The Learning Environment and Cultural Diversity
Question:
Discuss about the Safe and Inclusive Environment for Agikuyu Culture.
The learning environment that I work in is a diverse kind of environment that contains many tribes at once. Since my country is made up of 42 tribes, it is important to note that any learning environment here would not lack at least several tribes at any given time. More specifically, this learning environment consists of not less than four tribes. Each of these tribes has their own cultures. All the cultures must be incorporated into the learning environment to ensure that all the learners’ interests are considered. For instance, my culture, which is a Luo culture, may not correspond to the Agikuyu culture. The luos beliefs are different from other tribes’ beliefs and all of those beliefs must be considered in this learning environment. To ensure that every participant should feel comfortable with the environment in which he or she does things. It would be important to note that all the tribes represented here. Some of these cultures are only unique to the people practicing them.
More specifically, there are different practices by different people according to their cultural behaviors. For instance, culture involving marriage, gender, initiation from childhood to adulthood among many others (Phillips, 2011). Since the learning environment is composed of people from different cultures, it is necessary to give all the available cultures represented by each individual priority so that every person feels part of the learning process. In this learning environment, certain tribes have unique cultures, for example, in this case, the Muslim culture may seem to be outrageous because the way they dress may not relate to the way others do.
Cultural needs are needs that are associated with a particular culture. For instance, in my learning environment, various cultural needs can be considered. Some of these cultural needs include values, beliefs, language, and cultural practices among others. An indigenous culture in this learning environment is Muslim culture from Somalia. As stated above, the Muslim culture portrays quite different aspects of beliefs, values, language differences, gender, personal learning environment etc. There are different cultural practices associated with every ethnic group in this environment. It is a basic requirement that this learning environment is made conducive enough for every stakeholder so that each individual feels inclusive of the decisions made concerning the learning process. Most of these cultural practices include things to do with marriage, types of food, initiation procedures, birth, and death among many others.
Cultural Needs and Practices in the Learning Environment
In this environment, gender roles are varied because of different ethnic groups that are present. For instance, there are some things that my culture does not allow girls to do e.g. girls or women are not encouraged to plow using ox-plow. This may sound an interesting behavior but that is how it was done and it has been that way for long. Majority of these beliefs are very hard to understand but others are common between two or more ethnic groups. Putting into consideration of all the cultural beliefs, values and cultural practices of different cultural groups is very important because it makes each individual feel included in every process (Phelps, 2012). A learning environment should be all-inclusive to accommodate all different groups of people and it should be flexible enough to accept any changes or adjustments that may be required to be incorporated in order to achieve the required objectives.
For instance, culture involving marriage, gender, initiation from childhood to adulthood among many others. Since the learning environment is composed of people from different cultures, it is necessary to give all the available cultures represented by each individual priority so that every person feels part of the learning process. In this learning environment, certain tribes have unique cultures, for example, in this case, the Muslim culture may seem to be outrageous because the way they dress may not relate to the way others do.
To identify different cultural needs of these learners, proper methods need to be devised to enable us to come up with a conclusive remark about their cultures. One of the methods is interviewing the learners to get to know and understand each of their cultures. In this way, learners can shade more light on how their culture operates, their practices likes and dislikes. In addition, learners can be engaged in discussion with each other or with tutors with an aim to discuss their culture and to compare and contrast different cultural behaviors and practices (Peter, & Olson, 2010). These methods are because learners would be willing to participate in sharing information about their culture; otherwise, we may face hurdles especially when there is opposition from the learners to the processes and methods used. The results found from the learners can also be inaccurate and may need proper verification.
Since the learning environment consists of the varied cultural mix, it is obvious that some challenges would be faced while trying to execute the mandate. It is important to note that mixing culture sometimes make learning interesting and enjoyable, however, we cannot fail to mention the challenges that come together with it. In most occasions, the learning process may be interrupted because of learners not interested in other people’s culture (Jenster, & Hover, 2014). This is a common problem faced by many educators, therefore, it important to make sure that learners are encouraged and told the importance of studying other cultures. In addition, the learning process should be made as interesting and enjoyable as possible.
Challenges of Incorporating Different Cultures in Learning Environments
An example of my culture that may be a barrier to effective learning is the issue of women not allowed to participate in other activities that more important in the community (Nash, 2015). This practice may make other people feel uncomfortable participating actively to contribute to better outcomes of learning. Since other communities do not practice this belief, learners may consider it improper to learn or be involved in discussing issues related to it. It is a belief that has been practiced for a long time; however, many people have been seen to be deviating from the norms currently, it is important to note that many people still believe that other duties are purely meant for men. Consequently, some foreign culture may also influence the way learning processes to take place. One common indigenous culture concerns dressing codes. Research has indicated that we have copied extremely the dressing behavior of the Western world than we actually should (Chisnall, 2012).
