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This website focuses on teaching people about cultural diversity and sensitivity to the backgrounds and identities of others.  It provides a multitude of resources to use in the classroom to teach students that cultural diversity is much more than just the color of your skin or where someone is from.

ACTIVITY:  Using the Library of Congress, have students explore culturally relevant art depicted by artists from different time periods from all over the world.  Have them discuss what they notice about each piece of art and why they believe it is representative of its area or origin. Have students think about their own culture and background. Have them come up with a list of things that are important to them. Once they are done, have them narrow down the list to the top 3-5 things that most represent them and their culture. Then have the students create their own art depicting their personal culture.  Once done, have students take photos of their work and post them on Lino for their classmates to see and comment on.

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Our classrooms are culturally diverse with students coming from different racial, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds. Diversity is a pedagogical strength which we should draw on to prepare culturally responsive spaces where students learn about the importance of respecting and accepting each other's cultural practices. As the adage goes, diversity is the spice of life and cultural awareness is the antidote to prejudice, racism, bias, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and discrimination.

Being culturally aware means "recognising and understanding that we all have different values shaped by our diverse cultural backgrounds. What we consider to be 'normal' behaviour in one country can be entirely different in another." It is only through embracing the ethos of cultural awareness that the world becomes a more inclusive and a safer place to live in.

To help you educate students on the importance of cultural diversity, equity and social justice, I invite you to check the resources I cured below. These are websites that provide a wide variety of educational materials to help you prepare inclusive classrooms where students learn to value their differences and cherish their diversity.

This section in Common Sense Education features over 30 tools and websites that you can use with students in class to open their minds and "get them to reflect on their own privileges, and help them better understand other people, perspectives, and cultures. Some of these picks will also cultivate students' perspective-taking and integrity, putting students on the path to social change and activism."

Google Arts and Culture offers tons of helpful resources to introduce students to our world's rich cultural heritage. Students can get access to knowledge and stories curated from over 2000 cultural institutions from 80 countries. "From the suffragettes who fought for women's rights, to performing arts at the Paris Opera, to NASA's archive of stunning images, discover stories about our cultural heritage. It's your doorway to explore the art, history, people and wonders of our world."

Learning for Justice features curated resources to teach students about concepts related to social justice and equity. Resources offered touch on diverse topics including: race and ethnicity, religion, ability, rights and activism, bullying and bias, gender and sexual identity, immigration, and more.

The NMAAHC offers resources to help students learn about the African American culture through interactive exhibitions. The museum "was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members."

Country Reports delivers content regarding culture, language, religion, history, geography, economy, food, and more on each country of the world. Simply select the country of your choice and click to access its information.

This resource from CIA provides "basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities."

The World Digital Library offers a treasure trove of materials to teach students about the world's diverse cultures. These include: "historical documents including books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films."

The Equity Literacy Institute offers free and downloadable resources designed by EdChange and the Equity Literacy Institute touching on topics related to multiculturalism, equity, and social justice.

So Just provides access to primary source documents on social justice. The site's collection features "historic speeches, songs, poetry, and manifestos on human rights and social justice. So*Just is a free resources from EdChange and the Equity Literacy Institute."

Macmillan Education offers this selection of courses to use in class to teach students about cultural awareness.

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Educational Resources for Teaching Cultural Diversity and Inclusiveness

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Our classrooms are culturally diverse with students coming from different racial, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds. Diversity is a pedagogical strength which we should draw on to prepare culturally responsive spaces where students learn about the importance of respecting and accepting each other's cultural practices.

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Connecting with Students All Over the World

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Connecting with Students All Over the World

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This article discusses the impact of students having interactions with students from somewhere around the world that are culturally different than them.  Gives resources for teachers to use to connect with students from all over the world.

ACTIVITY:  Discuss the importance of identity and how each one of us matters. Discuss how different people have different cultures and that diversity is what makes each of us unique.  Talk about some things that they think it would be neat to learn from students their age from another part of the world. Using Go Pangea, model how they can ask a question and get answers from students just like them from around the world. It is set up like a social media platform where students and teachers can post questions and authorized users from all over the world can respond to their questions. It gives students insight about topics they are interested in from kids that live in the relevant area.

