Similarly, “cultural competence” refers to the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures, and is also a term that implies more understanding and respect. To the indigenous American Indians, the “west” was the center of their world; to the Mexicans, it was “north”; to the Asian laborers living in California, it was “east.”. Here are some of the cultural differences that you might notice in student behaviour: Eye contact: Many teachers notice that some of their students, especially English language learners, do not make direct eye contact with the teacher. In addition to differences in language and in practices related to language, cultural groups tend to differ in various other attitudes and beliefs. Here are 5 tips to prevent cultural misunderstanding: Be aware of cultural differences and potential challenges students may face when adjusting. In between are students who speak their home (or heritage) language much better than English, as well as others who have partially lost their heritage language in the process of learning English (Tse, 2001). In classrooms, however, teachers often expect a lot of eye contact (as in “I want all eyes on me!”) and may be tempted to construe lack of eye contact as a sign of indifference or disrespect. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/educationalpsychology. In a classroom, this habit can make it easier for a child to learn not to interrupt others, but it can also make the child seem unfriendly. The first two of these were mentioned in the paragraph above, but not the next three: Of all of these strategies, the most important is the third: being flexible about the choice of teaching strategies. Across a variety of circumstances, teachers tend to believe in an independent self. In a classroom setting, where students come from many different backgrounds, cultures can collide. Diversity In Classroom 1407 Words | 6 Pages. As our nation grows increasingly diverse, there has never been a better opportunity for us to learn to live respectfully together and benefit from one another's wisdom and experiences. Problems may happen when a teacher and a student prefer different social distances. Ignoring the increase in diversity is not a helpful response. White European American culture has an individual orientation that teaches children to function independently, stand out, talk about them… Although sometimes the term is also used to refer specifically to the artistic, intellectual and other “high-brow” aspects of life, I use it here more broadly to refer to everything that characterizes a way of life—baseball games as well as symphony concerts, and McDonald’s as well as expensive restaurants. This situation might not at first seem like a problem for which we, as teachers, need to take responsibility, since the children immigrants, as students, are acquiring the dominant language of instruction. Such languages are especially at risk for being lost. Generally, though also more indirectly, minimizing language loss helps all bilingual students’ education because preservation tends to enrich students’ and parents’ ability to communicate with each other. In 2001, President Bush signed into effect Public Law 107-110, better known as the No Child Left Behind Act mandating that schools administer achievement tests to students and publish those results so that parents have an idea of their children’s performance. The distinction is convenient, but it is also a bit arbitrary because, as you will see, the features of a culture overlap and influence each other. To learn more about cultural competence, check out these resources from the National Education Association, MindTools, and Preemptive Love . Teachers need to understand that diversity—understand how students’ habitual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors differ from each other, and especially how they differ from the teacher’s. Obviously this sort of attitude poses problems for teachers who try to motivate the students, it also poses problems for the students’ long-term success in life. Classroom Culture. A clash can come because of differences in cultural values; what is culturally appropriate in one culture may be highly inappropriate in another. When a classroom draws students from many cultures or ethnic groups, therefore, the students bring to it considerable diversity. Dukes, Thomas One of the most difficult tasks business and professional communication teachers face is teaching students to appreciate cultural differences and their effects on business communication, both … As cultural groups, however, their experiences have been quite different than so-called voluntary minorities—groups that chose to emigrate to society in order to create better lives for themselves. In high school, in addition, some conventional foreign language classes— notably in Spanish—can be adjusted to include and support students who are already native speakers of the language alongside students who are learning it for the first time (Tse, 2001). One of the main reasons is that it can provide significant benefit to your students that will be moving abroad to learn in English speaking countries. Connection to Anti-bias Education Metacognition can be helpful for a variety of academic purposes, such as writing stories and essays, or interpreting complex text materials. You may even end up with classroom conflict because your students have misunderstood each other through the common barrier of the English language. A student who expects a negative wait time, on the other hand, may seem overeager or even rude. Understanding Culture in the Classroom Although educating students is the main goal of the school, teachers may have different variations on how to accomplish that goal. The cultures of most American schools are based on White European