Things a Teacher Should Do in a Multicultural Classroom
A multicultural classroom can produce a rich and creative learning environment for both the students and the teacher. As the world becomes more interconnected, it is common for contemporary classrooms to be culturally diverse. A culturally diverse classroom presents the teacher with a number of challenges. The goal is to use a multicultural classroom to enhance the educational experience of all the students while avoiding the risk of stereotyping students or thinking in terms of cultural cliches.
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The Teacher's Role
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The teacher is the dominant figure in the classroom and subsequently has the responsibility and opportunity to be the role model for the students. The teacher's personality sets the tone and standard for classroom participation and interaction. In order to teach effectively in a multicultural environment, the teacher must be self-aware of her background assumptions, biases and prejudices.
Classroom Environment
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A classroom that is sensitive to cultural diversity and differences is essential for creating a learning environment conducive for students from varied backgrounds. Encourage students to interact and participate in classroom discussion and dialogue but recognize that the cultural background of some students may make them hesitant to be vocal in the classroom. A multicultural classroom provides the opportunity for students to enrich the classroom by bringing their multiple perspectives and backgrounds to a discussion of various issues and topics. However, the teacher should avoid singling out individual students as representative of their ethnic or cultural group. Stereotyping students fails to respect their individuality and makes broad general assumptions about their background and experiences.
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Group Activities
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Breaking the classroom into smaller groups to work on assignments helps create an interactive approach to learning. Small groups allow students to work together and share ideas and problem-solving solutions in a more intimate setting; small groups also help non-native English speakers to better clarify and understand assignments and issues in an English language classroom environment.
Appreciating Different Cultures
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Students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds bring their own learning styles and cultural assumptions to the classroom. It benefits the teacher of a multicultural classroom to take time to research and learn about his students' background assumptions and expectations in the classroom. For example, Israeli students are taught to criticize an instructor when he makes obviously mistaken or incoherent statements in class. Vietnamese students are taught to sit and listen quietly to the instructor. Their cultural heritage discourages classroom participation. The teacher who makes himself aware of the general traits that students bring to the classroom as part of their cultural heritage is in a better position to understand the classroom dynamics and interaction. It also help prevent the teacher from making false assumptions, such as the Israeli student is rude and the Vietnamese student is disengaged or uninvolved.
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