When people come together, for instance, people brought together in a learning environment, the manner of dressing may actually influence the learning process and hence the learning outcomes. In most occasions, the dressing code may negatively influence the how people perceive information being relayed by an individual. Situations where there is poor dressing, even the trainers would feel uncomfortable with the environment. The impact would be on the product as well as the process (Hopkins, 2013). Another culture that is present within this learning environment and it comes from the Agiuyu culture is the issue that it is not mandatory to give a dowry when one is married to their daughter; instead, they also pay the man who has married their daughter. This sounds interesting but others object it in totality. It contradicts my culture, which states that a man must pay a dowry to the woman’s parents.
The problem faced when studying these different cultures emanate from the fact that many learners feel they should not be part of behaviors that they would not practice in their life at any given time. To address these problems, an educator needs to incorporate everybody in the learning process (Dobni, Dobni, & Luffman, 2001). This can be done by making sure that learners get to understand the various aspects of different cultures through learning. Participators should discern racism and ethnicity among the learners so that each one feels wholly included in the learning process. Finally, it is important to follow the laid down policies and regulations that are enacted to protect different cultures. Stronger regulations will encourage people to seek education even in places which are not their homelands.
Strategies for Creating an All-inclusive Learning Environment
The learning environment we have established is composed of different people from different cultural groups. It is therefore important to come up with proper ways of creating an enabling and all-inclusive environment that will accommodate each individual so that everybody feels part of the system (Ferrell, 2016). Several actions can be put in place for the achievement of good outcomes concerning the responses that would be derived from the learners. Several learner support programs can be incorporated in the learning process to ensure that learners properly comprehend their own culture and other cultures as well.
One of the methods is interviewing the learners to get to know and understand each of their cultures. In this way, learners can shade more light on how their culture operates, their practices likes and dislikes (Cadogan, 2009). In addition, learners can be engaged in discussion with each other or with tutors with an aim to discuss their culture and to compare and contrast different cultural behaviors and practices. These methods are because learners would be willing to participate in sharing information about their culture; otherwise, we may face hurdles especially when there is opposition from the learners to the processes and methods used.
To make understanding easier, a trainer should use different teaching and learning strategies. These strategies would allow the trainer to consider things that would give the learners a quick insight of what they are taught. Similarly, having learners who are well versed with the community culture will ease the information delivery since those who have the knowledge will pass it to those who are unaware (Loudenback, & Kelley, 2013). The language barrier can be a greater challenge to learning a different culture, therefore, it is important to use a language that everyone is comfortable with and that which explains every aspect conclusively and accurately, for instance, using vernacular language would be more effective in passing information among people from the same tribe (Buttle, 2010). In doing this, it would be easy for them to understand hidden facts that would be hard to explain using foreign languages like English.
In addition, using observation as a way of practically show learners how the cultural practices are executed would be effective because learners will get time to see exactly what is done and even get an opportunity to ask questions and get clarifications at the same time (Brooksbank, 2011). The effectiveness of this strategy will be evident from the fact that learners will get to understand key information about the different cultures that are documented and are available for study. Learners should be allowed to observe practice and see for themselves different cultural practices so that they can stick into their memory for long and this will give them a chance to do comparisons where necessary.
Finally, it would be necessary to have a proper understanding of the physical environment that the learning is taking place. This will enable learners to have some insights about how the occupants of that region derived some of their cultures. Some features in the physical environment are closely related to the way they behave and what they practice. For example, those people who stay around water bodies like lakes and rivers are often anglers and agriculturalists. An educator needs to incorporate everybody in the learning process. This can be done by making sure that learners get to understand the various aspects of different cultures through learning (Doole, Lowe, & Kenyon, 2016). Participators should discern racism and ethnicity among the learners so that each one feels wholly included in the learning process.
Finally, it is important to follow the laid down policies and regulations that are enacted to protect different cultures. Stronger regulations will encourage people to seek education even in places, which are not their homelands. In conclusion, a learning environment should be all-inclusive to accommodate all different groups of people and it should be flexible enough to accept any changes or adjustments that may be required to be incorporated in order to achieve the required objectives of the organization.
References
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