American values. In Western culture, this may be a sign that the person is not paying attention to the speaker. Important cultural differences in the classroom 1. Educators criticized the policy for focusing too much on testing as the only indication of student performance. Nor will the follow-up question: “Could the ‘cat’ meow?” confuse them. This sort of bilingualism is quite common in the United States and other nations with immigrant populations (Tse, 2001). Learn how cultural differences can play out in the classroom. In general, evaluations of bilingual programs have favored the more additive approaches (Beykont, 2002). Educators with a deeper understanding of cultural norms and expectations are better equipped to decipher potentially confusing behaviors and reduce conflict in the classroom. The question: “What if a dog were called a cat?” is less likely to confuse even a very young bilingual child. Whatever the case, each bilingual student poses unique challenges to teachers. And individuals within any given society will vary in their attitudes about personal identity. In some cultures, it is considered polite or even intelligent not to speak unless you have something truly important to say. Programs to address this question have ranged from total immersion in English from a young age (the “sink or swim” approach) to phasing in English over a period of several years (sometimes called an additive approach to bilingual education). There can be consequences of the difference in how the students respond to school. For a few years, though not forever, young students are encouraged to use both of their languages. Because these requirements became increasingly unworkable for schools, changes to the law were requested. “Chitchat,” or talk that simply affirms a personal tie between people, is considered immature or intrusive (Minami, 2002). 1995; Francis, 2006). Unfortunately, the bilingualism of many students is “unbalanced” in the sense that they are either still learning English, or else they have lost some earlier ability to use their original, heritage language—or occasionally a bit of both. Teaching Cultural Differences in the Business Communication Classroom. A student who expects a closer distance than does the teacher may seem overly familiar or intrusive, whereas one who expects a longer distance may seem overly formal or hesitant. Diversity in the Classroom Teaching today is considered more demanding and complex than ever due to an increasing diversity in classrooms based on preferences, interests, gender, cultural backgrounds, special needs and learning styles (Civitillo, Denessen, & Molenaar, 2016). This can, in turn, provi… In the United States, for example, African-Americans and American Indians may have been involuntary minorities originally, although many present-day individuals from these groups may now feel very much a part of American culture. In such an instance, it is especially important for educators to recognize these differences and how to assess the challenges that come with it. I know that as good teachers, we all invest the time and … Once past the first year or second year of school, students often become attentive to who receives the highest marks on an assignment, for example, or who is the best athlete at various sports or whose contributions to class discussions gets the most verbal recognition from the teacher (Johnson & Johnson, 1998). Target goals were considered unrealistic and set by the federal government rather than individual states. The following are tendencies, not simple predictions: In some cases, dominant cultural attitudes can oppress or alienate particular students to the point where they feel they have no choice but to put themselves on the margins of mainstream activity. In a classroom, this habit can make it easier for a child to learn not to interrupt others, but it can also make the child seem unfriendly. In classrooms as in other social settings, bilingualism exists in different forms and degrees. Chitchat, or talk that simply affirms a personal tie between people, is considered immature or intrusive (Minami, 2002). Social distance varies by culture. Be willing to address inequality | Part of supporting diversity in the classroom is creating a space for … … Culture has elements that are obvious, like unique holidays or customs, but also features that are subtle or easy for outsiders to overlook, like beliefs about the nature of intelligence or about the proper way to tell a story. Children’s academic performance is often measured with the use of standardized tests. Most important, the framework encourages teachers to recognize their own practices as cultural in origin rather than as simply the "right way" to do things. For students who give priority to these relationships, competition can seem confusing at best and threatening at worst. Commonly, too, a student may speak a language satisfactorily but be challenged by reading or writing it—though even this pattern has individual exceptions. Here are some of the possibilities—though keep in mind that there are also differences among students as individuals, whatever their background. Such students may develop an oppositional cultural identity, meaning that they define themselves not by who they are, but by how they differ from or oppose mainstream culture (Ogbu & Davis, 2003; Carter, 2005). American classrooms are becoming more diverse every year,* which means cultural diversity in the classroom is becoming an increasingly important issue for educators throughout the education system. Wait time varies by culture. Effective teachers of culturally diverse students acknowledge both individual and cultural differences enthusiastically and identify these differences in a positive manner. 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