Culture-friendly environment in classroom DOCX

Title	Culture-friendly environment in classroom
Author	Cikgu Kuya
Pages	18
File Size	43.9 KB
File Type	DOCX
Total Downloads	920
Total Views	967

Summary

Description

1.0 Introduction Malaysia is a multi-cultural society. The main ethnic groups are the native Malays as well as large populations of Chinese, and Indians. The findings of a study carried out by Salfarina, Mohd Zaini and Azeem Fazwan (2009) showed that ethnic groups in Malaysia, like many other developing countries have gone through various historical and development changes. Besides that, influence from immigration and emigration has shaped ethnic relations into a complex, dynamic and fluid situation. Thus, teachers teaching in a classroom where diversity of culture becomes an integral part of the student population, have an important role in creating acceptance among the diverse ethnic groups. The feelings of acceptance towards each other's cultural and ethnic difference can be inculcated by creating a culturally conducive classroom environment. In fact, it is the best and most important place to teach about different cultures, since it is in the classroom that students from diverse cultures grow up and learn together. If children are exposed to a multicultural classroom environment where they learn to appreciate each others' differences and respect each others' strengths and weaknesses, right from the beginning of their academic years, it will be easy for them to get along with children from other cultures and this would eventually strengthen the relationships of the diverse ethnic groups in the classroom. In order to accomplish this role, teachers themselves must believe in the importance of creating a healthy multicultural environment which treats everyone as equals. 1...