Escaping the Bubble

All of us exist in bubbles of one kind or another. Every culture and subculture creates its own bubble, wherein members are aware that other cultures and experiences exist, yet not interact with or view them in their full complexity. This helps in group cohesion, yet can easily morph into ethno-centrism, elitism, close-mindedness, or xenophobia.
My own high school experience was one of bubbles within bubbles, so thickly layered that one could barely discern the sunlight from the outside world. First, my high school was private, a bubble that contained just the upper-middle class families who could afford it. It was overwhelmingly, blindingly white, a bubble that fostered ignorance and intolerance of minority cultures. It was also Christian, yet another bubble. Other faiths and belief systems from throughout the world and throughout history were not explored in any depth whatsoever. And within the bubble of Christianity, it was of a certain Protestant denomination-the Church of Christ. Layer upon layer upon layer. None of us had ever heard of multiculturalism. Though I occasionally railed against the stultifying atmosphere, I didn't do too much to upset the boat.
That cultures and customs aside from "WASP" exist and are worth of consideration now seems obvious. America's identity is shifting, becoming steadily more diverse. We can ignore this fact, and teach our kids history and knowledge from a White Man's perspective. Or we can actually help them to acknowledge, care about, and engage the outside world. We can break down the bubbles one by one.
I have conflicting feelings about E.D. Hirsch. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually received a copy of Cultural Literacy in the 6th grade, as a prize for finishing second in the regional spelling bee (one word from Washington). Its subtitle now rankles me: What every American needs to know. As decided by whom? There is a least a risk of neglecting minority perspectives here, if not outright cultural imperialism. However, E.D. Hirsch makes his own case well, with some enlightening insights. His Core Knowledge program makes some strides toward multiculturalism (certainly more than did my high school), but its focus is very much on cultural assimilation. If you are to be fully American, fully literate, fully cultured, these are our foundational concepts.
There is value in this, as much as I fear it. Judging by the topics and sequences on Hirsch's Core Knowledge website (http://coreknowledge.org/CK/index.htm), the Foundation's curriculum is far more coherent and rigorous than most public schools. It provides specifics, rather than the bloodless vagaries and abstractions of many of Tennessee's standards (I'm thinking of History standards here). A common attack on Hirsch is that his program is too fact-dependent, based on rote memorization. There are certainly facts here that he suggests get covered, but he does not get into recommended delivery methods.
This provokes difficult questions: Does a Japanese immigrant family place the same importance on Western literature and philosophy that most Americans do? Should new Americans be pressured to assimilate, and to what degree? This is a debate at the heart of immigration policy, and could be discussed ad infinitum. For me, there is no honest way to avoid multicultural education (see earlier blog post). Can we reach all cultures and preserve an essentially 'American' culture as well? This remains to be seen.