Multiculturalism at school - a threat or an opportunity?

Multiculturalism at school - a threat or an opportunity?

There has been a lot of discussion about multiculturalism in the media and as future teachers, the topic touches us all. Multiculturalism brings a lot of opportunities to the school community, but also tensions when people from different cultures meet. We all do not have previous experience of a multicultural school community. How to turn the challenges of multiculturalism into positive ones? How to draw valuable experiences from multiculturalism as both teachers and students?

Developing multiculturalism in the school community. 

It is especially important that students from different cultures find their own place in Finnish society. The aim is to develop basic education so that everyone receives individual and high-quality education. One important goal is to learn the Finnish language. Every child, regardless of background, has the opportunity to receive enhanced or special support if they need it.  

A wide variety of teaching materials are available in modern schools. Stimuli such as learning games, computer programs, and media players can bring additional motivation to learning. From the point of view of strengthening the pupil's identity, it would be good for the school to have the opportunity to arrange for the pupil to be taught in his or her mother tongue.  

Attitudes towards multiculturalism  

" If you moved to a foreign country yourself, would you feel natural to adapt to new things, forgetting your own background?"  

Imagine a situation where you move to a country where a culture and language that is completely foreign to you prevails . Would you feel natural to adapt to new things, forgetting your own background? Would you prefer to preserve your identity and customize it with new experiences?  

Each student, so to speak, brings their own culture to the classroom. Even if there are only Finnish-born students in the class, everyone still has their own ways of working, communicating and dealing with things. People may be alienated and even afraid of multiculturalism, when in fact it is not so black and white.  

“Teachers’ own attitudes affect students . "  

As prospective teachers, we have a significant role to play in supporting student identity. The teacher’s own attitude influences students: we should understand different patterns of behavior and regard difference as wealth. Early positive experiences of multiculturalism carry far into the future. As we learn to observe things from different perspectives , the encounters of cultures become natural instead of unusual . We therefore believe that multiculturalism must be seen as an opportunity.