With the advent of advanced technological developments such as the Internet and air travel, the world has been reduced to a global village. People interact widely on a world platform much easily as compared to how it was in the ancient times. In this way, the education sector has become diverse, and institutions of learning serve students from varying social backgrounds around the world. Educators interact with learners from various backgrounds, and so it becomes important for both of them to forge a relationship for there to be smooth learning. Failure to establish a cordial association between the leaners and the educators, it becomes difficult for learning to progress effectively (McFarland " Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). Educators have to comprehend society and culture so that they understand their learners’ psychological and social needs. Overlooking the societal and cultural aspects could result in the frustration of learners in the classroom setting.
Culture and education are two inseparable factors because they are interdependent. The societal, cultural patterns guide education delivery to learners. Culture determines the kind of knowledge that younger generations need to obtain from the educators (McFarland " Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). For instance, if a certain society embraces spiritual, cultural patterns, its education procedures are likely to emphasise the accomplishment of eternal and moral values of life. Conversely, if the culture is highly materialistic, its education pattern will be designed for the achievement of material values that promote the pleasures of senses and comfort. A society that lacks cultural content could lack educational organisation and pattern (McFarland " Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). For this reason; the cultural provisions of a country or another societal setting comes with a powerful effect on the educational patterns.
Education has double functions of renewal or modification and conservation of culture in society. Educators have the duty of passing national cultures to learners in the process of imparting skills in them. The former has to understand culture and society so that they prepare learners for their future in the larger community (Gruenewald, 2014). It is the cultural background in which education is passed and exerts an effective influence. People receive from society gifts of family life, education, legal rights, vocation, safety, and protection similarly to the way cultural heritage is passed from one generation to another. In this way; educators need to comprehend culture and society so that they assist learners in acknowledging and appreciating the privilege that is accorded to them in their community (Gruenewald, 2014). Without the enforcement of culture, it could be impossible to guarantee the learners their human rights, respect, dignity, and other aspects that are important in life.
A majority of urban schools have a problem with the learners being well-acquainted with the concepts of culture and society. There is a lack of cultural competency from both the learners and the educators (Gruenewald, 2014). Many teachers in urban communities do not have the cultural awareness component and deliverers of pedagogy and classroom managers. Cultural competence involves more than knowing the cultural traditions of different ethnic groups represented in the classroom setting. For the teachers, it means acknowledging and comprehending the trends and norms of the learner populations which are guided by ethnic, societal, and socioeconomic factors. It is important that educators be well-versed with the cultural and societal aspects of life in the context of their learners so that they are sensitive to their potentially disadvantaging situations (Gruenewald, 2014). Learning is jeopardised where educators and students are at loggerheads with regarding their approach to society and culture.
Understanding culture and society is important to educators because they get the gist of racial dominance and privilege in their communities. They get to see the societal system of institutional and cultural dominance imposed on minority groups because of historical influences and events and the manner in which the prevalence and privilege affect societal interactions (Betancourt et al., 2016). It is important that educators comprehend that they have a potentially effective impact on the lives of their students. The modern education system focuses on improving test scores and enhancing proficiency in mathematics and reading and encouraging learners to engage more in sciences. However, it is vital to consider that the initial tool of the school educators is the association that they establish with the learners (Betancourt et al., 2016). The basic thread in educator-learner associations both within and beyond the classroom setting is that they are sociable relationships first and then advance into an academic context. Educators have the duty of mentoring students through the learning process.
Educators need to be in a position that they know the social concerns and factors of their students. It calls for research and seeking to obtain vital cultural information about their population. In the modern education system, there are inherent conflicts between students and teachers. There are disconnections between them which suppresses the teachers’ abilities to delivery lessons and undermines the students’ ability to learn (Betancourt et al., 2016). Ideally, it does not matter how well for a lesson that a teacher could have prepared or the manner in which students in the classroom are smart. If the teacher fails to establish a social association with the learners on a culturally responsive level, students are likely to disengage from the learning process. It is the duty of the educators to ensure that they form cordial relationships with the students, as much as it is the responsibility of learners to adhere to learning guidelines advanced to them by the teachers (Betancourt et al., 2016). For this reason; it is important that educators understand the factors of society and culture; they will assist them in developing a basis for developing productive relations with the learners and hence improve the education process in the long run.
