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This video is of a 3rd Grade teacher whose classroom is set up to encourage cultural awareness and community between her students.  She believes it is every educator’s job to make sure their students see positive pictures of people who look like them in their classroom.

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This article sheds a light on the important cultural factors to think about when teaching students from other countries. It discusses cultural differences that impact teaching, and how teachers should be the front-runner of wanting to know about different cultures.

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As an ESL/EFL teacher, you want to promote a positive learning environment for your students. In order to do this, you must have some understanding of the culture and customs of your students. Cultural awareness begins with developing sensitivity and understanding of your students' beliefs, attitudes and values. You will need to familiarize yourself with your students' cultural characteristics, history, values, belief systems, and behaviours.

When teaching English in a foreign land, you should read up on the customs and culture of that country. You can often acquire knowledge about other cultures by reading books or watching movies, and attending cultural events and festivals.

Developing cultural awareness is an ongoing process. It is important to remember that someone's cultural background often affects the way they interact in the classroom and how they learn English. Also, try to be aware that differences also exist within cultures.

Find out what topics and actions are taboo. Speak to other teachers and try to get a better understanding of the cultural problems they face. Each culture is different and there will be certain actions or topics, which are off limits. Having respect for someone's culture breaks down barriers of communication and makes your students feel at ease. You don't want to embarrass or upset your students through ignorant actions. You may find that younger students are more used to western culture. However, this is no excuse to ignore theirs.

If you are teaching ESL in your home country, make your students aware of your own culture. You can share information about which topics and actions are appropriate and which are not. This will help your students immensely in their daily lives. Your students can also tell you about their customs and cultures. Your students will probably be from many different countries, so this will help you as a teacher understand about a variety of customs from all over the world.

Conversation plays a big part of the ESL/EFL classroom. However, there are some topics that you should generally avoid, so as not to offend your students. These are as follows:

Politics

Wealth

Religion

Money

Historical or on-going conflicts

Stereotypes

Actions and gestures that you should also avoid as an ESL/EFL teacher:

Pointing

Swearing

Embarrassing students

Touching students

Chewing gum

Holding eye contact

Standing too close to a student

Give your students the respect they deserve. This acts as a great role-model for the students and creates harmony in the classroom.
Cultural Awareness.PDF

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Cultural Awareness in the ESL/EFL ClassroomAs an ESL/EFL teacher, you want to promote a positive learning environment for your students. In order to do this, you must have some understanding of the culture and customs of your students. Cultural awareness begins with developing sensitivity and understanding of your students' beliefs, attitudes and values.

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The Importance of Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the Classroom

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The Importance of Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the Classroom

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This article lists the benefits of teaching diversity in the classroom.  Teachers should help students value what makes them different from their classmates, and in turn positive outcomes will impact their lives going forward.

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Teaching diversity in the classroom has significant benefits. To accurately teach diversity in the school, you have to consider ethnicity, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, being able-bodied, socio-economic status, and various learning styles. Although many schools across the US remain socio-economically and racially segregated, teaching diversity is essential.

In our increasingly multicultural and diverse society, teachers should incorporate culturally responsive instruction in elementary school, middle school, and high school classrooms. The increase of diversity relates to ethnicity and race and includes students of different economic statuses, sexual orientation, religion, language background, and gender identity. You will find more information on the subject in books written by Bree Picower, a scholar and an Associate Professor at Montclair State University whose work examines education, race, and racism.
Benefits of classroom inclusion and diversity
Differences in socio-economic class, ethnicity, religion, athletic ability, reading level, background, personality, gender, and much more are featured in diverse schools. Strong EdD programs help teachers value unique aspects that make each student different, which allows them to embrace the differences in the classroom.

