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Introduction:
For teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL),
the question is, “How can we incorporate cultural
knowledge and understanding within the context of
our English language classes? ”One challenge a
teacher faces is what approach to take.
If you ignore the issue of diversity in the classroom and
choose to not promote diversity in your school, you’re
not doing your job.
Children go to school to be prepared for the workforce,
so teaching must effectively address and embrace the
realities that come with living and working in a diverse
school, community and country.
Not only that, but there are other research-backed
reasons for promoting diversity in the classroom:
An additional aspect to a perfect education system
would bethe use of multicultural education in
schools. Multicultural education creates a
comfortable environment for students of all races
and ethnicity to learn in by combining a variety
of ideals about teaching.
According to Geneva Gay, the creator of
multicultural education, one of these ideals is
understanding the cultural characteristics
and cultural contributions of different ethnic groups,
such as the values of different ethnic groups, along
with their traditions and communication styles.
It is important to know all of these traits in order to
know how to successfully teach all of the students
in the class, regardless of class, ethnicity, or gender.
Alright. So diversity is important to cultivate in your
classroom because of the academic and social
benefits.
That’s a great thing to know, but what does diversity in
the classroom look like in action? And how can you
promote it in your school?
Which voices are speaking in your classroom?
That is, whose stories do you tell? Especially in the
humanities and social sciences, teaching materials
can often be limited to Western, white, male and
middle-class narratives.
Work with your teachers to see if you’re representing
a wide range of voices in the curriculum. If possible,
teach literature from authors of color. Examine
historical narratives to see which voices are
missing — for example, a discussion about the civil
rights movement can examine how it intersects with
gender equality, immigration and the stories of Latino,
Hispanic and Native American peoples.
All the students in your school are unique individuals,
so use that fact to build a diverse and inclusive school culture.
Take the time to learn about your students: Where do
they come from? What kind of socio-economic
situation do they live in, broadly speaking? Are they
meeting academic achievement standards, or are they
struggling?
Do they get along with their peers?
With everything that you have to keep track of and
work on, it might be difficult to find the time to
intentionally build relationships with students —
especially if you’re new to the school or to a
leadership position.
Part of supporting diversity in the classroom is creating
a safe space for students and educators to talk about
how issues of discrimination affect them on a personal,
classroom- and school-wide level.
The more diversity is a topic of discussion in your
school, the less students and teachers will hesitate
to address it. As a school leader, you’re in a position
to lead the conversation and inspire others in the
school to take action.
This conversation shouldn’t just be limited to words
— in order to make effective change, you need to take
practical steps to address inequality when you
encounter it, such as:
Use language that promotes positivity and doesn’t
reinforce existing stereotypes. For example, the
phrase “boys will be boys” shouldn’t be used to justify
sexism or aggression.
Respond immediately and effectively to inappropriate
comments or actions. Take infractions seriously and
keep families informed.
Model inclusion and acceptance. Encourage students
to include all of their peers if you see division forming
along racial or economic lines.
Remove existing markers of inequality in your school.
For example, make sure students who are eligible for
free or reduced lunch programs aren’t singled out and
made to feel different.
Schools are a central part of the community and
should reflect and celebrate its diversity.
Communicate your goals for diversity in the
classroom to families. Ask if they have any questions
or concerns, and then listen. Invite them to identify
areas in the curriculum or in the school culture that
they feel could benefit from more of a focus on diversity.
Reach out to leaders in the community that can offer
different perspectives, either as experts in their field,
professionals, community workers or activists. Consider
asking teachers to develop service learning projects that
connect classroom learning with community initiatives.
Uniform standards can’t apply to a diverse classroom,
so start working with your teachers to establish different
approaches for students with different learning needs.
Some suggestions for making sure the classroom stays
accessible and equitable:
Introduce adaptive technologies.
Adaptive technologies make learning accessible for all
students. This can include anything from speech-to-text
software, talking calculators for students with
dyscalculia, or modified computer accessories for
students with physical disabilities.
Encourage teachers to use different types of
instruction and teaching strategies.
Techniques like project-based learning, differentiated
instruction and blended learning all allow teachers to help
learners with different needs. (For even more ideas
about classroom teaching strategies, read our Ultimate
List of Teaching Strategies!)
Create opportunities for all students to contribute.
Within groups, have students take on different roles
that fit their strengths. Some students can act as note
takers, while others can facilitate the conversation.
As a school leader, you can directly impact the
diversity of your faculty through hiring and recruitment
efforts. Some of the suggestions from the study for
hiring a more diverse faculty include:
Establish programs at the district level that recruit
teachers from non-traditional programs and provide
financial help and training.
Improve the data systems that monitor diverse hiring
efforts, and reward schools that meet diversity
requirements.
Hire earlier in the year to reach more in-demand
candidates.
