Teach English in ManduhubaolAge Zhen - Xilinguole Meng — Xilin Gol

A teacher, that travels the world, works in different countries and faces various cultural conditions, must raise his or her awareness of issues that are ethnically diverse and how they could be manifested in a class. I believe that we must pay more attention to cultural needs of our students as urgently as we do to intellectual, social and behavioral needs. From centuries to centuries students are permanently passing through transformation of their identity being influenced by their culture. First of all, when an ESL teacher preparing for relocation he has to find as much as possible useful information about the country and necessarily about the exact region he is moving to. And in the beginning it’s better to be conservative in speech, gestures and manners. Be more formal until find out that alternatives are not considered as inappropriate. Only after getting confidence that there is no offence in the actions, you can breathe freely and start being a culturally sensitive teacher. Insofar as today schools are open to be infused by diverse student populations with different backgrounds, a teacher need to put more effort into building the correct atmosphere, getting to know all students as individuals. To be more specific, it’s important to understand what students value as well as their individual strengths and learning needs. This will help acknowledge the cultural heritages of different ethnic groups. Along with expanding the boundaries of possibilities, make sure the curriculum is culturally varied and relevant. Do not neglect topics that affect the minorities in your class, postponing projects to non-priority days. Each student has unique skills and can share experiences that will enrich your classroom culture. Organize discussions to know more about students’ hobbies or give surveys to carefully find out about political or social opinions. Try to bridge multi-ethnic barriers, creating engaging lessons. Take the time, explore, so it will make easier to connect the identities and personal interests in projects later. For example, if you have a student from a Muslim family, organize the lesson about architecture in South Spain, which today represents a great cultural heritage, while the buildings are getting more and more visitors every year. The class will be able to understand his culture and possibly open new horizons in their sense of art. As well as the student will feel much more connected to the rest of the class after sharing his roots. Another important instruction is to be aware of your own cultural biases. The teacher is responsible to show what is embracing and what is encouraging. So you need to be open and honest but don’t express political views or social beliefs until you are certain that your comments will not be misrepresented and students’ feeling will not be affected. The aim of cultural sensitivity is not to incorporate traditional practices respecting the aspects of nontraditional students, but to combine cultural assumptions and correct any cultural biases that are unacceptable and intolerant. Furthermore, It will be useful to develop positive relationships with students’ families and local colleagues to seek input and support from community members. For instance, if you know someone who can provide deeper and more authentic learning of the influence of river flow in the region than you, ask them to share their knowledge. I suppose, it will be an entertaining part of the lesson and also something new for the teacher. Generally speaking, to build a Cultural sensitive atmosphere in the classroom teachers must encourage themselves to critically examine their own behavior and thoughts. It can be challenging to meet the demands of a culturally diverse population, but reflect on biases and confronting discriminatory attitudes towards specific cultural groups will enable a unique opportunity to unite students.