Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion

Description

Concept by Irena Papa

Teaching in a multicultural classroom has become the norm for almost all teachers around the globe.

Monocultural classrooms are rare nowadays and 21st-century educators face the challenge of creating a safe learning and teaching environment by supporting and promoting diversity and inclusion.

Because intercultural communication sometimes encounters barriers, causes conflict, and might turn into an issue for learners, this course emphasizes the importance of raising learners’ cultural awareness to foster diversity and inclusion.

Participants’ engagement in interactive work will prepare them to teach in a multicultural classroom where diversity may sometimes not be welcomed.

They will explore practical exercises and case studies on intercultural encounters and cross-cultural communication to become familiar with the right techniques for encouraging cross-cultural communication and avoiding prejudice and stereotypes among learners of different cultural backgrounds.

In addition, the course will explore the concept of Cultural Shock and its stages. Participants will learn to identify the stages of cultural shock and to offer a solution on how to overcome it. They will also become acquainted with ICT apps that can be used in the classroom to encourage learners to interact among them and raise cultural awareness through interaction.

By the end of the course, participants will have gained confidence in the ways how to foster and encourage diversity and inclusion in the classroom. They will leave the course with a set of practical activities they can implement in their classroom to help their learners understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and raise awareness among them.

Learning outcomes

The course will help the participants to:

• Identify cross-cultural communication barriers and ways to overcome them;
• Reflect on the importance of fostering inclusion and diversity in the classroom;
• Reduce prejudice and stereotypes;
• Master techniques to improve communication across cultures;
• Enhance students’ cultural awareness;
• Exploit ICT apps to raise awareness of cultural diversity.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Introduction to the course

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools;
• Discussion and sharing of experiences about the challenges in a multicultural classroom;
• Introducing the core concepts of culture;
• Participants’ expectations for the course.

Day 2 – Exploring and improving communication across cultures

• Cross-cultural communication barriers;
• Generalizations vs. stereotypes;
• Perception;
• Sources of cross-cultural miscommunication;
• Exercises and techniques to explore and improve cross-cultural communication.

Day 3 – Developing intercultural awareness

• Intercultural communicative competence vs. intercultural competence;
• Tools for developing ICC;
• Activities;
• Concepts and questions.

Day 4 – Understanding and resolving differences

• Culture shock – what is culture shock?;
• Stages in culture shock;
• Exercises on how to identify and overcome culture shock;
• Major aspects of culture;
• Native culture vs. target culture.

Day 5 – ICT and cooperative teaching to foster diversity in the classroom

• Using ICT apps to help students interact among them and explore the target culture;
• Raising awareness of cultural diversity in the classroom through collaborative and cooperative tasks and activities;
• Activities.

Day 6 – Course closure & cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.