(Non scholae sed vitae discimus) We learn not for school, but for life.

“Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth

and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to
difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace:
respect for diversity.”
------ John Hume

Diversity in the schools of the country as well as in other schools in the world is also an
opportunity. Our country as well as other countries is enriched by the ethnic, cultural and language
diversity among the citizen and among the schools .Whenever these diversity exist, inter group
tension, stereotypes and discrimination develop. This becomes an opportunity for teachers and
schools to help unify individuals and citizens as a contribution to a demographic and pluralistic
society.
-As time pass bay it is inevitable that our world is getting smaller and smaller. We are introduced
to different cultures, ideas, knowledge, living and tradition. And within the four corners of our school
system this diversity is present and may result in two things:
1. It may create a wall between learners because such diversity will hinder them to understand what
others had already understood. It will pose a threat to everyone if not handled well.
2. I t may result to a more enjoyable and conducive environment for everyone as one group will be eager
to learn something from the others.

In view of this purpose, some guiding principles which were adapted from an interdisciplinary
group of psychologist, political scientists, sociologist and multicultural specialist are hereby presented,
to wit:
1. Pre-service teacher education programs should help prospective teachers understand the
complex characteristics of ethnic groups in ways race, ethnicity, language and social class interact to
influence students’ behavior.
-It is undoubtedly the duty of pre-service teachers or those already exposed in the teaching
profession that should guide us future educators, since they are armed with experience about the
richness of diversity. They have undergone previous experiences that are very helpful for us in facing such
delicate challenge.
2. Teachers should ensure that all students have equitable opportunities to learn and to
perform to a standard.
-It should be our goal teachers that teaching should not be taken for granted. We must exert
much effort to mold the mind of our students and make them a helpful member of the society. In fact
Miriam Defensor-Santiago once said: “stupidity in innate among students and it is the teachers’ job to
curethem”. We should not stop improving, learning and pass such knowledge to our students. How can
we improve our teaching if we stop learning? How can we say that we have standards when our
teaching styles are hooked on stagnancy?
3. Teachers should help students acquire social skills needed to interact effectively with
students from other racial, ethnic, cultural, language of social groups.
-“No one is an island” they say and it is true. The same is applicable in learning. Yes, one can
learn alone but it would not be enough. Learning is not just based on our own experience but also we
learn from others. We learn from our environment. As human beings, we are social people, not the fancy
one or the rich like but social people in the sense that we always wanted to be around with others. We
have friends to talk to, neighbors to share our day with, families where we can feel that we belong. If us,
educators, did not do our job to help our students to be a social person then we deprive them of
interaction, we deprive them of them opportunity to share and we create in them a selfish world.
4. The school curriculum helps students understand that knowledge is socially constructed
and are effective of the social, political and economic context in which they live and work.
-Schools must be constant in adopting changes especially in their teaching styles. Teachings of
today may not be appreciated tomorrow. As our world continues to interact, the school should also
change its curriculum. It should be emphasized that actions of a person may affect its environment.
5. Schools should provide all students with opportunities to participate in extra-and co-
curricular activities that develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that increase academic achievement
and foster positive intercultural relationship.
-In providing students with the right tool in order for them to be future ready, it is essential that
they must be mentally ready, physically ready, emotionally ready and spiritually ready. Learning should
not be focused on the academe only. One may be academically good, another may be athletically
excellent and others may be artistically awesome. These areas must be look into carefully and must be
assessed and connect them into society.
6. Teachers and students should learn to reduce or eliminate stereotyping and other related
biases that have negative effects on racial ethnic relations.
-It is within the grasp of the teachers that the evils of stereotyping and discrimination can be
eliminated. Teachers as second parents in the community have a big role in educating the students that
stereotyping has no place in the society. They must emphasize that stereotyping and discrimination
divides the community and does not unite it. One example is a recent incident in Yale University in the
United States where a white woman called the police because she saw in their dormitory common room
a black woman sleeping. That black woman was also a resident of such dormitory and a student of the
University, yet the white woman reported such incident because she does not feel safe with a black
person in the same room. There is discrimination there because they are depriving the black woman right
to education.
7. School should provide opportunities for students from different racial, ethnic, cultural, and
language groups to interact socially under conditions designed to reduce fear and anxiety.
-It should not be forgotten that teachers must find ways in order for them to introduce
differences in the four corners of the classroom. They must ensure that such differences are okay. For
example, teachers can use the world day celebration to open the mind set of their students that we are
living in a diverse world that everyone is different from the others but we are still the same human being,
equally created by God.
8. Teachers should teach and student should learn about the values shared virtually by all
cultural groups like justice, equality, freedom, peace, compassion and charity among others.
-This is not just a simple task but this should be a mandate that a teacher must see to it that
there are no superiority in the classroom. Our constitution provides Article 3, section 1 that: No person
shall be deprive of life, liberty or property nor the equal protection of the law. This means that equality is
not a privilege but a RIGHT. We are all created equal and must understand equality. If there is equality
there is peace. If there is peace then there is freedom and so forth.
 Multiculturalism has broadened and deepened our traditional curriculum into a wider range
of accommodating cultures not of the teachers’ culture alone. It has underscored fundamental
concepts which before were given less importance. This section has clarified some of basic
assumptions that enhance teacher development.
1. No two students are exactly the same.
-Everyone learn form his own way and the teacher must be neutral in this.

In the picture above we can see two different learners with different correct answers.
2. Children in all classrooms are heterogeneous.
-Heterogeneous or made up of different parts. There are different types of learners and it is
proper for teachers to evaluate it all in order for him or her to relay the topic effectively.
3. Strategies that work with one learner may not work with another.
-There are different strategies in learning. To them are visual, musical, physical, audio, logical,
solitary or combination. If the teacher knows how to apply them, then he has no problem is breaking
barriers in learning.
4. Students’ background and experience should be considered when teaching.
-This means that the teacher must be sensitive to the needs of the students. The teacher must
avoid using techniques that are controversial or may lead to misinterpretation. Example would be, the
teacher must evaluate her students well, as to avoid using terms that may be traumatic to others or
sensitive to the feelings of the students. If this might happened other learners may use them to bully the
one affected.
5. Community members from various ethnic groups assist teachers in facing issues of ethnic
differences and similarities.
-In this sense teachers must open their doors to ask certain members of the community who are
members of a specific ethnic group. In this manner the teacher could improve herself by learning issues
with different ethnic groups which she might use in her lessons to connect such differences and promote
understanding among the learners. Example, the teacher may ask someone in the muslim group the
importance and reason behind their “fasting” and in return the teacher will educate her students about it
so that other learners may respect it.

“Consummatum est”