Table of contentsIntroductionBodyCultural diversityCultureMulticultural educationSocial enrichmentDiversity in education/curriculumAspects of diversityCommon shared valuesManaging diversity in a schoolConclusionReferencesIntroductionOver 20 years ago, South African schools African countries were segregated because of their immense cultural diversity. White learners were educated in “whites-only” schools and black learners in their respective schools. The quality of education for blacks and people of other races was not the same as that received by white learners. Black learners learned about the Bantu Education Act of 1953, Indian learners learned about the Indian Persons Education Act of 1965, and colored learners learned about the Colored Education Act of 1963 which included the objectives and the guidelines for the teaching that should take place in these schools and those educational systems were inferior to those for white learners. White people received better education in South Africa. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When democracy came into force, many changes took place in South Africa, including in schools. Segregation in schools has been abolished in democracy and learners from different cultures can learn together in the same schools and receive the same quality of education regardless of their diverse cultures. Cultural diversity is made up of different cultures and ethnic groups that live in a community or society. Cultural diversity is important because at all stages of our lives we will encounter different people with different cultures and beliefs, for example in schools, universities, workplaces and even in our churches. Through cultural diversity, we learn the different ways of life of other cultures and we will be able to understand each other better and work together successfully. South Africa has 11 official languages ​​and therefore has many different cultures. Due to this diversity, it has always been difficult for teachers to try to accommodate all learners from different backgrounds and cultures, as they need to have a bit of background knowledge in order not to offend learners and to manage and teach them in the right way. . Many teachers don't really know how to deal with cultural diversity in schools and therefore have to find ways to solve this cultural diversity problem. I will discuss in more detail culture, multicultural education in South Africa, social enrichment, diversity in education/curriculum, aspects of diversity, common beliefs and management of diversity in schools, where the terms will also be explained in the text. I think South Africa still has a long way to go to address and resolve this problem. In all these different cultures, there are sports and extra-mural activities where you don't really see cultural diversity because everyone is doing the same thing and that's where the learners are generally united and everyone is accommodated. BodyCultural DiversityCultural diversity is the existence of a variety of cultures or ethnic groups in a society. Cultural diversity generally takes into account language, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, age and ethnicity. An example of cultural diversity is people speakingSesotho who settle in a predominantly Afrikaans neighborhood. Culture Culture is ideas, customs and social behaviors that take place in a society, meaning that people in a certain society have their own beliefs about what is right and what is considered behavior bad or disrespectful in their community. For example, some societies will think it is disrespectful to kiss someone on the cheek as a greeting, whereas it is appropriate and respectful to do so in other societies or communities. Multicultural Education Multicultural education is considered any form of education and teaching through which the stories, values, beliefs and perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds are incorporated. For example, in classrooms, teachers can modify lessons slightly to reflect the cultural diversity of the learners in that class. Multicultural education can be seen as a philosophy and process of human and global reform that aims to change the entire educational environment so that different learners from diverse cultures, races, genders, ethnicities, socio-economic statuses and traditions can benefit from equal opportunities and education of equal quality. The reasons for implementing multicultural education in South Africa include social enrichment, diversity in education/curriculum, aspects of diversity. , common values ​​and how to manage diversity in schools, which I will discuss in detail later in the text. Social Enrichment It is important to implement multicultural education because it provides social enrichment between students and teachers and they learn more about each other and their cultures due to their interactions with each other. The school can achieve social enrichment through activities where learners must highlight their culture, religions and beliefs. In these activities they will tell the class about themselves and the class can also ask them questions that they need to know about their culture, or they can even tell how they celebrate occasions like weddings, birthdays or any other occasion special. Through these commitments, they will learn to respect each other's cultures and beliefs, to be proud of their cultural diversity and to respect the classroom culture. A benefit of cultural diversity is that when learners experience different cultures at school and this prepares them for the diverse life after school, for example when they start working, then they will be comfortable working and communicate with people from different cultures. must be formulated in a way that appeals to everyone, regardless of culture, and must take into account the uniqueness of each student. A multicultural curriculum must encourage teachers to learn about the different cultures and backgrounds that learners may possess and they must be equipped to deal with all these cultural differences and they must teach students to embrace and love their own culture, but also to respect and recognize the cultures of others. Curriculum specialists, who favor society as a source, believe that the school is the agent of society and that the design of the program must be preceded by an analysis of society. Some curriculum designers draw inspiration from religious texts, although this is not applicable in public schools, but may nevertheless be applicable in private faith-based schools, such as Kingdom Academy School. When knowledge is a program source, the program designeracquires knowledge from different fields of study, because knowledge is constantly evolving. With the learner as the source of the curriculum, curriculum design focuses on the learner, their attitudes and ideas, and what they value and consider appropriate to be taught. This encourages them to work more on their own. Sexuality should be included in the homosexuality curriculum so that they understand that there are homosexual people and that they should treat them as equals and respect them just like other learners. Homosexual culture is not really discussed in schools and that is why homosexuals are mistreated and harassed in schools. Teachers should take action against learners who bully gay learners and insult them with names like istabane and moffie, instead of just making fun of them. Teachers do not know what to do in such situations and therefore should undergo training to handle these issues. (Francis, 2017) says that teachers and school management who do not act against homophobic harassment show their complicity and this shows that these actions or abuses are acceptable. And this leads these learners to drop out of school or commit suicide. A culturally diverse curriculum should be used by teachers in all schools and they should promote equality among all races. (Biraimah, 2016) asserts that in practice, topics and characters should reflect a representative sample of different cultures and populations and she further believes that culturally inclusive practices are essential for different learners and must cater to ethnicity, to location, gender and socio-economic factors. class. This means that the program will depict the daily life of different cultures and different living standards like poverty and wealth, sickness and health, etc. These lessons should be entertaining in order to pique the interest of learners. Poverty, inequality, age, race, gender, language and disabilities will be addressed in the program. Aspects of DiversityDiversity has many different aspects such as age; age differences between people, race; different races of people and also people of different colors, religions; many people have their own beliefs and are free to worship whoever they want and attend whatever church they wish to attend, as well as their languages; people are free to speak in their native language and learn in their language at school. Shared Common Values ​​Across all races and cultures, you will find common ground that we call Shared Values. Values ​​guide us towards what is considered wrong and right in a society. They also help us become better beings. We learn values ​​from our families and our environment. Some common values ​​that we share across different cultures are respect, empathy, compassion, love, honesty and integrity. Even though we are different, we all experience the same feelings, love, pain, fear, etc. Managing diversity in a school In South African schools, linguistic diversity is great as we have 11 official languages, so this becomes a problem when teachers, especially in urban schools have to deliver lessons and accommodate learners individually in due to their different cultures and languages. In rural areas, it is much easier to accommodate and teach these learners without having to take into account great cultural and linguistic diversity, because these students mostly come from the same, 40(2).