Rationale
Understanding the role of a teacher as mediator or facilitator is crucial in any contemporary society now. However, socio-cultural predispositions tend to affect how teachers perceive themselves. This idea of knowledge as the property of teachers dispensing it, in the way they think best, continue to affect the delivery of many teachers. The 21st century has seen an emergence of students that seem to be knowledgeable than the teacher, hence, the classroom can be perceived as a locked down environment stifling the boundaries of their learning. Inclusive in this course is the dynamics of educating students capable of belonging to a culturally diverse environment. Children are not exclusive of a socio-cultural context as they grow up within its confines and are influenced by it. This course is advanced on the premise that socio-culture impacts how children participate and learn in a school environment, hence, equipping the teacher with the capabilities to ensure that they deal with the impact of culture in students correctly.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course students will be expected to:
i. Analyse the socio-cultural context in which school environments exist.
ii. Identify the challenges and positives of socio-culture on education.
iii. Explain how socio-culture impacts on the education process.
iv. Critically analyse multicultural education showing how globalisation and internationalisation contributes to growing multicultural societies.
v. Explain the role of the teacher in multicultural education.
vi. Distinguish cultural characteristics of a community and that of a school environment.
vii. Elaborate the different theories and their impact on socio-cultural education.
viii. Name the socio-cultural forces and their impact on child’s development.
ix. Explain the methodological approaches the teacher assumes in a multicultural learning environment.