Program
Education K-12 M.A.
Year Approved
2019
First Advisor
Elliott, Nathan
Abstract
Schools are experiencing an increase in diversity – such factors include culture, religion, primary language, race, socioeconomic level, ethnicity, family composition, gender, and previous experience, as well as ability level – of which challenges educators to reanalyze their pedagogical approach to the development of learning communities. A community-based approach to learning is founded in the belief that learning involves the whole person, fostering emotional and intellectual growth due to the development of trusting relationships. This requires teachers to provide a safe, secure and respectful environment with positive and consistent relationships among adults, children, and their peers; where there is collective responsibility within the community, common goals are attainable by all members, as well as healthy social-emotional development for each individual. In order to develop learning communities in linguistically and culturally diverse classroom settings, the cultural and linguistic riches and resources of students, families, and communities must be valued, welcomed, and accepted. Drawing on personal knowledge of other cultures and countries enables everyone to feel involved, responsible and have a shared sense of belonging. Pedagogical approaches to inclusivity, social competence and acceptance are required since cultural and linguistic diversity will continue to rapidly increase and challenge educators.
Degree Name
Education K-12 M.A.
Document Type
Masterʼs thesis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Filion, K. G. (2019). Development of Supportive Learning Communities in Multicultural and Multilingual Classrooms [Masterʼs thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/206