In my children’s literature class, I recently had the chance to watch the video titled “The Danger of a Single Story,” where Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author, lamented the idea of using only one topic to label people and places, such as Africa.

During the discussion that followed, it became apparent that there is a lack of multiculturalism in the classroom, especially for education majors.

I am not an education major, nor am I working for teacher’s certification. So when the time came for this discussion, I was surprised that more classes do not incorporate a wider variety of texts to include those who may not be white with blue eyes.

This is not to say the classes presented at Eastern are not well-taught, but it would benefit students to become immersed in a world outside of their own. Especially when it comes to teaching.

Teachers are molders for the future, and if they are taught through a curriculum that consists of text only from America or Britain, then they miss out on the rest of the world, which is just as fantastic.

The world is getting smaller by the day. Where it used to take weeks, or months even, to send a letter across the globe, the same feat can now be accomplished by clicking a few keys and a mouse.

With education majors, the thought that every single person in their class will be like the characters in the standard literature books is laughable.

America used to be called the melting pot of the world, but now it is the whole world that is the melting pot.

If the teachers of tomorrow are not taught today about the values of multiculturalism, then the students they teach will also be in the dark. Or even worse, some students may feel isolated and stereotyped by the issues that are being presented.

Adichie, in her video, discussed how some people still view Africa as a country, and not a continent. How people from Africa are stereotyped as being unable to read or write, or even speak English — despite the fact that English is the standard language in Nigeria.

If future teachers are instructed to incorporate different cultures within their lessons, students will begin to shed some of the stereotypes that seem to have stuck through the ages.

We are more connected now than we ever have been, and in any given class there could be a multitude of cultures represented. To ignore the cultures of some in favor of the traditional route is wrong.

This was at the root of what Adichie was saying. If we only listen to one story, one idea of what a person or culture may be, we are in danger of ignoring what beautiful truths they might hold.

Bob Galuski is junior English major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].