Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

¶ … Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

If one examines any social setting in the world today, they will find that there is an obvious presence of more than a few heterogeneous groups, whether it is a workplace, an it corporation, or a classroom. Globalization has made its way into people's lives and its here to stay. In such a situation, it is hard to find a completely standardized group, in any surroundings, based on the source of their nation or the like. Since this change, it is necessary to incorporate these diverse groups into one standardized group becomes very important for the even flow of any association which is why intercultural communication becomes so important (Borkar, 2010).

Cultural diversity in the classroom is very significant to have, for the reason that it opens the minds of students to a dissimilar understanding. They learn about dissimilar cultures, its diverse customs and practices, the way of life of the people belonging to that culture and the likes. In the course, it leads to a lot of knowledge, and that is where endorsing cultural diversity in the classroom comes into play (Borkar, 2010).

Explanation of the Problem

Bias based on gender, race, disability, or social class creates serious obstacles to the health development of all young children and this is why cultural diversity must be developed (Teaching Young Children to Resist Bias, 1999). The concept of cultural diversity can be defined in regards to several levels. It relates to macro issues such as pattern of a country's expansion, as much as it relates to meso problems or to micro problems such as local neighborhoods growth. All three of these levels are interwoven. Cultures are always changing. Some get better, while others stop working. Cultural diversity proposes to offer tools that can be practical to whole cultures or specific neighborhoods (Barbanti, 2004).

The vibrant combination of cultural, racial, linguistic and empirical plurality has thoughtful insinuations for mounting instructional programs at all stages of education that react affirmatively and beneficially to cultural diversity. One of the maximum problems for teachers in this age is how to alter the program to meet student requirements in association to culture. As a teacher trying to promote a culturally diverse classroom I would advance my cultural compassion, form a lesson plan that it is culturally receptive to my learners, and utilize supportive, student focused education. These things, along with a lot of others, are significant for creating unequivocal associations amid multicultural learning and topic matter and skill founded programs of study. Improving cultural compassion is the first stride to helping students from diverse cultures within the classroom. Cultural compassion necessitates that teachers understand their learners' behaviors inside the cultural circumstance of the learner. Understanding the degrees and traditions of a culture in addition to the relics of that culture is the key to mounting cultural compassion. This exact information helps when modifying curriculum in classrooms (Merlino, 2011).

Action Plan

With the mounting cultural diversity around the world, the K-12 classroom has become a vital introduction point for accepting cultural distinctions. Learning about cultural dissimilarities starts with the teacher. A number of teachers are prepared to make courageous alterations in their class design, which will permit all students to feel integrated in the class conversation. For others, an alteration will be desirable to reconsider education methods in order to include a wider outlook of the world. The teacher must offer occurrences that are culturally precise within and external of the classroom. As an alternative to taking the customary visits to museums, each visit becomes a cultural examination all through the year. It is thought that the class could go to see the neighborhoods where Chinese, Russian and African people live and they could converse with the neighborhood people. The learners are probable to find dissimilarities and resemblances within their individual culture. Another teacher could ask a guest speaker to aid an art class to reconstruct some of their culture's art (Jones, n.d.).

Research done by many scholars such as Neugebauer (1992) has shown that children become aware of gender, race, ethnicity, and disabilities at an early age. They also begin to soak up both the affirmative outlooks and pessimistic prejudices joined to these facets of individuality by family members and other important adults in their lives during their school years. In order to promote healthy self-esteem, children must be taught how to intermingle reasonably and effectively with dissimilar kinds of people, and the best place for this to be done is in the classroom (Teaching Young Children to Resist Bias, 1999).

A teacher who is responsive to cultural dissimilarities can bring incredible significance to the classroom. They are more probable to appreciate that all students do not have the same education approach. A number of people are visual students and some are tactile students. Bringing cultural assortment into the classroom improves the education occasion of the whole class. The visual student can profit from drawings, deliberations of videos and films. One task may engage learners in finding films that symbolize how cultures live in their indigenous nation. Housing itself is often very representative of a culture's past. In an additional class learners may discuss the kinds of clothes that are worn in a nation. A chemistry teacher can talk about the dissimilarity in resources and the colors that are utilized and in a particular culture's clothes. For a number of cultures clothes are very representative. Learners may also bring in clothes and foodstuff that represent their culture or background (Jones, n.d.).