Impact of Cultural Education on Student Identity and Performance

“Culture makes people understand each other better”. – Paulo Coelho

Introduction

Cultures provide awareness of norms, values, standards, and principles. These traits are crucial for enhancing individuals’ lives from early childhood. We humans are social animals who bond through different beliefs, morals, cultures and principles. History reflects how we have bonded with each other through our cultures, including medicines, food, hunting, and relations, all of these require an understanding of each other’s perspectives. Cultures introduce us to multiple perspectives and opinions, and we get to choose what works best for us and our society. The impact of cultural education on student identity and performance is immense, what we learn about other countries and food, hobbies, history and research is through cultural studies. In this blog, we are going to explore the impacts of cultural education on students’ identity and performance. Come along with us as we break the silence on how cultures have always been a part of our existence.

Impact of Cultural Education on Student’s Identity

The purpose of cultural education is to introduce students to multiple, to be able to explore the different languages, beliefs, food, activities etc. What is more profound in cultural education is the impact that it has on student’s individual identity.

Cultural education brings together a group of people to understand the multilayers of social groups and build empathy for everyone. Cultural education builds a sense of empathy, belongingness and awareness about different social groups. Besides this, there are many impacts of cultural education on student’s identity such as :

1. Enhancing Student Motivation and Academic Achievement

In cultural education, you would learn about how a curriculum blends cultural education to elevate each student’s enthusiasm for learning, increasing their motivation and engagement. Moreover, this is due to the change and new updated subjects that teachers can bring to the classroom. Cultural education is always changing and new in each country, location, social group, and more. New chapters and ways of learning would increase the engagement of students along with their motivation.

2. Alleviating Anxiety and Social Challenges

According to a study, in positive psychology, the blending of cultural education introduces new change, it also brings a sense of belongingness for each student. This can make them feel safe and improve their ability to interact more in the classroom.

• Reduces Learning Anxiety: By integrating cultural education, students experience a notable decrease in anxiety levels, making the learning environment more comfortable and supportive. (He, 2023).

• Better Interpersonal Skills: You can understand how cultural education helps reduce communication disorders; it improves students’ relationships and social interactions.

3. Promoting Multicultural Understanding and Communication

Cultural education promotes multicultural understanding, exploration, acceptance and more. It sends a message to connect with people by understanding their identity, which invites their cultures and beliefs.

• Embracing Multicultural Education: You can delve into how multicultural education encourages students to appreciate and understand different cultures, welcoming a more inclusive environment.

Practical Recommendations for Educators

Here are some of the recommendations suggested by He (2023), that can be applied to better the cultural education for students and teachers both.

1. Learn Motivation Factors: Teachers can learn what motivates the students, and which parts of cultural exploration motivate students to do better and connect more in the classroom.

2. Improve Teaching Environment: Try to introduce new ways of learning. For example: You can take your classes outside in a garden or playground during good weather to create an effective new learning environment.

3. Include Practical Activities: You can explore the hands-on activities for cultural education wherever possible.

Impact of Cultural Education on Student Performance

According to Portillo (2023), cultural education boosts the performance of students. It has shown an overall elevated performance in students. Moreover, interaction and communication also seem to improve.

1. Enhancing Academic Achievement

Blending cultural education with students’ performance has multiple benefits. For example:

• Boosting Academic Success: By valuing students’ cultures, you can engage with them more personally.

• Overcoming Barriers: Teachers who acknowledge students’ cultural identities help them overcome language barriers which boosts their confidence and improves their performance in both academic and personal life.

2. Creating Inclusive Learning Environments

Cultural education is more than just textbook studies, it has multiple explorations of communities and states connected with different experiences.

• Builds a Better Community: You would be able to build a better community within schools where students feel included and connected to their cultural identities. This would improve their self-esteem too.

• Supportive School Policies: You would be able to explore the different school policies which can change according to student’s needs, cultures and resources.

3. Fosters Positive Teacher-Student Relationships

Multi-cultural and cultural education values the cultural differences in students. It also values teachers’ values and different perspectives as well. This increases a positive teacher-student reaction due to the acceptance, empathy, and supportive environment that it builds.

Recommendations for Educators and Schools

Here are some of the points that are recommended for both teachers and students. Such as:

Collaborative Efforts: Discover the importance of schools, teachers, and families working together to understand and value students’ cultural backgrounds, ensuring a comprehensive approach to education.

How Can We Blend the Multicultures

Here are the quick ways that the school can introduce multicultural to students:

1. Integrate Diverse Perspectives: We can explore how adding various cultural viewpoints to the curriculum enriches learning.

2. Create Inclusive Classrooms: Discover ways to design welcoming spaces that celebrate all cultures, making every student feel valued.

3. Encourage Group Learning: We can promote activities where students from different backgrounds collaborate, enhancing social skills and cultural awareness.

4. Support Teacher Training: Explore the necessity of training teachers in cultural competency to better support diverse classrooms.

5. Engage Families and Communities: Learn the impact of involving families in education, fostering a connection between home and school cultures.

6. Implement Multicultural Policies: We can discover the benefits of school-wide initiatives that promote inclusivity and respect.

7. Use Technology and Multimedia: Explore how digital tools and multimedia resources can provide diverse cultural content, making learning engaging and interactive.

Logging Out

There are multiple ways that you can include cultural education as a part of the basic school curriculum. Cultural education has an impact on student’s identity and performance. There have been various studies that have concluded that including cultural education in schools improves students’ confidence, and self-esteem and builds a sense of self. Cultural education also improves how a student engages in the classroom. Moreover, cultural education improves teacher-student relations, making it more explorative, creative, inclusive, and effective with respect to performance in studies and the classroom.

You can include cultural education by introducing it as an elective subject and then gradually into the curriculum. Lastly, once you introduce cultural education, you would notice a shift in how students look at themselves and each other. It builds a more empathetic community and emotional intelligence.

FAQs

Q1. How does culture affect students’ academic performance?

Culture affects students’ performance by taking away the sense of identity and belongingness. If a school curriculum does not introduce a more inclusive cultural education the student may feel like an outsider which can decrease their motivation and academic performance.

Q2. What is the impact of cultural education?

The impact of cultural education is on both the identity and performance of the student. When we introduce cultural education it fosters a more inclusive and welcoming environment which improves their motivation, self – esteem and performance in the classroom. Moreover, it improves the teacher-student bonding as well.

Q3. What is the impact of cultural identity?

Cultural identity provides you with different perspectives, ideas, food, beliefs and space to explore. It has a place for everyone. It can give you a better sense of identity and empathy for others.