One of the criteria families may consider when choosing an international school is that of diversity, both of the student body and of the school educational community. From our visits to the schools in the Tokyo area, we have seen that although staff may be quite diverse, in some schools, student diversity is less so. However, is that important, or are the benefits of cultural diversity overstated?
What is culture?
Culture is a major part of everyone’s life. It is what shapes us, and includes our language, our dress, our beliefs and values, and our traditions and celebrations. It influences our behaviour, our way of thinking, and our knowledge and understanding of the world. Our culture allows us to develop an individual sense of identity, which helps us place ourselves in the global community.
What does it mean to be culturally diverse?
Cultural diversity is the range of ethnic or cultural backgrounds that a group of individuals have and is often referred to as multiculturalism. Within a culturally diverse or multicultural environment, there will be a wide range of cultural backgrounds represented, with equal respect given to all. Differences and similarities will be recognised in a positive way, with value given to what other cultures have to offer. Individuals are encouraged to reflect on their own potential cultural biases whilst acknowledging that others have different viewpoints and perspectives.
Why is cultural diversity beneficial?
We now live in a mobile world where schools and workplaces are increasingly a melting pot of different nationalities, cultures and ethnic backgrounds. As such, an understanding of how to collaborate and work with a range of diverse individuals is highly important. Being in a culturally diverse environment helps us value different perspectives and allows us to build trust and understanding. We can learn from other cultures and have experiences that we may not normally have. These are all important aspects of developing international mindedness, a fundamental pillar of an international education.
Cultural diversity in schools
On the face of it, it would seem that a diverse student population would be beneficial. Students can benefit from everyday interactions in regard to their cultural understanding, and they have instant access to a diverse range of experiences and knowledge. As a result, they should be able to develop a good level of international mindedness. However, assuming that a diverse community will lead to the development of international mindedness can be problematic as it relies heavily on the quality of these interactions and experiences. With younger students especially, there is often a lack of true understanding and misconceptions can develop. In these instances, an adult needs to structure and cultivate the understanding.
A diverse staff and faculty body can also be an advantage; however, again this depends on the commitment of this community to share their culture and experiences, and to demonstrate an interest in other cultures. Only if they display an international mindset will students really benefit in regard to developing international mindedness.
What does this mean for schools which are not so culturally diverse?
Well, this really comes down to individual schools and the value they place on international mindedness. A lack of a diverse student body does not necessarily mean that a school cannot effectively develop an international mindset in its community. It has already been mentioned that often schools with diverse communities rely too much on their students interacting with each other in order to develop international mindedness which frequently does not give the best results. There is also much written about how schools who have more of a monoculture representation can be highly international; they just achieve it in a different way. They tend to have more global engagement, and experiences and learning are planned rather than spontaneous, whereas in diverse student bodies, there is more emphasis on naturally occurring intercultural understanding.
In addition, not all, but most families who send their children to international school, have ‘bought in’ to the idea of international mindedness. They understand that the world is becoming more mobile, and in the future, there really will be a world without borders in many respects. They want to prepare their children for this, and therefore, in their own lives, have already started to embrace this. This may be through travel, but also through attending local multicultural events or discussing global news events as a family.
Another factor is that even if the student body isn’t particularly diverse, from what we’ve seen on our visits to the international schools in Tokyo the teaching community is. Generally, teachers are coming from across the world, with a large proportion from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, Japan, India, and the Philippines. Many are ‘international’ teachers in that they come from a background of working in other countries and cultures. They bring with them a lot of international knowledge and experiences which should naturally become part of their interactions and teaching. Although, they have to show a commitment to this.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that having a diverse student and teacher body in international schools has its advantages in developing international mindedness. It results in natural and spontaneous intercultural understanding. However, a non-diverse student body can also fulfil this criterion of an international education, but it is very much school dependent. When you read the school’s vision and mission statements, or when you tour the school, can you see evidence of planned approaches to developing an international mindset? If you cannot, then diversity may be an issue and the school is not fulfilling one of the key aims of an international education.
However, the most effective schools will not solely rely on student and teacher diversity, but instead couple this with a systematic approach which will be seen in the teaching and learning, the value system of the school, the school displays and the inclusion of the school community.
Our next blog…
One of the key aspects of an international education and developing international mindedness is language learning. In our next blog, we will be exploring what this looks like in international schools.