re is no dominant one. Everyone is somewhat culture-bound. Within each culture, there is a unique coherence, integrity, and logic (Snowman, Biehler, 2000). These two statements and believing that one culture is not better or worse than the rest is the ideas on which cultural diversity, or pluralism, is based. One English/History/Humanities teacher articulates this attitude by commenting that relationships must be based on tolerance and mutual respect (M.Fidler, personal communication, June 9, 2001). In response to the question, “Do cultural differences cause problems in the classroom?” twelve out of twelve teachers and both the principal and vice principal agree that they do not. One teacher commented that using details about one culture and relating them to another in the context of curriculum encourages meaningful learning. ESL students bring a different perspective to the subject matter, and they teach American students to be accepting of different ideas (M.Fidler, personal communication, June 9, 2001). It also increases the likelihood that students will admire and befriend someone outside of their culture (Snowman, Biehler, 2000). Such a cooperative tribe is essential for effective classroom management.Without addressing sensitively the dynamics that cultural diversity brings to the classroom, destructive attitudes and misunderstandings can hinder the learning process. Ethnocentrism, believing one’s culture is superior to others, can isolate individuals, breed resentment between students, and damage teacher-student relations. Specifically for teacher’s, the Pygmalion effect follows from an instructor, consciously or not, expecting a certain level of performance from an individual of a specific culture or other identifiable label. Subtly those expectations are communicated through interactions with the student and emerge as consistent with the student’s performance. There are five areas of mi...
