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Create a Safe and Welcoming Environment:

Set clear expectations that all students are expected to respect each other and value diverse perspectives.

Use inclusive language and avoid stereotypes.

Decorate the classroom with materials that represent a variety of cultures, identities, and experiences.

Encourage Open Communication:

Establish opportunities for students to share about themselves, their backgrounds, and their interests. This can be through icebreakers, show-and-tell, or reflection activities.

Create "circles" or group discussions where all voices are heard, ensuring that quieter or marginalized students feel comfortable speaking up.

Build Positive Relationships:

Get to know your students as individuals. Ask about their interests and personal experiences, and show genuine care and curiosity.

Encourage students to support one another through teamwork, peer mentorship, and collaborative activities.

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Learn about the cultural backgrounds of your students. This can be done through conversations, reading, and professional development opportunities.

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ERIC - ED526973 - Practicing Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Physical Education, Online Submission, 2011-Oct

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As a result of continuous global immigration to the United States, several microcultures coexist within the country. Today’s classroom should provide an interface where individuals from different cultural backgrounds have the potential for sharing a rich place of learning--a place where the teacher embraces and celebrates individual differences, fosters the development of positive self-concepts, provides meaningful and relevant learning experiences, and insists on high expectations for everyone. Facilitating this kind of learning environment is the result of practicing culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP). A culturally responsive teacher acts on knowledge about cultural differences, and implements, as habit, pedagogical skills that foster a meaningful and relevant education for all of her/his learners. The call for cultural responsiveness extends to all dimensions of the school experience, including physical education. Physical education presents unique needs and opportunities to

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Include literature, examples, and resources that reflect the cultural diversity of your students in your lessons.

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Create opportunities for students to share aspects of their culture with the class. This can be through presentations, cultural days, or show-and-tell activities.

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Drexel University School of Education

What is Inclusion in the Classroom and Why is it Important?

Inclusion in the classroom means that all children, no matter their racial, religious, or ethnic background, gender, learning style, or ability have equal access to educational opportunities in a learning environment where all students are equally safe, valued, and respected. Creating an inclusive classroom also means actively addressing and aiming to eliminate negative stereotypes and attitudes based on racial, ethnic, or religious background, gender, learning style, ability, or any other identifying characteristic. Students who may have experienced being seen as "other," are welcomed as valued participants in the classroom. Inclusion in the classroom is critically important because it fosters each child's sense of belonging, feeling of being seen and understood for who they are, and their inherent value as a human being. Inclusive classrooms empower children to grow and thrive as confident individuals, not just as students during their time in educational systems, but in life beyond school as citizens in their communities and in the world.

Who Benefits from Inclusion in the Classroom?

Inclusive classrooms are not just about supporting academic instruction for students with special educational needs. Rather, everyone enjoys the benefits of inclusion in the classroom, whether they are students, teachers, school districts, or students' parents or guardians. All students benefit from interacting and developing friendships within diverse groups of peers, and teachers benefit from getting to know their students in deeper, more meaningful ways. Within inclusive school cultures, teachers and administrators deal with fewer absences and disciplinary issues because students who feel valued and included tend to be more invested in their own positive participation in the learning community. For parents and guardians, inclusive classrooms mean that their child is learning and spending much of their young lives in a safe and nurturing environment.

How to Promote Inclusion in the Classroom in 7 Steps

There are many strategies for promoting inclusion in the classroom. Generally, these strategies pertain to understanding each student as an individual, creating an interactive learning environment that considers the needs of all students, and building collaborations with all stakeholders in students' lives. While there are countless examples of inclusion in the classroom, they typically fall into seven categories.

Get to Know Your Students

Building an authentic relationship with each student is the foundation for a truly inclusive classroom. In inclusive classrooms, teachers continually work to understand their students' unique backgrounds and perspectives and also provide opportunities for students to safely share their life stories and perspectives with their peers. When teachers invest the time to know each student and honor each student's diverse origins, it creates a safe space for learning, a deeper sense of belonging, and richer cultural competencies for teachers and students alike.

