Advantage Of Cultural Diversity

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Nowadays western universities have students from all around the world, with diverse backgrounds and beliefs, this situation has brought about the question of how to turn cultural diversity into an asset rather than a disadvantage. Cultural diversity is defined as the cultural variety and cultural differences that exist in the world, a society, or an institution. All the different cultures together can bring both benefits and challenges, but overall it has more advantages which schools can use for the benefit of the students as well as for the benefit of the institution. Cultural diversity can be turned into an asset by allowing a variety of viewpoints to offer new perspectives that inspire students and teachers to see the world differently. …show more content…

Research shows that multicultural classrooms can bring academic benefits like lower dropout rates, a higher rate of college enrollment, as much as 68%, more creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It also brings civic and socio-emotional benefits, tolerance and cross-culture dialogue increase, reduces prejudices, enhances leadership skills. sharper self-awareness, personal and professional growth. It also has some economic benefits, it prepares students to succeed in the global economy and to have a successful performance in today 's workforce. The previous statement was further elaborated by university officials and business leaders who argue that diverse college classrooms prepare students for life, work and leadership in a globalized economy by creating leaders who are creative, collaborative and know how to work efficiently in dynamic, multicultural and diverse environments. Having a diverse talent pool allows an institution to retain the best talent from across the globe; in a diverse classroom, students are more likely to feel respected and valued for their unique contribution, this turns into respect among colleagues who also value the diverse perspectives of their team …show more content…

Communication between teacher and students is an important aspect to consider when talking about diverse classrooms. Teachers need to understand important ways in which cultures are different and how this affects the ways in which the students behave and learn. When teachers understand those differences they are less likely to do things that could be misinterpreted by students as well as less likely to misinterpret the student 's actions. Teachers need to continuously educate themselves to understand their students’ background. They can start by building a relationship with their students during school time, listening empathetically to what the students have to say, looking for cultural interpreters among pupils and looking for available resources whether it be people, books, web pages or others. Nonetheless must teachers do not have time for doing research in school hours and some teachers do not have good relationships with students, in those cases the learning process could come from assignments given to students, it could be through a presentation of the students homeland, an essay talking about cultural differences that apply specifically to them, trips to museums, research reports about a specific culture and many more. By giving assignments related to cultural diversity both the teacher and student will be able to educate themselves about culturally diverse

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