Students from diverse backgrounds contribute significantly to the vibrancy of the classroom. Having a variety of cultural perspectives creates valuable opportunities for dynamic and comprehensive teaching. This encourages educators to tailor their lessons to be more relevant to students’ lives, experiences, and cultural backgrounds. Each classroom forms a cultural microcosm reflecting the subjects and viewpoints being explored. Effective learning necessitates an intercultural approach, where students actively engage in understanding both others’ perspectives and their own, along with how these perspectives were shaped. One way to address this challenge is by acknowledging and accommodating the different learning styles present in any college classroom. By recognizing these various styles, instructors can better cater to individual students’ preferences, subgroup dynamics, and foster a collaborative learning environment. Despite efforts to innovate, many educators may still be unaware of the diverse teaching methods available that could enhance learning outcomes for both students and teachers, while also promoting intellectual growth and complexity.
Strategies to teach multi-cultural classroom
The following are some of the strategies to teach in a multicultural classroom setting:
i. Engaging Students in Questioning:
Encouraging students to ask questions in a way that reflects their diverse cultural backgrounds can foster a deeper understanding among peers. This approach allows students to share their perspectives and exposes others to different viewpoints (Evans, 1991).
ii. Utilizing Role-Playing:
Role-playing offers a flexible method for students to voice their thoughts within realistic scenarios. By stepping into different roles, whether of their peers or characters from literature, students can explore their attitudes towards prejudice and discrimination. This technique draws from various literary sources like poetry and biography to facilitate discussions and role-playing activities (Banks, 1989; Tiedt & Tiedt, 1990).
iii. Embracing Cooperative Learning:
Research and practice endorse cooperative groups as a means to leverage students’ diverse strengths and learning styles. These groups foster positive social interactions among students from different cultural backgrounds, promoting acceptance and understanding (Slavin, 1983).
iv. Exposure to Multilingual and Multicultural Environments:
Recognizing the linguistic diversity in the United States beyond English is crucial. Exposing students to speakers of different languages not only broadens their horizons but also introduces them to diverse cultural ideas and values (Tiedt & Tiedt, 1990).
v. Facilitating Group Discussions:
Group discussions serve as catalysts for critical thinking. Rather than viewing thinking as solely individual, emphasizing group collaboration can lead to richer understandings. By exploring multiple perspectives, students can refine their own interpretations through the insights of others (Sternberg, 1987; Alvermann, 1991).
