How can we create global communities in our classrooms?

I think that inquiry and culturally responsive pedagogy in today's classrooms help students become more open-minded as they learn to question misconceptions. Although it takes skills to avoid "putting down" learners who hold such misconceptions, I am convinced that in order to create global communities in our classrooms, we need to encourage the process of inquiry learning.

Moreover, it is crucial that students feel safe while sharing.

During my practicum, I noticed how my associate teacher spends time creating a classroom environment that fosters respect for other people's ideas and opinions. Although she teaches at a Catholic school, my AT introduces our students to traditions from around the world that happen near Christmas. Our students learn about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, etc. They even received their own dreidel (a game played during Hanukkah) and learned how to play with it. She also invited students to share their own family traditions and they were encouraged to write their own math problem using elements of their own personal culture.

In my opinion, exposing students to diverse cultures and discussing differences while allowing students to develop their own cultural identity is what every teacher should aim for. Doing this will help to shape our students into open-minded individuals who will be curious and respectful of differences.

Furthermore, these ideas link very well with Dean Barwell's publication on word problems, where he discusses the challenges for certain students to be able to access the linguistic and cultural component of math problems.

Have a great weekend.

- Mark

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Word_Problems.pdf