EDEC 248 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Multiculturalism, Canada, Quebec
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
EDEC 248
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
-Sociologically, being part of the ‘minority’ can be defined as: being powerless. Minority means
less, majority means more. Women are more inferior in most societies but women are called a
minority because they have less power. Why do they have less power? we earn less for the
same jobs as men, we have less say in decision making and less opportunities for employment
(known to be weak, subordinate). Women are less able to make policy decisions and other
types of decisions and to earn the same amount of money as men.
-Why we want to redefine (to give it another meaning) multiculturalism
-Just society where there is social justice: society treats every individual fairly, on an equal basis
(everyone can reach their full potential, have an equal opportunity in life)
-Parliamentary assumed multiculturalism meant that we want to give an equal opportunity to
everybody
-Multiculturalism-static approach, frozen in time. Without multiculturalism, it might invoke
prejudices, discrimination/hatred and lack of opportunity
-Multiculturalism should mean equal opportunity-people are born different (even twins) although
in the eyes of the law we are all equal in terms of rights (we all have the same rights)
-Universal declaration of rights-all people are born equal in terms of rights
-Multiculturalism: While we are all different in many ways, those differences should not matter. It
doesn’t mean one person is more intelligent (if you think so, it’s because you are giving it
meaning ex. white people are smarter than blacks).
-People should recognize differences but should not treat people on a different basis based on
those differences. Why? because difference means not the same but does not mean deficiency.
However, many people think it means deficiency, if you're different you're deficient - less than
someone else. People will have different experiences based on time, surroundings, country.. but
does not mean one person is better but the experiences are not the same.
-Teachers should see the difference in their students, respect/accept their differences and
dignify/honour them
-Multiculturalism = the right to be different! also means we want to learn about different people
and different things. Why? because the classroom is not only made up of one group of people
but children from many counties/religions of the world. We want to have those experiences
incorporated into the curriculum. It’s not only the information and knowledge of one culture or
history, it should be many histories and cultures. Ethics and religious culture program recently
created to learn other cultures and religious practices beyond your own. Need to know where
other people come from.
-Multiculturalism deals with everything (differences can be based on language, religion, class,
sexual preference, gender, skin colour, race) because of these differences multiculturalism is
not a subject. It should be something that is spoken about in every subject.
-Identity is formed relationally = how we talk to each other (it will give you an idea if who you
are) you will either have a positive or negative concept of self (important for performance,
knowledge and what you will do in the future).
-Students are different from one another. From whom? you are comparing the minority group
with the majority group that has certain characteristics that you may not obtain, so you are
different. Dominant group in Quebec: white, french, male (if you're not one of those, you're
different).
-The term the other: another way to say different or minority. When you other someone you
make them feel different in a negative way.
-Society tells you how to construct difference - male vs female expectations from birth (pink and
blue)
-Identity-how you perceive yourself. Based on several elements: the race, gender of the child
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
-People don’’t have a single identity. People have multiple identities so ex. you can be a
quebecois and a Canadian.
-Children are not born equal: parents level of education, social class, their sexual identification
and preference, their gender, their position in society.. Some children have the privilege of
growing up in a household where the parents are educated, called cultural capital (capital is
something that you have in store, an asset). Cultural capital is important in schools (gives you a
privilege: something that you have that is useful that others don’t). Social capital = your social
network (your parents friends..). Parents send their children to private school for social capital.
-Culture and social capital give you privilege and this privilege is important in school because it
helps you do better, and it helps you acquire knowledge.
-Linguistic capital or language codes: certain facility with language.
-How do we obtain knowledge: through experiences, learning, from knowledgable people, the
internet, from reading…
-Knowledge is what you construct, it’s never given to you (unlike information). Knowledge =
power which means if you don’t know, you’re in trouble especially in this world. Empowerment
means you develop the power through knowledge. Nobody else can empower you. We can
create the conditions that empower you but empowerment can never be given to you, you must
construct it yourself. Knowledge is changing at a tremendous rate. Not a sole person can give
you knowledge.
-As humans we process things differently and retain certain things (and do not retain others)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Sociologically, being part of the minority" can be de ned as: being powerless. Women are more inferior in most societies but women are called a minority because they have less power. Why do they have less power? we earn less for the same jobs as men, we have less say in decision making and less opportunities for employment (known to be weak, subordinate). Women are less able to make policy decisions and other types of decisions and to earn the same amount of money as men. Why we want to rede ne (to give it another meaning) multiculturalism. Just society where there is social justice: society treats every individual fairly, on an equal basis (everyone can reach their full potential, have an equal opportunity in life) Parliamentary assumed multiculturalism meant that we want to give an equal opportunity to everybody. Without multiculturalism, it might invoke prejudices, discrimination/hatred and lack of opportunity.
