In this article, Gorski argues that using terms like ‘culture’, ‘cultural competence’ or ‘cultural proficiency’ shifts the central focus from the deep rooted inequity in educational structures and systems of the world at large to appreciating ‘cultural’ diversity, which usually tends to cause more harm than good. Per some definitions of culture, one can argue that it is an important aspect of a person’s identity that should be celebrated, however, overemphasizing culture distracts people from the more serious issue of inequity and creates fertile ground for essentialism- the assumption that a group of people possess a single nature and similar attributes essential to their identity. This causes teachers to pay sole attention to a single dimension of a student’s identity rather than appreciating the student as a whole. In these contexts, culture is also often used as an umbrella term for race, socio-economic status and other similarly important parts of a person’s identity. These terms create the illusion that the problem of inequity is being tackled when in actual fact, they are a hindrance to solving problems of inequity.
He argues that the focus of this programming should be geared towards actually tackling issues of inequity such as racism, heterosexism, homophobia, islamophobia and other forms of discrimination that cause inequity. It is important to be cognisant of the power distances in the world that continue to be enforced by the structure of the educational system and continue to oppress students on the basis of other dimensions of their identities. It is imperative that we focus on recognizing, responding to and, redressing inequity and sustaining equity efforts. We can strive to use terms that remind us of our central focus such as ‘equity literacy’. This could be a step in the right direction towards eliminating the distractions that come with the misuse of and overemphasis on culture.
Now that I’m more aware of this, I will make more of an effort to keep my focus central. Although cultural diversity should still be celebrated, I will try my best to identify inequity in the systems governing the schools I end up working with and I will incorporate the 3Rs Gorski suggested in his article(Recognizing, responding and redressing) in my day to day activities.
