Chapter 2: Students as Cultural Beings

Communal Cultures; High-context Culture; Low-context Culture; No Child Left Behind; Multicultural and Global Education; Polychronic Cultures

Today’s university students in the United States are more diverse culturally than ever before. As mentioned in Chapter 1, cultural differences include age, race/ethnicity, social class, sex, language, religion, sexual orientation, ability of mind or body, regionality (U.S. location influences), and national ity. Historically, some college instructors may remember when certain students were not served in public schools. Those times are long gone and federal laws now protect the rights of today’s college students. College instructors who wish to become inclusive in their teaching need to recognize, honor, and use knowledge of student diversity in order to enrich student learning of course content. Recognizing a student as an English language learner is a start. Honoring that student’s need for additional exam time and assistance with certain grammatical structures, or the student’s difficulty in expressing an opinion in class shows more concern and involvement in the student’s learning. Using knowledge of a student’s cultural background, worldview, and ways of doing things shows even more commitment to the student’s success in the course.