Positive learning outcomes can be created by having different and divergent perspectives. These outcomes have benefits that can impact their lives and reflect after graduation going forward. Below are some of the benefits of diversity in the classroom:
It improves critical thinking and cognitive skills
Classroom diversity allows students to consider opinions and perspectives beyond those that have already been shaped or formed in early life by friends and family. When students are presented with viewpoints that are far different from their own, they get the opportunity to examine the world in fresh ways and think critically. By altering the way individuals think, diversity helps to promote innovation and creativity as well as problem-solving and decision-making skills. With the COVID-19 pandemic having kept many children out of preschool, teachers and parents can employ an innovative education program to prevent a preschool enrollment drop. Such cognitive action has been jolted by diversity in a way that homogeneity cannot.
Students transition into adulthood more easily
Students join a diverse and vast workforce when they enter the professional world. Without prior exposure to diversity, interacting with people of all different mindsets and backgrounds can present a challenge. Most companies are looking to hire employees who can handle diversity with maturity and grace since it comes in handy with many benefits.
Promotes creativity
Creativity, at its core, is all about encompassing and transforming different ideas to come up with something personal, new, and unique. People become more creative when they are exposed to new experiences and ideas. This can be achieved with children during their early childhood years by creating educational experiences based on their favorite shows. Indeed, bringing together diverse perspectives in nonprofessional and professional situations that call for creativity is a wise choice.
Diversity helps to build students' confidence later in life
When students have a diverse education, they feel safer in and out of school; learning about different cultures helps them become comfortable with themselves and with cultural differences across social groups. That builds self-confidence and a more profound sense of safety.
Diversity improves student achievement
Students learning in diverse schools realize higher test scores since the environment helps them work better, allowing them to push themselves further and concentrate on their work. Diversity impacts student performance directly; students in well-planned diversity lessons give teachers and students exposure to new cultures, alternative texts, and different historical figures, which promotes depth of knowledge. Students in racially and socio-economically diverse schools produce more substantial academic achievement than those in schools with students from socio-economically disadvantaged communities.
Diversity reduces prejudice and promotes empathy
Students tend to develop prejudices when they live in racially isolated environments and attend schools there. Teaching diversity helps students to counter discriminatory stereotypes by understanding a variety of social groups and cultures. That puts them in a better position of making connections from their own lives to those of their peers. Diversity also allows students to be empathetic to the experiences of others by increasing their cultural competence.
Diversity creates a culturally responsive learning environment
Teaching diversity creates a classroom where students can understand cultures that are different from their own as they become more respectful. They become typically more willing to listen to other viewpoints rather than fear, scorn, or mock the unfamiliar. Educators can best achieve this by teaching students that people who don't look like them are the same as them on the inside, whether they follow different religious traditions, come from different socio-economic backgrounds, have a different gender identity, or speak another language.

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The importance of cultural awareness and diversity in the classroom

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Teaching diversity in the classroom has significant benefits. To accurately teach diversity in the school, you have to consider ethnicity, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, being able-bodied, socio-economic status, and

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6 Ways Teachers Can Foster Cultural Awareness in the Classroom

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6 Ways Teachers Can Foster Cultural Awareness in the Classroom

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This article talks about the importance of acknowledging the diversity of students and promoting cultural awareness.  Educators are encouraged to demonstrate that they care for each of their student’s diverse needs, and numerous approaches are listed to help include cultural awareness in the classroom.

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6 Ways Teachers Can Foster Cultural Awareness in the Classroom (Opinion)

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Schools that acknowledge the diversity of their student population understand the importance of promoting cultural awareness.

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Importance of Cultural Awareness for Educators

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Importance of Cultural Awareness for Educators

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This article discusses how cultural awareness is providing an equitable learning environment, which means students are treated more than equally.  They are provided resources based on their needs to make sure all students succeed.  The article also includes a list of ways educators can develop cultural awareness in their classroom.

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Cultural awareness is fundamental to providing an equitable learning environment for all students. A classroom that values equality is not the same as one that values equity. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they represent two approaches to teaching with very different goals and outcomes.