Understand How Your Students Learn

Getting to know what motivates students to learn and the styles of learning that work best for them are key components of fostering inclusivity in the classroom. At the start of the school year, teachers might consider handing out a questionnaire or hosting conversations about what excites students about learning, what they see as their strengths and weaknesses, and what goals they have for the year, and then incorporating these findings into lesson plans and classroom materials. Implementing diverse activities around a single lesson can also offer students multiple ways to learn and improve overall retention. For example, planning an independent reading activity, interactive discussion with peers, creative art project, and hands-on experiment around a single topic can not only reinforce knowledge for all students but facilitate learning across a range of learning styles.

Promote a Positive Learning Environment

Setting clear expectations for the classroom culture and having students participate in the development of those expectations help promote a positive learning environment in which everyone is invested and held accountable. At the beginning of the school year, teachers and students can work together to create rules around behaviors that promote a learning environment that is productive, safe, and respectful for everyone in the classroom. The class can also discuss what consequences might be put into place when rules are broken. Keeping classroom expectations and consequences short and simple so that all students can understand them is important. In the creation of a positive learning environment, teachers should actively listen to students' ideas for classroom rules and developing guidelines for conflict resolution, because when children feel listened to, they feel seen and included.

Include A Variety of Learning Materials & Activities

Promoting inclusion in a classroom requires providing a range of materials and activities that supports all students' learning styles, incorporates a variety of cultural backgrounds and perspectives, and fosters courageous thinking. Teaching a single topic using visual, auditory, and tactile assignments that are completed individually, in small groups, or through a field trip, means that students of all learning styles can access the same concepts in multiple ways. In our increasingly multi-cultural communities, effective educators must understand the importance of diversity and multicultural awareness, and teachers should incorporate into their teaching materials that reflect a diverse range of racial, cultural, socio-economic, religious, and gender identities, among many other expressions of the human experience. An inclusive classroom also provides creative activities for students to think outside the box and encourages students to take intellectual risks, and even make mistakes, as they explore approaches to innovative problem solving.

Encourage Interaction Among Students

The more students engage with one another, the better classroom inclusion will be, the greater students' connection will be to their school community, and the more likely students will be to feel invested in their own education. There are many different ways teachers can encourage student interaction. At the start of the school year, teachers might have their class play ice breaker games that help students get to know each and find common ground. Switching seat assignments several times throughout the year is another way for students to get to know different members of the class. Setting up group projects and changing up the composition of the groups over the year can facilitate more varied student interaction. For younger students, coming up with structure group activities during recess not only creates inclusive fun for everyone but can be especially helpful for students who may find recess to be a lonely or awkward part of the school day.

Offer Additional Support

Building an inclusive classroom means offering a range of both academic and non-academic resources to all students and to their parents and guardians. For example, some students benefit from tutoring, and setting office hours outside of class might benefit those who are uncomfortable speaking up or asking questions in front of their peers. Offering regular teacher conferences is another way students and their parents or guardians can have private discussions about areas where students may need extra support. And because not all students, or their parents or guardians, may be comfortable reaching out for help, it's important for teachers and school systems to actively communicate to all students and families what academic and non-academic resources are available at school and in the local community. Leaving the door open for compassionate conversations about students' and families' needs for additional support creates an approachable environment that benefits everyone.

Collaborate as a Community

For classrooms to truly succeed in being inclusive, teachers need to collaborate with and have the support of all members of the school community, including their fellow teachers, administrators, school counselors and aides, along with parents and families. When everyone in the school community works together, the needs of students of all backgrounds and abilities are considered and academic instruction is accessible and consistent for all. Professional developments workshops are ways to build awareness of the tools for classroom inclusion. Workshops and staff meetings are other ways to create opportunities for educators to share ideas and insights. Reaching out to parents and families at the beginning of the school year, and offering opportunities to connect throughout the year, allows teachers to have a more complete understanding of their students' background and life experiences, along with their strengths, areas in need of improvement, and their personal goals and dreams.

