schools, with even the top schools displaying little signs of ethnic diversity.

“Dr Paul Burgis, the principal of PLC Sydney, where 34 per cent of students are from other cultural backgrounds, said there was a huge level of exposure to, and acceptance of, other cultures at the school”. When asked about the questioning of one’s ethnicity he said “At a school like PLC its almost an invisible question”. The significance of one’s cultural background has clearly seen some decline in schools; within a school that is a melting pot of cultures, the reality is that to a great extent, no one really cares about your ethnic background.

Multiculturalism has been accepted as the road to take, which I believe is largely a choice that has been made through the cultural diversity that students in multicultural schools are exposed to. The reproduction of a multicultural society is not a process which is occurring in all Australian schools, however the nature of those which are undergoing that process is a clear indication of the success of multiculturalism within schools and the understanding students gain of the notion of ‘everyday multiculturalism’ which they will inevitably be exposed to as members of Australian society.

The next question to ask is, how can students who come from non-culturally diverse schools, have that same access to a multicultural Australia? Is the answer to be found through the curriculum?

Andrew Stevenson. (2013). The white bread playground: top private schools shun ethnic diversity. Retrieved on October 2013
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-white-bread-playground-top-private-schools-shun-ethnic-diversity-20120611-20663.html

Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the Presence of Others: School Micropublics and Everyday Multiculturalism. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 32(6), 603-619.