Equality is the idea that all students should be given equal treatment: If one student receives a book to take home, all students should receive a book to take home. Equity is the idea that resources should be provided to students based on their needs to ensure all have opportunities to succeed. In the prior example, this might mean that all students receive a book to take home (equality), but students for whom English is not a first language receive books tailored to their language skills (equity).

Cultural awareness is the first step to building a culturally responsive approach to teaching. According to the National Education Association (NEA), cultural awareness or cultural competence is "understanding your own culture, other's culture, and the role of culture in education." Taking a student's culture into account as "a basis for learning, communicating high expectations, and reshaping curriculum to reflect student's diversity leads to better educational outcomes."

It does not reduce racial, gender or socioeconomic groups to monoliths; rather, it helps educators to recognize the uniqueness of each student and the differences between groups that make communities - and their school systems - vibrant.

Culturally responsive teaching builds on cultural awareness, using that competence to better communicate with students and their families, according to Teachaway. The goal is to empower students by understanding their cultural backgrounds and tailoring learning to meet and celebrate their experiences.

Student performance can be largely impacted by the educator/student "culture gap" - "any systematic difference between two cultures which hinders mutual understanding or relations," according to Educalingo. America is becoming more racially, linguistically and ethnically diverse, with about half of all public-school students a part of minority groups today, according to PRWeb. Yet, because America's teaching force consists mostly of white educators, there is more potential for the culture gap to widen, as Pew Research Center notes.

Cultural awareness fosters culturally responsive teaching, which is more of a priority in classrooms than ever. Not only are student bodies becoming less homogenous, but governing systems and school boards are beginning to address issues of race, gender and class. Teachers with strong cultural awareness are better prepared to navigate the challenges of the education landscape.

1. Start with awareness. Before educators can implement cultural awareness into their teaching methods, they must first recognize their own cultural background. Shaping cultural backgrounds are factors like race, gender, ethnicity, religion, language, socioeconomic status and disability status. Reflecting on one's own background will help indicate the ways in which it is similar to or different from that of one's students. Then, one can begin to identify the students with whom one may experience a "culture gap."

1. Confront implicit bias. According to Ohio State University's Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, "implicit bias" refers to "the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner." By identifying the ways in which their lived experience differs from that of their students, educators can begin to consciously examine whether those gaps have created unconscious attitudes or stereotypes. Questioning those attitudes and encouraging an open mind helps dismantle implicit biases.

2. Communicate with cultural awareness. A person's cultural background shapes the way they communicate. Some cultures may avoid direct eye contact, speak a different language than the teacher or have distinct attitudes about authority and family dynamics. Teachers who take these cultural norms into consideration will be better able to communicate with and gain input from students and families from all walks of life.

3. View teachers as learners. Because teachers do not always share the same background as their students, it's crucial that they allow themselves to constantly learn from those students and their cultures. Whether through professional development courses or discussions with students and their families, educators who seek opportunities to better understand different cultures can help bridge some gaps that impede learning.

4. Create culturally adaptable lessons. A lesson or mode of teaching that's easily understood by one group of students may not be well-suited to another group. Limited access to technology, linguistic differences, family dynamics and other factors could hinder some students' abilities to fully participate in certain lessons. With effort, educators can ensure their lessons are culturally appropriate for all learners with varying access and skillsets.

Learn more about Mississippi College's online education programs Educalingo: Culture Gap National Education Association: Cultural Competence Pew Research Center: America's Public School Teachers are Far Less Racially and Ethnically Diverse Than Their Students PRWeb: Teach Away: Bridging the Culture Gap Between Teachers and Their Students Teachaway: Assessing Your Cultural Competence: A Checklist for Culturally Responsive Teachers Teachaway: Why Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters Now More Than Ever The Ohio State University Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity: Understanding Implicit Bias Waterford: Why Understanding Equity and Equality in Schools Can Help You Create an Inclusive Classroom .
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Importance of Cultural Awareness for Educators

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Cultural awareness is fundamental to providing an equitable learning environment for all students. A classroom that values equality is not the same as one that values equity. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they represent two approaches to teaching with very different goals and outcomes.