Learn More About Inclusion in the Classroom with Drexel University

Becoming a great teacher takes years of practice, and building an inclusive classroom takes ongoing commitment, but it all starts with obtaining the right education and practical experience. Drexel's School of Education embraces the importance of diversity and multicultural awareness and offers numerous certificate programs, such as Teaching English as a Second Language and Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness, that help educators at all stages of their careers improve their teaching and make classrooms more inclusive. For those in the midst of pursuing an education degree, student teaching is a critical launching point, and the School of Education's teaching resource guide offers advice and tips for taking your experiences as a student teacher and applying them to a fulfilling teaching career.

Contact us today to learn more about Drexel's programs.

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Promoting Inclusion in the Classroom - School of Education

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Creating an inclusive classroom and environment for students is crucial. Learn why inclusion is important, and how to promote it in the classroom with Drexel.

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How to Build a Strong Foundation for the Year

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New elementary teachers can try these simple strategies to help students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom.

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A simple greeting can make a profound impact. When teachers take the time to greet their students with a smile at the classroom door, they are telling each student, "I care about you. I respect you. I value you."

Feeling valued and connected can feed into a students' sense of belonging at school. Belonging, in turn, correlates with greater student well-being and higher academic engagement. An intentional investment of attention on the adult's part can have meaningful ripple effects for students.

Greeting students at the door is only one of many actions, big and small, that adults can take to help students in a school community feel a stronger sense of belonging . ( Tweet this )

This guide provides a working definition of student sense of belonging and key research on the importance of student belonging. It also suggests tools, resources, and strategies at the classroom, school, and district levels to help you cultivate a school climate where students can feel they belong.

Jump to sections of this guide using the table of contents:

Want detailed guidance on activities that build belonging? Download the toolkit: 5 Strategies to Build Student Belonging

Our researchers at Panorama use a shared definition of belonging: the extent to which students feel that they are valued members of their school's community. (Tweet this )

Belonging can include feelings of understanding, respect, connectedness, membership, or mattering. Sense of belonging is influenced by the classroom and school culture as well as by individual actions taken by adults in the school.

Take a moment to think about how important it feels to you to belong and have a sense of community membership in the places where you live, work, or play. Students care just as much about feeling like they belong at school.

Sense of Belonging Noun

The extent to which students feel that they are valued members of their school's community

Although we use a shared definition of belonging, we know that belonging can mean different things to different individuals and communities. Belonging might mean something a little different at your school or in your district.
Take a moment to consider:

How do you define belonging?

What are the characteristics of a feeling of belonging?

What's an example of when you feel you belong?

How about an example of when you feel you don't belong?

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Humans are relational creatures and belonging is a fundamental human need. Researchers describe belonging as, "a major factor that contributes positively to an individual's psychological development."

Beyond its implications for mental health, belonging plays a specific role in education. Research shows that belonging positively affects engagement, behavior, and academic performance. ( Tweet this )

When learners feel that they belong in the educational setting:

Student engagement increases

Negative behavior incidences diminish

Academic achievement improves

John Hattie's Visible Learning research synthesized findings from 1,600+ meta-analyses of 95,000+ studies involving 300 million students. He found that teacher-student relationships, school climate, and sense of belonging all meaningfully contribute to accelerating academic success.
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The evidence is clear: From primary school through middle school and high school, and even into higher education, it's important to prioritize relationships and belonging to support student wellness and student success.

Many elements go into whether students feel they belong, such as whether the physical environment reflects their background or needs and their relationships with peers. Adults can also contribute to students' sense of belonging in the classroom by creating the conditions for belonging, safety, and trust.

One way to do that is through classroom practices and routines with students. (For system-level practices to create a culture of belonging, skip to the section below.)

Here are three activities adults can try in the classroom setting to foster a sense of belonging:

1. "Get To Know You" User Guides

2. Values Reflection

3. Morning Meetings

1. "Get To Know You" User Guides

Students and adults can complete user guides and share them with their class (always to the extent they feel comfortable). A "user guide" is a document that can help individuals provide more visibility into their personalities, interests, and working habits, and facilitate more effective collaboration with peers and teachers.

