Benefits Of A Culturally Inclusive Classroom

A culturally inclusive classroom is one where the school community, including students and staff alike recognize, appreciate, and take advantage of diversity to enrich the overall learning experience. Moreover, a Culturally responsive teacher acknowledges the presence of culturally diverse students in the classroom by helping these students find relevant connections among themselves and with the subject matter their study and with the tasks they are asked to perform in order to promote students’ academic, social, and behavioral skills. To promote students’ academic achievement in a cultural diverse classroom, educators need to take into consideration some important component of effective culturally responsive classrooms, including the use of
Explicit, strategic instruction, shows students what to do, why, how, and when” (p. 5). Some effective strategies include, think-allow and reciprocal questioning. The objective of these strategies is to help students develop essential skills to enhance academic learning. In addition, through the use of interdisciplinary units, teachers “can help their learners successfully engage in cross-curricular activities by demonstrating how to make connections across the curriculum through literature, by making explicit connections among books, and by helping them recall how previous activities and experiences relate to current studies” (p. 5). Similarly, through scaffolded instruction, teachers establish the difference between what students can achieve independently and what they can achieve with instructional support. Then, the teachers design instruction that provides just enough scaffolding for students to be able to participate in tasks that are currently beyond their reach. In addition of providing students with various instructional strategies to meet their needs, teachers need to provide learners
“Teaching in the diverse classroom and lifelong learning go hand in hand” (“The Culturally Responsive Classroom,” 2014, p. 54). Developing focused professional development activities on themes related to diversity helps educators change their instructional practices and classrooms; and empowers them to develop their capacity to work effectively in highly diverse classrooms and schools. Educators should target and review curriculum resources to pursue this goal. “By examining classical literature and dated historical perspectives, educators can become more aware of ideas or materials that may denigrate, marginalize or offend some of their students” (p. 55). This gives teachers the opportunity to discuss sensitive issues around race, discrimination and exclusion in a safe and positive environment with students. Assessing the curriculum may also assist educators identify perspectives that should be included in the