Parvin Peivandi
IB reflection paper, Sep 11th,2014
As an international student, I feel more connected to the idea of the international mindedness as one of the learning objectives in IB education. Due to the multicultural nature of the schools in Canada,I think BC’s schools should have more international approach to education . As Harper et.al state in their reading:Beyond food, festivals and flags, multicultural education in Canada is just scratching the surface of some cultures and are summarized in displaying some masks, art forms or food festivals.
As we know every student needs a sense of affirmation that will mirror back from the other individuals in the public sphere. This sense of affirmation brings a self esteem and determination with itself which is necessary in the student’s social emotional learning. This is the reason that why there is so much emphasize in IB education on international mindedness and developing care and respect toward others who are part of our educational cycle.
As we know Exclusion of some students with different cultures and backgrounds from the activities or curriculum, make the educational system imbalanced and in favor of a specific group. If the social justice is not observed at schools, the educational goals remain unsatisfied as a whole. But how far we can go in changing the curriculum? How much opportunity are we given by the educational leaders in Canada?