Here are some questions to get started on what to include in a user guide:

What makes you feel inspired?

What is one thing you think you do well as a student?

What do you like to do outside of school?

For more ideas, check out 101 Inclusive Get-to-Know-You Questions .

2. Values Reflection

The goal of Values Reflection is for students to consider their own belief systems and to celebrate-not to judge-the diversity of values, experiences, and beliefs in their classroom.

Teachers have students pick three to five core values that they hold. Students can reflect on these values by journaling using prompts , or express them by creating a mindmap or visual anchor of their values to share in pairs or small groups.

3. Morning Meetings

Morning meetings are a schoolwide classroom management practice used to address students' social-emotional learning (SEL) needs on a daily basis throughout the school year. Setting aside time every day to check in and say hello builds a sense of belonging for students and adults in the classroom.

Every morning, teachers gather their students in a circle to interact with one another and kick-off the day. While these daily warm-ups will look different in different classrooms, they often include a greeting, time for personal sharing, SEL activity, and morning message.

Belonging Activities for Digital Classrooms

Online learning presents its own challenges for helping students build relationships and stay connected. With pandemic closures pushing many classrooms online, teachers must develop a toolkit of approaches to foster feelings of belonging even at a distance.

Get creative with technology, but remember to be authentic and stay consistent with your activities and practices. For example, morning meetings can be held virtually and video newsletters can bring communication with students and families to life. For more details about how to help students feel a sense of belonging online, check out these eight strategies .

A culture of belonging starts with adults. All the adults in a building or district can work together to foster a school environment of caring, connection, and belonging. ( Tweet this )

Here are three protocols that you can use in staff meetings (or as meeting warm-ups!) to develop adult capacity, skills, and mindsets around creating a culture of belonging in your school or district:

1. Permission to Envision

2. Mindsets for Adults

3. Belonging Baton Pass

1. Permission to Envision

This activity for educators is an opportunity to give yourself permission to take a step back and envision what you hope to be true for your educational community.

Write a future headline that reflects your goals for student belonging. Once you know the headline, ask what needs to be done to realize those goals in your classroom, school, or district.
Example of a Permission to Envision headline
You can share your headline with team members or families, and use the headline as an aspiration for your classroom, school, or district.

2. Mindsets for Adults

Identify shared decision-making tenets that are important to your community when it comes to building a culture of belonging. Example tenets could be acting with authenticity or utilizing asset-based approaches.

Once your school or district community has identified these core mindsets for adults, you can place these tenets at the top of meeting agendas so that whenever you make decisions that impact students, these tenets are top of mind.

3. Belonging Baton Pass

Cultivating a true sense of belonging is akin to a baton pass. As each adult learns what works for students, their hobbies, and how they like to feel seen, they can share that with other adults who are supporting those students.

Create simple, shareable information systems to capture belonging expertise amongst caring adults (classroom teachers, administrators, support staff, custodial staff, etc.) in your school community. Possible tools to use for this include Padlet , a Google Doc or spreadsheet, or Support Notes in the Panorama platform .

What's the best way to understand whether a student feels they belong at school? What's the best way to assess the impact of belonging-building activities or strategies?

The answer to both is: Ask the students! Asking students (as well as faculty and staff) to reflect on their sense of belonging can give you the feedback you need to understand what is or isn't working. ( Tweet this)

The research-backed Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Survey includes an opportunity for students to reflect on their sense of belonging, so that schools and districts can measure the effectiveness of climate and culture programs.

Our survey questions are designed to help you understand how much students feel that they are valued members of the school community. Here are some examples:

How well do people at your school understand you as a person?

How much respect do students in your school show you?

Overall, how much do you feel like you belong at your school?

Panorama's Adult SEL survey also offers questions designed to assess adult sense of belonging, such as:

How well do your colleagues at school understand you as a person?

How much respect do colleagues in your school show you?

Overall, how much do you feel like you belong at your school?

You can read and download the complete set of Panorama Student Sense of Belonging survey questions .

