Global Responses to Increasing Diversity in Schools

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses both micro- and macro-level variables that connect to school responses and practices to educate children from diverse cultural heritages, including non-native, particularly newly arrived children. It discusses issues that many school systems around the world are now facing as they prepare to educate non-native, culturally diverse children to help them become successful adults. It includes teacher, administrator, and country-level perceptions and practices and explores teacher preparation with an emphasis upon cultural competency and culturally responsive teaching, school policies and practices, and the role of administrators and governments in shaping school policies and building cultural connections between home and school. The review includes diverse geographic regions—Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the European Union, the United States, and Nordic countries. Finally, the chapter presents interviews with present American teachers to highlight the approaches they are using to achieve multicultural inclusion in their classrooms.