Lessons from the Culturally Diverse Classroom: Intellectual Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching in the American University

Authors

M Laura Barberan Reinares, CUNY Bronx Community CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

University education in the United States has become an increasingly global environment. In the classrooms of a modern university students and teachers from literally all corners of the world come together and reshape the face of higher education. Without a doubt the multicultural classroom of the 21st century necessitates fresh pedagogical approaches to university instruction that questions both established student and teacher models. This article then ad- dresses intercultural relationships within a multicultural university classroom setting and the resulting changes for the conceptualization of student and teacher roles. While the essay raises interdisciplinary and multicultural issues we wish to encourage international and American readers alike to ponder fresh questions about the transnational learning environment of the modern university and consider how teaching in this ever evolving atmosphere forces us to question ourselves. Finally, this article is guided by the conviction that a culturally diverse classroom, both on the level of pedagogical theory and practice, is the foundation of a successful university education in the 21st century.