Success Story: Measuring Student Sense of Belonging with Panorama

D.C. Public Schools' Anacostia High is using the Panorama SEL Survey along with the Panorama MTSS platform to measure and improve student sense of belonging.

Dr. William Blake, Assistant Director of Redesign at the school, shared the story of how they implemented a ninth grade Dream Team pilot program pairing every student with a caring adult in the building for daily check-ins.

Due to the pilot program, student sense of belonging increased by 11% from the Spring to Fall of 2021 in their Panorama survey results. Belonging translated to better academic outcomes-their highest rate yet of promotion from ninth to 10th grade.

As Dr. Blake said, "The Dream Team pilot created an environment where every student believes they have somebody in the building who cares about their success. Now, our students feel more connected than ever before."

Has anyone ever told you to cheer up? Being told how to feel rarely has the intended effect. Telling students "You belong!" is just as ineffective .

When learning how to write in school, we're told that we need to show, not tell, in order to make a convincing case. The same concept applies here. Students need adults to show them that they care for them and value them.

All of the tools, approaches, and practices shared in this article are suggestions for getting intentional about fostering student sense of belonging-and doing it in a way that authentically expresses that students are valued.

We already know you care deeply about those students. Now they need to know it too.

Download the toolkit: 5 Strategies to Build Student Belonging

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Why Students Need to Feel a Sense of Belonging and How To Create It

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Student sense of belonging -- what does it mean, what does the research say about it, and what strategies at the classroom, school, and district levels help to cultivate student belonging?

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Develop and implement individualized learning plans for students who need additional support, ensuring they have access to necessary accommodations.

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Work closely with special education teachers, counselors, and other specialists to provide comprehensive support for your students.

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Foster an environment where students support one another. Peer tutoring and buddy systems can be effective in promoting understanding and empathy.

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I can plan lessons that cater to these differences by adjusting content

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I can plan lessons that cater to these differences by adjusting content

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Teaching Styles In Physical Education | The PE Project

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Spectrum of Teaching Styles · Mosston & Ashworth · Student-Centered · Productive · Guided Discovery · Convergent · Divergent Production · How to Teach PE · Pedagogy

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Continuously assess the effectiveness of your strategies and be willing to adjust them based on the changing needs of your students.

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Welcome any changes that may benefit those to feel more comfortable. 

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Welcome any changes that may benefit those to feel more comfortable. 

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I can change tasks, equipments, and rules as well

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I can change tasks, equipments, and rules as well

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The Importance of Diversity & Multicultural Awareness in Education

Drexel University School of Education

Cultural diversity in the classroom is on the rise. In 2014, U.S. public schools hit a minority majority milestone with Latino, African-American, and Asian students having surpassed the number of white students. In 2044, the U.S. Census predicts that over half of the nation's population will be people of color, so this trend will likely continue.

In our increasingly diverse and multicultural society, it's more important than ever for teachers to incorporate culturally responsive instruction in the classroom -- whether teaching elementary school, middle school or high school students. And the increase of diversity doesn't only relate to race and ethnicity; it can include students of different religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and language background.

Interested in becoming a teacher? Learn more about Drexel's Teacher Certification program.

Why is it Important to Encourage Diversity in Schools and Workplaces?

Fostering inclusion and awareness around multicultural education and taking a culturally responsive approach to teaching benefits all students. Not only does creating greater multicultural awareness and inclusion help students with different backgrounds and needs succeed, but it encourages acceptance and helps prepare students to thrive in an exponentially diverse world. Our Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness Certificate Program is a great opportunity for teachers to learn how to create positive classroom environments and can serve as a foundation for understanding how to promote diversity in your classroom.

Diversity in and out of the classroom will continue to grow, so it's essential we prepare students to adapt to an evolving world and embrace those different from themselves. Learn more how the programs at the Drexel School of Education are helping to prepare more culturally-responsive educators today.

Types of Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

Every student is unique. In order to properly understand and promote cultural awareness, teachers need to understand all the different types of diversity they may encounter in their classrooms including:

Race

A person's skin color can have a great impact on their experience in society. It can also impact how they view themselves and others when engaging in classroom activities.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity relates to a person's culture and nationality. Ethnicity is sometimes confused with race, but it is important to recognize that while some people may have the same skin color, they may come from different places and have vastly different cultural beliefs and views of the world.