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Global exchanges let students from anywhere in the world meet online and experience different cultures.

Courtesy of Pen Pal Schools

When was the last time your students were in touch with a peer in Kenya, Poland, or Bolivia? One benefit of distance learning has been the chance to bridge distances through global exchanges. Student-to-student connections across many nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures bring the world into the classroom. The power to communicate across borders and the ability to collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds is a key 21st-century skill.

Discover how much they have in common with people who live in other places

Learn to value similarities with and differences from people from different backgrounds

Open their minds to the amazing diversity on our planet

Learn alternative ways of thinking and new solutions to problems

Come to feel empathy for those who have great challenges

Develop the compassion that gives them a sense of purpose and calls them to make the world safer and more equitable for all

International peer-to-peer exchanges enable students to do the following:

Distance learning platforms, with all their limitations, allow educators to shine a spotlight on diversity and intercultural exchange and offer new possibilities for connecting.

IDialogue

IDialogue, an international distance learning website founded by Natalia Bout, an educator from Russia and cultural enthusiast, offers a variety of authentic student-to-student learning opportunities in English. So far this year, they've already reached more than 7,000 educators and 100,000 students in different locations worldwide.

As a student in India wrote, "When I log into iDialogue from India and read the posts of students from other countries... I think I better understand their mentality and this is very unusual, for me iDialogue is like a window to another dimension."
Courtesy of iDialogue
Discussions, Debates, and Virtual Field Trips

Students express opinions in moderated forums as they develop critical thinking skills and an understanding of the value of hearing multiple perspectives. Topics and modes of communication vary based on student interest. In response to a question about the impact of the pandemic on their lives, for instance, Laura, from Bogotá, Colombia, made a video about life in quarantine that featured her infant niece and her cat.

A Polish boy, Alex, wrote, "For happiness, a person needs 8 kisses and 7 minutes of hugs per day. How to be happy during the period of strict quarantine and self-isolation?" Faustyna replied, "The warmest hugs will be when the quarantine is over."

In response to the question, "What is the power of knowing different languages?" Ricardo wrote, "I speak Spanish and Quechua and am learning English." Antoni replied, "I am proud of such people, although my grandmother knows only Polish... and she is a wonderful person."

Students are invited through monthly "challenges" to create a video or photographic entry. Everyone votes on their favorite submissions, and prizes are awarded. In one challenge, students were invited to share why they were proud of their hometown. Five high school students collaborated on two videos about their hometown, Durrës, Albania. Two Turkish 9-year-olds produced a video and wrote, "With its warm atmosphere, charming landscape, fresh air and water Bolu is one of the best places to live in."

In another challenge activity, #MagicWinter, students from more than 140 countries submitted entries about how they celebrate holiday traditions. One of the winners, Mehuli Jana, from India, wrote, "Saraswati Puja is my favourite among them. This festival marks the end of winter and welcomes the arrival of spring. May the world see peace, happiness and healthy year 2021."

Teachers can also sign up for collaboration from one classroom to another, where students engage in live video exchanges and lessons as well as multimedia file sharing. IDialogue's platform matches grade levels and facilitates scheduling and navigating time zones. They've also hosted virtual field trips to see giraffes in Kenya, meet NASA astronomers, and explore downtown Vienna. Students propose places where they'd like to go and then post about their experiences.

Other Global Projects

UNICEF Voices of Youth (grades K-12) invites students to share opinions on global issues. On the topic of climate change, a 17-year-old climate activist from Dominica shared a photo-essay. A teen from Zimbabwe described his climate change activities. On the topic of racial justice, Voices of Youth invited students to submit poetry.

PenPal Schools (grades K-12) is another platform where students from many countries interact through virtual messaging or videos and participate in collaborative projects.

Digital Exchange Program (grades 6-12) is a free, online study abroad experience that matches students with a peer from a different country. They engage in weekly video calls and activities to simulate an authentic study abroad experience.