Support principal preparation programs, including
actively recruiting teachers and supporting their
professional development
Kinds of cultures:
Perspectives (what members of a culture think,
feel, and value)
Practices (how members communicate and
interact with one another)
Products (technology, music, art, food, literature,
etc.; the things members of a group create, share,
and transmit to the next generation).
Levels of culture:
1-Surface culture:
Examples of surface culture elements include food,
national costumes, traditional music and dance,
literature, and specific holidays.
2-The sub-surface culture:
3-The deep culture:
Requirements of a Multicultural
Classroom Cultural observations:
To help students critically evaluate the cultural
practices and products of their own culture and
those of another country, teachers can gather
books, poetry, newspapers, magazines, radio
clips, television shows, movies, video clips, or
music—or have students gather them.
Students can describe the behaviors and
products they read about, see, or hear, then
discuss differences and similarities between
their own culture and the culture they are
observing. Students can consider these
questions when watching television shows,
movies, or video clips:
• How and where do people live?
• How do people spend their time?
• How do people dress?
• What and how do people eat?
• What side of the road do people drive on?
.Do people seem to follow traffic rules?
• What gestures or superstitions did you notice?
• How do people greet one another?
Do they hug? Shake hands?
• What is the polite thing to do in certain situations?
Methods for multi-cultured / diverse
classroom:
1-Understanding multiple learning styles allows one
to focus on individual students' own learning styles;
sub-groups within a classroom community; and the
class as a learning community.
2-Discover the diverse needs, desires, interests and
readiness of the diverse learners through holding
several meetings.
3-Plan to create common factors, likes, dislikes and
tastes to work on.
4-Student can also learn that there are patterns of
values, speech, preferences, and behaviors
associated with different cultures.
5-Inclusion and involvement are basic in teaching
diverse learners.
6-Maintain high standards and demonstrate high
expectations for all ethnically, culturally, and
linguistically diverse students.
7-Show students you care by getting to know their
individual needs and strengths and sharing their
concerns, hopes, and dreams.
8-Understand students' home cultures to better
comprehend their behavior in and out of the
classroom.
9-Encourage active participation of parents or
guardians.
10-Tap into students' backgrounds to enhance
learning.
11-Choose culturally relevant curriculum and
instructional materials that recognize, incorporate,
and reflect students' heritage and the contributions
of various ethnic groups.
12-Identify and dispel stereotypes.
13-Create culturally compatible learning environments.
14-Use cooperative learning strategies.
15-Capitalize on students' cultures, languages,
and experiences.
16-Integrate the arts in the curriculum.
17-Promote students' health.
18-Develop community ties and build community
schools.
19-Incorporate multiple forms of assessment.
20-Establish truly bilingual classrooms.
21-Embrace dual-language strategies..
22-The diverse cultured learners have diverse
learning styles, diverse learning outcomes, diverse
behavior, diverse needs, desires and interests.
23-Practice English in heterogeneous cooperative
learning groups.
24-Use cross-age and peer tutoring.
25-Respect community language norms.
26-Organize teaching around thematic,
interdisciplinary units.
27-Enhance language learning with computers and
peer tutors.
Benefits of a multicultural classroom
Exposes students to different cultures
One of the top reasons why a multicultural
classroom is beneficial is because students are
encouraged to learn about the cultural backgrounds
of other students in a class.
Students interact with various communities and get
first-hand knowledge about multiple celebrations;
for example, indulging in Japanese snacks on
Japanese Children’s Day or dressing up in
traditional Indian attire on Diwali.
Fosters acceptance and tolerance in a
learning environment
A multicultural education provides educational
opportunities to learners from diverse ethnic cultural
groups and social classes. It enables students to
acquire skills and develop a positive attitude to
communicate, interact, and foster acceptance and
tolerance with individuals from varied cultures to
create a moral and civic community.
Teaches multiple perspectives
At CIS, multiple perspectives and references are
taught in class. The multicultural classroom provides
an opportunity for students from different cultures
to bring their enormous range of experiences,
knowledge, perspectives, and insights to the
Encourages critical thinking
Both teachers and students evaluate their own
cultural assumptions and then discuss how learning
materials, teaching practices, or schools policies
reflect cultural bias, and how they could be changed
to eliminate bias.
Students are encouraged to start networking from
a young age and build a network of contacts that
can not only help them forge lifelong friendships
but can also help expand their career perspectives
to a global level.
Several internships are also offered to students
from universities all over the world to foster global
networking as well as to study and observe a truly
international environment at Canadian International
School (CIS).
Cultural “informants”:
Our strategy is to invite native speakers or proficient
non-native speakers of English to come to class
and speak on a specific aspect of their own culture.
These “informants” can be a resource to confirm
ideas, impressions, or textbook information that
students have learned.
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