Challenges of Getting an Education in the United States - Essay Example

Sociocultural analysis paper of my family’s education history My family came from Kuwait which is located in the Middle East. With regard to race or ethnicity, we identified ourselves as white on census forms even if we have some black people that are living with us in our society. Despite of this, discrimination did not exist in our society. Our students does not also discriminate each other on the basis of the color of our skin. My family generally got their education through the educational system of Kuwait. Kuwait has a very special education system compared to the educational system in the United States because we segregate our school base on gender. Although we do not practice discrimination just like what United States has experienced, our schools are segregated by gender where each of them has its own facility to cater to the needs of the gender of the student. For instance, male schools are bigger and have soccer fields. Female schools on the other hand are smaller and have particular rooms for dancing classes. This is emphasized in Kuwait educational system because our government recognizes that that physical activity is an important component of our mental and physical health (Fleming, 2006) where its facilities are designed according to the need of a specific gender. Most of the schools in our country were created for Muslims but there were also few schools for Christians. Additionally, there were no schools for students with disabilities because there was not enough money to build them. This has changed in recent years because nowadays, our government has built some schools that caters to students with disability. Moreover, the most spoken language in our schools is Arabic and they did not teach foreign languages because there were no foreign teachers in our country. My family is highly educated. They are proficient in the humanities as well as Middle Eastern history and Islamic studies. Most of their education however were had in the educational system of Kuwait except for few occasions where they have to go abroad for training. Such, this pose a limitation in their cultural perspective as a well as in their capacity to speak to English language well because they did not have the proper training to speak English. They also had few opportunities to practice the language that would make them proficient in speaking it. Social factors that may have positively or negatively influenced my family’s educational history The social factors that may have positively or negatively influenced my family’s educational history is religion and culture. As one will realize, Kuwait is composed largely of Muslims and one can even say that Kuwait is a Muslim country where the teachings of Islam is present in almost all aspect of our society including in our school. My parents and predecessors are educated in the educational system of Kuwait and this follows that they have Islamic education. In general, this is good because we are educated while living according to our religious belief that makes us better person. My family also did not suffer nor experience racial discrimination just like the racial tension between the whites and the blacks that existed in the United States (Silva, nd). Discrimination just did not exist between Muslims in Kuwait but instead live harmoniously regardless of the color of our skin. It is important to stress that unlike in United States where religion is generally shun in the university, the situation is different in Kuwait because religion plays an important part of our education especially among the generations that preceded me. It is considered as one of the tools in building character and also to build a society according to the teaching of the Holy Quran. Being such, the medium of instruction is generally Arabic since the Holy Quran is written in Arabic. It is also equally important to underscore that the education in my home is equivalent to the education that can be had anywhere else that teaches humanities, history, arts, mathematics and other subjects except that the medium of instruction is Arabic. This has however a drawback in the education history of my family. The educational system in Kuwait may be good but since the medium of instruction in Kuwait is purely Arabic, most of my family have difficulty communicating in English even if they are highly educated. They also have difficulty adjusting to other people with different cultural background since they have limited exposure in interacting with people from other countries. This is a big handicap today because we are already living in a globalized environment where people has to interact with other people coming from different background using English as the medium of communication. Being such, the new generation in our family has to adapt to our globalized environment by learning English as well as having the cultural agility to understand and relate to other people from different background and this explains why I am now studying in the United States. The rest of my family members can now understand English but I must admit that they are having difficulty speaking the language because of the lack of practice in speaking the language. Reflection In my observation, people get their education first from the social context that they are familiar and comfortable with. Parents are also closely involved with the education of their children regardless of their cultural background. As Lareau would put it, “childrens education and family life were intertwined, although parents evidently were not involved in the formal aspects of their childrens cognitive development” (Lareau, 1987 pg. 74). My family is no different from this although our history and orientation is not western. The importance that we stress on getting the best education that can be had however is the same. Just like other people who get their education first from the social context that they are familiar and comfortable with, my predecessors got their education from my home country in Kuwait which is the social context they are comfortable with. My great grandparents, grandparents and parents were all involved in the education of their children knowing the importance of education. In our case, there is a slight difference from the other people who pursued their education because our orientation is not western. My family background in education was largely Arabic and Islamic in orientation and while this is good, we also need to transcend beyond our culture to understand and be understood by other people. We realize that we are already living in a globalized environment where different people need to interact with each other. Having said this, we believe that we have to adapt to this new environment and learn English as well as acquire cultural agility to understand and be understood by other people. This is of course in addition to the general education that I will learn from school. In this new globalized environment, it would be very difficult to succeed if one is not capable to adapt to other people who have different background. This may be challenge for us but is also equally rewarding because it widens our educational horizon. So far the journey of getting my education in the United States where I will become proficient in English as well as becoming culturally agile is rewarding. Of course there are always challenges being far from my home and country but when I consider the benefit of getting my education here, I am able to overcome the challenges as it motivates me to continue my study. References Eduardo Bonilla – Silva (nd). Racism without Racists Annette Laurau (1987). SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS: THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL CAPITAL. Sociology of Education, (60),2: pp. 73-85 Paula M. Fleming (2000). Three Decades of Educational Progress (and Continuing Barriers) for Women and Girls, Equity & Excellence in Education, 33:1, 74-79, DOI: 10.1080/1066568000330111 Read More