Religion

It is important to understand that people have different religious belief or no religious beliefs, and it may impact their participation in the classroom. Students may react differently to lessons based on their religion or may not be able to be present on certain religious holidays.

Language

While English is commonly used in American classrooms, for some students, it is not the language they speak at home. Accommodations should be made to help students for whom English is a second language.

Socioeconomic Status

A student's socioeconomic status can affect their ability to participate in the classroom without some type of accommodation. For instance, access to a computer at home or reliable internet access is not a given for some children. Teachers should be aware of this and the stress it may cause students who may struggle due to a lack of resources.

Sexual Orientation

A student's sexual orientation can have a great impact on how they are experiencing the world. Teachers should understand the struggles that exist and ensure that the lessons taught in their classroom are inclusive.

Gender Identity

Similar to sexual orientation, it is important to understand each student's gender identity and how they would prefer to be recognized. Teachers should respect their student's identity and use preferred pronouns when interacting with their students.

How can you Promote Diversity and Multiculturalism in the Classroom?

There are several ways teachers and administrators, such as principals and coaches, can ensure that both the classroom environment and curriculum are responsive to the increasing cultural diversity of our society. These strategies will encourage all students' cultural awareness, enhancing each student's sense of identity, and foster inclusion in the classroom community.

1. Get to Know Your Students Ensuring that cultural awareness is promoted in the classroom starts with the teacher understanding each individual student. Take the time to learn about each student's cultural background, hobbies, learning styles, and what makes them unique. Demonstrating a genuine interest in learning about each student and their culture will help establish trust and allow you to form a bond with them so they feel valued. If students feel appreciated by and comfortable with the teacher, there's a better chance they'll feel comfortable talking with and respect their peers in the class - and communication is the core to a culturally aware and inclusive classroom.

2. Maintain Consistent Communication Aside from getting to know your students, teachers should also continue to maintain ongoing communication throughout the semester or school year. Scheduling 1-on-1 meetings with students to "check in" every so often will allow you to consistently improve how accessible the classroom is to everyone. Students can talk about whether they felt included in the classroom culture. This can help identify issues or ways to improve the overall experience. It's also an opportunity to discuss their progress in the class and offer guidance on how they can improve, based on their individual needs as a student.

3. Acknowledge and Respect Every Student It's also important for students to celebrate and respect their own diverse backgrounds, as well as each other's. When appropriate, teachers should encourage students to research and learn about their own ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This allows them to better understand their own culture as well as the differences and nuances with their peers. As a bonus, this can be a great ice breaker assignment, allowing students to give presentations about their family traditions and culture to help expose the class to concepts outside of their own familiar comfort zone. Acknowledging these differences and creating a safe space for discussion helps promote understanding in the classroom and beyond. Also, as you encourage students to learn about their diverse backgrounds, remember to take the time to highlight what's offensive and the distinction between cultural celebration and appropriation. Learning how to talk about other cultures in a respectful, mature way is essential for success in life outside the classroom.

4. Practice Cultural Sensitivity While it's important to keep an open dialogue amongst students, it's equally as important to make sure you're being sensitive to everyone's culture, beliefs, and language concerns. Take the time to understand each student's cultural nuances - from learning styles to the language they use - and use these insights to design your lesson plans. For example, provide English language learners with appropriate and relevant resources that help them improve their English comprehension skills. Rather than teach with a traditional lecture style, create learning experiences that are more interactive and require collaboration. These considerations will help ensure that every student feels included, is given the space to learn in their own way and is given a chance to succeed.

5. Incorporate Diversity in the Lesson Plan The classroom environment is important for fostering cultural awareness, but you also should ensure diversity is represented in your actual lesson plan. For example, broaden history lessons so that they encompass the world beyond United States history and culture. Or, use references and analogies to other cultures in your lessons and assignments to help students with diverse backgrounds personally connect. Another great strategy is bringing in diverse speakers to add varying points of view and real-life context to different subjects.There are several ways you can ingrain cultural awareness and diversity into your lesson plan, and it will vary depending on the cultures represented in your classroom and the course you're teaching. Regardless of the subject, always try to present and connect lessons to real-world issues. It's easier to promote cultural awareness within your lessons when there's a real example for students to relate to.