There are many types of virtual global projects where students meet peers and exchange feelings, opinions, and perspectives. Here are a few more:

These activities widen horizons and help students develop a sense of identity safety. They learn to value their own identities and feel that who they are and what they think matters. They also come to appreciate and accept others. As young people grow up in today's increasingly interconnected and diverse world, not only their personal success in life but the future of all people on this planet will depend on our ability to interact, cooperate, and learn with others who are different.

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How Students Can Meet Their Peers All Over the World

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Global exchanges let students from anywhere in the world meet online and experience different cultures. Courtesy of Pen Pal Schools When was the last time your students were in touch with a peer in Kenya, Poland, or Bolivia? One benefit of distance learning has been the chance to bridge distances through global exchanges.

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This interactive website was created by two cousins from New Zealand.  Their mission is to create an interactive globe where students can click a place and learn all about it from children just like them.  This platform of children teaching children is a unique and engaging way for students to learn about the world, diversity, and develop cultural sensitivity.

ACTIVITY:  Together as a class, choose one place From Touchable Earth to learn about.  Have the students pay attention to what the students share.  Have them think about the specific aspects that are being shared.  Once all of the videos are completed, discuss what they learned as a class.  Have the students think about specific words or short phrases that describe the student and the culture that they just learned from.  Present a PowerPoint with a ClassPoint Wordcloud link for the students to complete.  The words that are repeated will get bigger. Discuss what things stood out the most. Have the students reflect on what they have learned about the new culture they learned about. Now have students take the time to independently learn about another place of their choice. Have each student complete their own word cloud based on the country they chose. Have students share each project with you and prepare a class presentation. Have students pick a word cloud that stood out to them and have them learn about that country too.

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Namaste and welcome to Nepal. My name is Isatap and I study in Grade 7. Nepal lies between the two biggest countries of the world, India and China. The population of Nepal is 27 million approximately. The capital city of Nepal is Kathmandu. Once again, welcome to Nepal. Group: Welcome to Nepal! Good morning! My name is Birendra.I am 13 years old. My country's name is Nepal. Nepal is situated in between the two large countries China and India. Kathmandu is Capital city of Nepal. It has a 27 million person population. Lastly, our greetings and best wishes to all of you from Nepal. Bye!! Group: Welcome to Nepal!

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Namaste and welcome to Nepal. My name is Isatap and I study in Grade 7. Nepal lies between the two biggest countries of the world, India and China. The population of Nepal is 27 million approximately. The capital city of Nepal is Kathmandu. Once again, welcome to Nepal. Group: Welcome to Nepal!

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World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

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World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

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This United Nations webpage is dedicated to honoring and educating about World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.  The focus is on cultural diversity and awareness as to how it works to make the world a better place.  The goal is to create an open dialogue on how to achieve peace and sustain development.

ACTIVITY:  Read the webpage with the students and then watch the embedded video.  Give students time to reflect on what they think the message of this resource is. Share a Padlet page for students to post their thoughts on. In the video, they discuss how a lack of technology affects people all over the world including the ability to easily share their culture with others. Have the students choose one of the arts highlighted in the video that lack exposure due to there being limited to no internet or other technology available in those areas. Have the students create a Google Slide presentation or other digital media such as Flipgrid, discussing the art they chose, the culture it is from, and the effect of it not getting the same attention or exposure as those from more affluent areas of the world.

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National Geographic Kids is a free website for educators and students that provides grade-level appropriate materials to teach students about many different facets of the world they live in.  This specific link teaches students about all of the different countries in the world.  Here students can experience the beauty and wonders of countries they may have thought differently of or maybe have never even heard of!

ACTIVITY:  Pull up the website on the smartboard for all of the students to see.  Pick a country that students are not familiar with.  Together look through the pictures and read all of the facts and other information.  Once done talk about what this country and the United States have in common and what big differences they see.  Discuss specific topics such as food, culture, geography, population, education, and technology.  Together create a digital Venn diagram on Classtools.net.  After modeling the correct way to do this, put the students in pairs or in small groups.  Have each pair or group pick 5 countries that they would like to learn more about.  Have them create their own Venn diagrams using Classtools.net.  Upon completion, have each pair or group present what they have learned to the class.