The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In Education
Nowadays it is more and more common to hear the concept of cultural diversity, therefore, it is known that culture refers to the set of beliefs, knowledge, customs, ideologies that are characteristic of a certain place and people, implying that cultural diversity is meet and live with the cultures that exist around the world. Thanks to globalization, the world is in the palm of our hand and with just one click we can discover and know information of all kinds, likewise it is much easier for people to travel to other places and thus soak up the cultures that are Totally different from your own.
Cultural diversity is defined as: “Multiplicity of forms in which the cultures of groups and societies are manifested. These expressions are transmitted within groups and societies and also between them. Cultural diversity is manifested not only through the various forms in which the cultural heritage of humanity is expressed, enriched and transmitted thanks to a variety of cultural expressions, but also through the different modes of artistic creation, production, distribution, dissemination and enjoyment, whatever the medium and technology used.
Students, having knowledge that there are different people, make them people with values such as respect, Beyond the fact that subjects such as mathematics and natural sciences are going to be learned at school, it is equally important that knowledge is implanted in them to be better human beings for society. It is convenient to teach everyone to value and highlight the richness of differences, whether from the dominant current culture, minorities or other cultures.
Multicultural education must build competent educational subjects in different cultures, adequate bicultural socialization requires certain conditions such as the role of language, skills in solving group problems,
cultural overlaps, possibilities of bridges, among others. The purpose of this cultural diversity in salons is to recognize and value all cultures, since they are all different and irreducible. Conscious belonging to a cultural group provides the individual with positive elements for their life and educational training. For Herriegel & Sloucum the competence of managing diversity refers to the global ability to appreciate the distinctive characteristics of individuals and groups, such characteristics must be adopted as potential sources of organizational strength, in addition to appreciating the peculiarity of each person.
Cultural diversity is also a source of competitive advantage, by instilling it in students, it creates better prepared professionals in the workplace, since in many companies it is necessary to know how to adapt to people who may present different standards, values, ways of Finally, think about it, especially if the student wishes to work in a professional field in which it is necessary to have contact with foreigners and not necessarily that they are from another country, simply in our own place of birth we can find many differences and it is necessary to have a mentality open and willing to tolerate and understand each of them.
In the opinion of Mato The development of university educational policies and programs requires understanding the factors that explain the diversity of existing institutional models and educational proposals. In this sense, it is necessary to contribute to the understanding of this diversity of contexts, policies and life experiences.
Consequently, it is necessary to analyze how interpersonal relationships are with peers, teachers and the educational environment in general, because even in teamwork it is important to put into practice respect both for our peers and for the authorities that in this case is the teacher. “One of the fundamental objectives of educational institutions is to convert the classroom curriculum into an essential element of the educational response for all students based on cultural diversity.
know, respect, care and support each other, while learning academic skills and social skills
However, there are pedagogues who do not find that cultural diversity positively affects students since this would imply losing the culture from which they originate, believing that one culture is better than another and that this causes classism, or behaviors of superiority or inferiority, including discrimination, promoting an ideology that is contradictory to what one wanted to inculcate. For Fraser the relationship established between the discourses of cultural recognition and the discourses of integration has a rather complex nature, whose logics may even be mutually contradictory at times. In Fraser’s own words: “While the former tends to promote group difference, the latter tends to undermine it. Therefore, the two kinds of demands are in conflict with each other, they can interfere, or even go against each other» That is, integration would make everyone equal to the point of ignoring any possible cultural difference, while diversity would recognize the differences of each identity, but weakening the link that makes all these identities part of the same imaginary of citizenship.
Education with cultural diversity is important since it prepares students to face the problems of the labor and social world in general. By developing these multicultural social skills, it helps us to develop in our environment and allows the student to be aware of himself and his environment, thus performing his social role in all areas of his life. Therefore, in each person there is a growth process where tolerance to diversity is gained, flexibility to listen to different types of language, knowledge of the different needs that an innovative process implies and the ability to know what contributions the person can make. from his particular thought profile.