6. Give Students Freedom and Flexibility Teachers often feel like they need to take on a strict, authoritative approach when it comes to managing their classroom. The most valuable lessons are often learned through a student's own experiences, so giving them some freedom in the course encourages more connection to the curriculum. Allow students to read and present their own materials that relate to the fundamental lesson so they can approach the topic from their own perspective. As a teacher, you can act as a facilitator and encourage conversation and healthy debate between diverse opinions. Group assignments are also a great way to expose students to diverse perspectives, allowing them to work together to explore and solve a problem. This will also help prepare them for a diverse workforce where they'll have to partner with a range of people to accomplish their professional goals.

Why is it Multicultural Education Important to Students?

It is important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term. Teaching diversity exposes students to various cultural and social groups, preparing students to become better citizens in their communities. These culturally responsive teaching strategies will help you to promote diversity in the classroom.

With these culturally responsive teaching strategies in mind, it's important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term.

Students Become More Empathetic

Promoting awareness and creating a personal connection with diverse cultures in the classroom can prevent students from developing prejudices later in life. It allows them to empathize with people different from themselves since they're more aware of the experiences someone of a different race or cultural group may face.

Students Gain a Better Understanding of Lessons and People

When working and learning with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures present in the classroom, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. It also teaches students how to use their own strengths and points of view to contribute in a diverse working environment.

Students Become More Open-Minded

Naturally, by exposing students to a diverse range of opinions, thoughts, and cultural backgrounds, you're encouraging them to be more open-minded later in life. This will make them open to new ideas and be able to attain a greater comprehension on a topic by taking in different points of view.

Students Feel More Confident and Safe

Students who learn about different cultures during their education feel more comfortable and safe with these differences later in life. This allows them to interact in a wider range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves as well as in their interactions with others.

Students Are Better Prepared for a Diverse Workplace

With the rise of globalization, it's more important to be able to work with people from different cultures and social groups. If students are exposed to diversity and learn cultural awareness in the classroom, it sets them up to flourish in the workforce.

Learn More About Cultural Diversity in Education

There are additional resources available to help educators grow their knowledge of cultural diversity and apply it to their classrooms. Here are a few sites where you can find more information:

Additionally, Drexel offers programs that can help broaden a teacher's expertise in multicultural education including our online Teaching English as a Second Language and Social Emotional and Behavioral Wellness certification programs. You can also contact us to request more information.

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The Importance of Multicultural Education - School of Education

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As classrooms become more diverse, it's crucial for students to learn about other cultures. Discover how students benefit from classroom diversity with Drexel.

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Differentiate Instruction:

Use various teaching methods (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) to address the different ways students learn.

Provide multiple ways for students to engage with the content (e.g., visual aids, hands-on activities, video tutorials, group discussions).

Offer Flexible Grouping:

Rotate groups regularly to allow students to work with different peers. This provides opportunities for collaborative learning and allows students to benefit from each other’s strengths.

Use a mix of independent, pair, small group, and whole-class activities to reach all types of learners.

Assess Student Needs Regularly:

Use formative assessments, quizzes, and observations to monitor student progress and identify any learning challenges early on.

Provide timely feedback that helps students improve and allows you to adjust your instruction accordingly.

Utilize Assistive Technology:

Integrate technology tools (like text-to-speech apps, interactive whiteboards, or educational software) that can support different learners' needs.

Offer audio or video resources for students who may struggle with reading or need a different medium to process the information.

Provide Choice and Autonomy:

Allow students to choose projects or tasks that align with their strengths and interests (e.g., letting them select from different types of assessments like oral presentations, written reports, or creative projects).

Empower students to take ownership of their learning by giving them options for how to engage with material and demonstrate understanding.