1. Are there key differences between “multicultural education” and what Spencer describes as “anti-racist education” (Spencer 1998)? Relate your answer to key relevant concepts and practices in Singapore.
The goal of multicultural education in Singapore is to promote a shared identity or national identity through the education system and is deemed more important than all other form of group affiliation like race or religion. This is the fundamental difference of multi-cultural and anti-racism education. The emphasis on multicultural education comes with the belief that the product of multicultural education; strong national identity, can overcome any problems. However, with changing times and the dynamic of society altered by rapid globalization, the sense of national identity is diluting and thus, as seen with the recent spates of racial issues, we ought to re-examine our emphasis on multi-cultural education and the neglecting of anti-racist education.
The next key difference is that multicultural education sought to “increase awareness”(Spencer, 1998) through Multicultural programs like school celebrations of various culture group festivals and racial harmony day. However, the focus on the 3Fs (Food, Fashion and Festival)(Rahil, 2012) is said to be the “tourist curriculum.”(Spencer, 1998) and the irony that by being more aware of “tolerance and acceptance” students also become more unaware of social injustices and problems. The lack of cognitive rigor in these programs disregards reality and the actual problems faced. Anti-racist education however, questions and probes into the sensitive area of power-relations and inequalities. Anti-racism confronts these problems through meaningful discussions, questioning and analysis. This difference is crucial as the lack of cognitive rigour meant that in the long term, there might be a risk of these issues being trivialized and as their significance are reduced to merely Food, Fashion and Festival....