Cultural Diversity
Following UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the 21st of May World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Is though cultural diversity also celebrated in the classrooms?
One thing is for sure: it should be more so today than ever before. Here are some thoughts and ideas that we hope will be helpful:
Prepare a lesson plan for your class with the topic of multiculturalism, diversity and discrimination
For the younger students the use of a fiction book is a simple way to engage them on the topic. You may want to use one of the many children’s books that have been written in many languages – the Greek bibliography is very rich with wonderful illustrations, and for different age groups (4-7, 7-9, 9-12).
With older students you can apply the diversity principles by engaging them actively: divide them into small groups and assign them with specific tasks, i.e. have them do a research on the countries of origin of immigrant students in the classroom – give the initiative to those students in the classroom, to talk about their country.
Give them a list of questions to which they can provide specific answers and if possible, examples:
- What have you learned from the research?
- What are the similarities between your culture and the immigrant children’s culture…?
- What would you do if your family moved to another country?
- How would you adjust? What solutions do you propose?
- What do you think should the school do to help immigrant children integrate in the new society?
- How can diversity influence positively learning in the classroom?
- Are language difficulties a constraint to integration in a classroom?
- How can we, as a community, overcome it?
After you have assigned the students with the tasks or books, and before you go deep into the discussion, pick up their ideas, see what they think, where they gear their interest, think of possible dilemmas that could stir the conversation, and prepare well for the discussion.
On the day of the discussion, focus on the solutions that they can propose as a community. Have each group observe one country and discuss differences. Encourage the students to make a sincere discussion and speak their minds.
They will appreciate it.
L. V. Paidoussi
