The Benefits of Diversity for Students

On the 4th of February, Chinese New Year was celebrated at Bukit Sunrise School. It was not celebrated by Chinese students only, but by all students and teachers. In support of diversity in BSS, several festivals, which come from cultures other than Indonesian, are also celebrated in school. These have even become part of the annual school activities.

Celebrating festivals beyond one’s culture is not only aimed to introduce a certain culture to the students. Moreover, it is one of the school’s efforts to teach diversity.

In fact, being in a multicultural environment could lead to some significant effects (Kelly, 2016). Recent Educational Leader, Peter Levine, noted that people can learn and enlarge their understanding by listening and talking to people different from themselves. Especially in schools, students can enhance a discussion session when they share information, opinions and perspectives based on their different background. In this case, the students will learn something new from their friends. Another article mentions diversity having a direct impact on students’ performance. Diverse classrooms encourage creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking (Bennett). Having diversity in the classroom also teaches the students to be more open-minded, to respect others and to be more discerning about what they think and believe in. So, it shows that diversity has a good impact on one’s personal and academic growth.

In terms of social development, being exposed to people of diverse backgrounds also plays an important role in career preparation for the students. In the 21st century work environment, they will deal with all sorts of individuals. Being exposed to these at an early age will make it easier for them to collaborate and communicate with their colleagues. They will be more empathic to the experiences of others.

References :

https://www.kickboardforschools.com/blog/post/5-benefits-of-teaching-classroom-diversity

https://blog.ed.gov/2016/04/the-value-of-classroom-diversity/