Multiculturalism and Art

For art to be valued, it is essential to understand what art is and how can
art play an important role in developing good contact and close
relationship between people of different cultures. Chalmers7 describes art
as a “powerful, pervasive force that helps to shape our attitudes, beliefs,
values and behaviors.” Thus, art is not just an ordinary subject. The
teaching of art in schools or in higher learning institutions, in any part of
the world, is varied from one place to another.
Teaching art in Malaysian schools, for example, requires teachers to have
a good foundation of understanding different cultural background of
students, so that pedagogically, teachers can effectively employ different
approaches to deliver art. Visiting traditional or ethnic houses could be
one of the approaches, which can bring children in school to actively
interact with artifacts and handicrafts.
Clarke8 added that the processes of art and education can be seen as
the discovery, interpretation and description of culture and cultures;
processes by which belief of communication and community gain values
and substance through the expression of shared convention of meaning.
The implementation of it, however, depended mostly on education
system and curriculum, as well as educational policy, which usually
developed according to the national needs