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Intercultural Classroom Management - Diversity as a Challenge

Course Summary

This course is intended for teachers and professional associates of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, principals and other school staff who work or will work in intercultural classes.

Cultural diversity in the classroom is on the rise. Teachers and professional associates are faced with classrooms full of students from different backgrounds and needs. Therefore, teachers are required to have more professional skills to cope with discrimination and prejudice between students. At the same time, teachers must deal effectively with classroom challenges linked to cultural and linguistic diversity.

Diversity challenges and intercultural classrooms need innovative teaching strategies. Accordingly, is important to incorporate culturally responsive instructions in the classroom.

Fostering inclusion and awareness around intercultural education and closing a culturally responsive approach to teaching benefits all students.

Course Detailed Description

In a world where different cultures exist in the same place and are no longer separated from one another, understanding intercultural diversity becomes more important.

One of the most challenging issues in intercultural education concerns classroom management. Approaches and techniques to classroom management, which in the past have reflected the norms, values, and beliefs of dominant cultures must be modified to meet the academic, sociocultural, developmental, moral, and ethical needs of ever-increasingly ethnically diverse school populations.

Learning about different people can help us learn more about ourselves as often our own culture is invisible to us.

We live now in a global village, and we are one single family. It’s our responsibility to bring friendship and love from all different places around the world and to live together in peace." Jackie Chan (Chinese Actor, Philanthropist, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador)

The main goal of this course is to promote interaction, collaboration and cultural dialogue, improve competencies linked to teaching and training learners from other cultures and countries, and integrate them into the classroom practice.

Other course goals are:

·         develop an awareness of the opportunities and challenges of the international classroom

·         get to know and understand group dynamics and how to adapt to various cultures

·         understand the pedagogical approaches and didactical principles to create a learning environment in which students feel invited to engage and learn from the diversity

·         offer the set of practical exercises and educational framework to create a more diverse and inclusive classroom

·         improve competencies linked to teaching learners from other cultures, and integrating them into the classroom practice

·         create a Learning scenario on the topic of Diversities as the challenges

·         discuss challenges of diversities in the classrooms

 

Topics:

cultural awareness, diversity, inclusive classroom, intercultural education, prejudice, teacher competencies

COURSE SCHEDULE (Day by day):

Day 1​

  • Introduction to the course

  • Course outline

  • Ice-breaking activities

  • Presentation of participating organisations

  • Exchanging good practices in intercultural classroom management and diversities

  • Identification of needs and goals for each participant

  • Guided city tour (optional)

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Day 2

  • Intercultural classroom management

  • Defining culture and individual differences within cultures

  • Exploring cultural identity in an intercultural and multicultural context

  • Characteristics of intercultural classrooms

  • The advantages of intercultural classrooms

  • Creating a learning-friendly environment for learning in the intercultural classroom

  • Effective classroom management

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Day 3

  • Teaching intercultural skills

  • Teachers’ intercultural awareness and competencies

  • Cultural learning tools

  • Why should we teach intercultural competence?

  • Intercultural learning

  • Developing cognitive, digital, emotional/social skills

  • How to be a skilful teacher?

  • World Cafe


Day 4

  • Innovative teaching methods and tools in intercultural classrooms

  • Innovative teaching methods and tools in intercultural classrooms

  • Digital tools as support in intercultural teaching

  • Transforming intercultural classrooms through digital technology


Day 5

  • Project-Based Learning in intercultural classrooms

  • Project-Based Learning

  • eTwinning projects as intercultural bridge-builders

  • Networking and planning the new projects

  • Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, discussion


Day 6 

  • Course evaluation

  • Certificate awarding 

  • Excursion and other external cultural activities

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Note: The program will be dynamic and interactive. The schedule may change based on the issues posed by the participants and the real resolution processes in which we engage. Excursion plans for any given course may also affect the agenda.

Course outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

  • expand the understanding of culture, identity, diversity, belonging and marginalization

  • get to know more about intercultural classrooms

  • encourage diversity and inclusion in the classroom

  • learn new approaches to cultural diversities in the classrooms

  • improve intercultural skills and competencies for intercultural learning

  • developing cognitive, digital, emotional/social skills

  • exchange best practices on how to handle learners from vulnerable backgrounds

  • build long-term trusted relationships through networking

  • prepare new eTwinning projects on the topic of intercultural cooperation and communication

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