Chapter 3: Families and Communities

Language and cultural diversity are very beneficial assets for the teaching and learning process. In a classroom that has language and culture diversity, there is a place for students and teachers to learn of different aspects of life and how to interact with different cultures. As said by Gene E. Hall, "Being able to function comfortably in different cultures allows educators to cross cultural borders, incorporating the students' cultures and experiences into curriculum and classroom activities. It also allows teachers to model respect for cultural differences and the cultural borders some students must cross on a daily bases." Diversity allows for great learning and teaching possibilities. Not only does it allow for the teacher to model appropriate ways to handle diversity and how to accept other cultural ways, it is a great learning situation for students.