Multicultural Education: The Cambodian Culture

Teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse environmentsMónica P. CotoTexas Woman’s University

Cambodia Cambodia is located in

Southeast Asia. The capital city is Phnom Penh. Cambodians are known as the

Khmer people Khmer is also the name of the

most commonly spoken language.

Although Cambodia and Vietnam are neighbors, Khmer and Vietnamese are untransferable.

The climate Cambodia’s climate is

warm and humid all year round allowing for abundant flora and fauna.

The climate depends on the monsoon winds that create a rainy season (May to October) and dry season (October to April).

The government Cambodia got its

independence from France on November 9, 1953.

The current government is considered a constitutional monarchy ruled by a King and a Prime Minister.

In reality, the Prime Minister – Hun Sen – has held a totalitarian communist power for almost 30 years.

Food Rice is the base for almost all

of the dishes Cambodians eat. Noodles, fish, seafood, and pork are also very popular.

They use fresh herbs, like cilantro, basil, sprouts, lemon grass, etc. to top some dishes like soups.

It is also common the use of spices such as hot peppers and curry

Fashion Although in the modern

days most Cambodians dress like most people around the world, the traditional attires are associated with religion and the unique syncretism of indigenous Buddhism and Hinduism.

Folklore The most representative folklore

of Cambodia is its dances. The Apsara dance is today a

keynote in touristic sites. The dance was exclusively to

entertain royalty. It wasn’t introduced to outsiders until the 1960s.

Apsara is inspired by the carvings on the Angkor Wat Temple.

Festivals The most important festivity

is the Khmer New Year in April. People dance, play games, and eat many traditional foods.

Other festivities include the Chinese New Year (February) and Christmas (December).

Cambodia is adopting more and more traditions and celebrations of the United States because of the amount of Cambodians living here.

Famous people Because of the many years of war,

revolution, and totalitarian governments, the most famous figures are politicians.

King Norodom Sihamoni

Prime Minister Hun Sen

Deep culture Cambodia survived a convulsive 20th century. The most terrible event in the country’s

history was the Khmer Rouge communist regime from 1975 to 1979.

3 million people were assassinated including 90% of teachers and intellectuals

The education system was severely damaged The current government has communist

principles and institutionalized corruption keep the country from recovery.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom Due to the high illiteracy rate in Cambodia, a

teacher should contact the family as soon as possible to find out how much academic support the student will be getting from the parents. If parents have a low literacy level, the teacher should help them generate other strategies of home support (allowing time and place to do homework, reinforcing reading at home, etc.) and parental involvement with the student’s learning process.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom Since Cambodia was a colony of France and

French was part of the public school curriculum, the highly educated population is most likely fluent to French. This is important because a teacher of a Cambodian newcomer (also valid for Vietnamese) may benefit from the knowledge of some cognates between English and French, because the likelihood of cognates between English and Khmer is very remote.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom Most Cambodians are Buddhists, and since

Buddhism has been decreed “the religion of the country” by the government, students could expect to receive lessons about religion at school because they do in Cambodia. As teachers of diversity, we need to be ready to explain the separation between school (state) and religion in the United States.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom Because of the successive totalitarian regimes

that have ruled the country, a Cambodian student may have difficulties understanding concepts of freedom, democracy, honesty, and the limited powers of our president. A teacher would have to be especially careful when these topics are brought up in Social Studies or any other subject. It would be necessary to create a base of knowledge to scaffold understanding. This scaffold would also benefit any other ELL coming from a country with a totalitarian government (Cubans, Chinese, North Koreans, etc.)

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom One of the consequences of corrupt governments is

the idea that some things can be obtained illegally without being judged as morally incorrect by society (like bribing teachers). It could be possible then that newcomers Cambodian parents offer to bribe a teacher to get help on important tests like STAAR, SAT, u other situation that will impact the student’s record. A teacher of diversity should be ready to explain the rules and policies of the American school system before jumping to conclusions and morally judging the parents or student’s actions.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom Cambodian students will always benefit from having books

that represent them in the classroom. Some of these books are: Half Spoon of Rice: A Survival Story of the Cambodian

Genocide by Icy Smith The Clay Marble by Mingfong Ho Cambodia by Rob Alcraft Welcome to Cambodia by Dora Yip Children of the River by Linda Crew Silent Lotus by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux Roots and Wings by Many Ly

These books should be previously reviewed by the teacher in terms of their appropriateness to grade level because they might contained vivid imagery of the hardship the Cambodians have endure.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom

Cambodian families could highly benefit from a list of resources available at the community level. For example classes offered at the recreation center, parks, medical services, social services, sports leagues, Scouts, adult education opportunities, etc.

Implications of the Cambodian culture in a multicultural classroom

It is also urgent to open spaces of reflection so the school staff can get familiar with the cultures represented in the student body, not just at the surface level but the deep culture. This could be done from in-depth, whole-day workshops to 30-minute synopsis of a culture, one at the time in the regular scheduled meetings.

Final thoughts Teachers and schools moving to multicultural

education need to reflect on the strategies that will take them to a more equitable and egalitarian educative practice. Facing diversity with “patch on” activities such as bulletin boards and cultural festivals will not help the stakeholders to truly get to know each other and to create a common identity.

Getting to know the deep culture of our students is truly the only opportunity to serve their individualities and, like Nieto & Bode (2012) recommended, accommodate to their needs to promote “the democratic purposes of schooling.”

References Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia. (n.d.). Cambodia,

Kingdom of Wonder. Retrieved from http://www.tourismcambodia.org/contents/about_cambodia/#comp

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2012). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

NGO Education Partnership. (n.d.) NGO Education Partnership. Retrieved from http://www.nepcambodia.org/

Ngor, Sinara. (2014) Personal communication.