Teachers need to be conscious of the culture and society aspects of their learners’ lives in a bid to prevent them from disengaging in the learning process. In this way; teachers need to look into the demographic statistical measures of the community surrounding their institution of learning. Some of the factors to consider are the social status of the people, racial composition, education levels, and other social, cultural issues that define the people in common (Leonard, 2017). It is impossible to generalise the culture of people using such demographic factors. However, the knowledge of such facts is vital in addressing the emotions and hearts of students shielded in the opinions and answers that they give during classroom dialogues. Understanding the demographic issues surrounding the learners will be important to educators because they are in a position to adjust their thought patterns and responsiveness towards the general and unique needs of the students (Leonard, 2017).
In the contemporary education system, teachers need to get beyond their comfort zone and involve themselves with attempts to know the personalities of their learners. Understanding their culture and society assists educators in knowing what the learners and like and dislike (Leonard, 2017). Educators need to know the learners’ recreational activities, their preferred genre of music, and whether the learners are local or international. Such essential questions are enquired from the learners either formally or otherwise. Understanding the culture and society of learners in the classroom setting comes with the alignment of thought patterns between the students and their teachers (Leonard, 2017). Educators cannot force their agenda on the learners, but once they comprehend their individualism and approach to society and culture, they are likely to be in tandem with regard to their thought patterns.
Often, teachers, employ the teamwork approach to deliver lessons in schools. Understanding the culture and society aspect of learners comes with an added advantage of addressing concerns coming from a collective group experience. The team approach to learning is highly effective in situations where it is applied appropriately and can be detrimental where it is not done objectively (Leonard, 2017). Where educators understand the culture and society of their learners, they are able to try different styles of delivering lessons strategically. There are cultures where people are mainly individualistic and believe in achieving personal results. In other circumstances, people could value doing things together and accomplishing team results in the long run. A teamwork approach to learning can be ineffective in the former situation but be highly productive in the latter (Leonard, 2017). In totality, educators need to understand culture and society so that they are acquainted with the most appropriate ways of delivering lessons in class.
Understanding culture and society comes with the element of educators allowing themselves to be informed by their students. In ideal learning situations, teachers recognise that education is about the exchange of ideas. For this reason; teachers are supposed to be ready to be educated in the process by gaining some knowledge from the learners (Leonard, 2017). By allowing learners to give their views about different academic and non-academic issues, teachers acquire more information and witness directly the informal ways that students use to police one another. The concepts of culture and society should inform educators that they do not hold a monopoly of knowledge and appreciate that the learners are also capable of developing academic theories and facts (Leonard, 2017). Without such a perception, educators are likely to impose even wrong academic theories and approaches to life, which can be corrected by learners through their experiences.
The aspects of culture and societal influences affect the expressions of discipline, rebuke, and acceptance among learners. It happens both in the academic and co-curricular activities. Awareness of the informal ways in which learners keep each other in line assist educators with classroom management techniques (Barrett, Huber " Reynolds, 2014). By understanding their culture and society, it becomes unnecessary for teachers to reach out to higher authorities in school once they feel disrespected by the learners. The educators gain knowledge pertaining to the manner in which to deal with the learners on the ground without necessarily sending them to the school principal or senior teachers. Teachers can develop a collective knowledge to the effect that learners are not penalised for voicing frustrations in the classroom setting (Barrett, Huber " Reynolds, 2014). Such a situation changes the environment of the classroom and assigns a high level of credibility to the educators that they could otherwise not acquire.
Conclusion
One effective way of closing the achievement gap in a school setting is by ensuring that educators are culturally competent so that they offer the learners the educational experience to which they are entitled. Teachers who are culturally competent ensure that the curriculum is fully taught and delivered in ways that are responsive to the collective values and experiences of the student population. They also make sure that they forge cordial relationships with the learners based on sincerity and mutual respect for each other. Educators who understand culture and society ensure that their learners acquire more than the basic coursework. They see to it that students grow as individuals who are ready to be members of the larger society in the future. It is vital that instructors understand culture and society so that they act as the role models to be emulated by students. Teachers who fail to comprehend culture and society cannot form integrated thought patterns with learners and cannot deliver lessons effectively. In totality, it is important that educators understand culture and society so that they deliver more informed lessons to students.
References
Barrett, M. D., Huber, J., " Reynolds, C. (2014). Developing intercultural competence through education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., " Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports.
Gruenewald, D. A. (2014). Place-based education: Grounding culturally responsive teaching in geographical diversity. In Place-based education in the global age (pp. 161-178). Routledge.
Leonard, J. (2017). Culturally specific pedagogy in the mathematics classroom: Strategies for teachers and students. Routledge.
McFarland, M. R., " Wehbe-Alamah, H. B. (2014). Leininger's culture care diversity and universality. Jones " Bartlett Publishers.
