A common myth is that people sharing the same language, country or geographic identities have the same culture. This is far from the truth. For example, most natives of Latin America speak the same language but they have different cultures -- Cubans, Argentineans and Mexicans speak a common language, but they follow cultural ideologies that are vastly different. Indonesia has an immense diversity in languages and cultures; the country features hundreds of distinct languages and cultures. Malaysia poses a similar example with its population comprising people from different cultures, including the native Malays, East Indians and Chinese.
It's a common belief that racial and cultural factors alone define multicultural education. But other factors such as gender and economic status define it as well. For example, students belonging to different cultures but sharing common factors such as gay parents or lower economic status may identify well with each other more than with people from their own culture with conventional family and high-income conditions.
Instruction methods in multicultural education include those that teach students about a culture in a specific month or season. An example is Black History Month, during which teachers teach students about famous personalities of African origin in American history. This type of approach is narrower, as it does not give a comprehensive and real picture of the culture to students. Students learn about the surface aspects of the culture such as the way of dressing, foods and festivals of the people. The everyday life of people, which should form the crux of learning the culture, is ignored. This approach belittles the importance of the culture by constricting study to just the surface.
Another myth governing the multicultural study is that it is irrelevant to societies where only one or two cultures, such as the white and black in America, prevail. But American society is expanding in its multiculturalism. For example, Asian and Mexican populations are prevalent in American communities. With increase in pluralism, it becomes more important to be knowledgeable of cultures that co-exist.