How Diversity Leads to Better Learners and Future Leaders

“Diversity in education” recognises and honours the unique backgrounds of every student, including race, ethnicity, religion, and nationality, and intentionally fosters a multicultural school environment built on respect. But why is diversity so important for our students? A school’s cultural climate directly impacts student success. Students benefit from interacting with a diverse peer group because they learn how to build relationships across backgrounds. They get to experience different traditions, mind-sets, languages and so much more.  They are stronger leaders, better global citizens, and more creative problem solvers. It gives them compassion and empathy when they experience those who come from different backgrounds and allows them to grow into kind and caring individuals. OWIS prides itself on creating an environment of inclusivity and diversity, both with its students and their teachers.

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Why Diversity Matters:

Attending a diverse school sets students up for long-term success. In today’s multicultural world, students must be prepared to interact with people from all racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Employers place great value on the ability to navigate a diverse society. Employees must be “comfortable working with colleagues, customers, and/or clients from diverse cultural backgrounds,” notes The Century Foundation.

All students begin school with a skills and information framework from their own culture. Students who attend a diverse school learn how to relate new information to their own cultural experiences. Rather than dismissing a new tradition as foreign, students with a diverse education have a framework for understanding and embracing cultural differences within the safety of the school environment. Habits, etiquette, and social expectations are thus not limited to what a student may learn at home but are open to broader cross-cultural experiences that can be explored and embraced.

One of the most important skills that children need to develop during their younger years is communication. It can often be the case that there are initial challenges when communicating with others from a different background, be it due to language differences, cultural differences or general confidence.  Being surrounded by other children from different backgrounds allows our students to build on their communication skills on a day-to-day basis so that these skills and the understanding of others become second nature.

Diverse classrooms also support our children in developing an open mind when it comes to others’ experiences. They are able to learn about their peer’s traditions and gain insights into what it is like to live in a different country, be part of a different religion or speak a different language. It opens up discussions and allows our students to be open-minded in all aspects of life. We are able to celebrate various food, cultural, dance or religious traditions as a community that furthers our children’s experiences in these areas. It aids in bringing all the cultures and backgrounds together in harmony.

Stereotyping is an unfortunate social issue, which is known to be a cause of unhealthy relationships with others. Being an international school we are in a fantastic position to prevent this, and our students are able to strengthen their relationships with peers, building trust, respect and empathy.

In having diverse classrooms, the goal is not for students to forget or abandon their own cultural roots, but to be open to understanding and respecting the traditions of others. This builds stronger leaders and responsible citizens. It allows our students’ world to open up even wider and explore the opportunities around them. It helps to guide them into adulthood where they may need to integrate into different cultures whether it is due to moving to a new country for work, having colleagues from different backgrounds or when travelling and experiencing the world.

To ensure diversity, OWIS has a 30 percent student nationality cap, which means no more than 30 percent of admitted students may come from a single nationality.  Students at our OWIS Nanyang campus represent more than 70 nationalities from around the world.

The educators and staff at OWIS are equally diverse, representing a number of nationalities. These dedicated international educators come from Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, India, Philippines Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, USA, the UK and various other countries.

Many have travelled extensively and attended leading institutions around the world. Most importantly, these educators embrace the OWIS mission to provide students with a comprehensive perspective of the world. They recognise the importance of intentionally structuring lesson plans to celebrate diversity and honour student differences. By doing so, OWIS educators foster a strong sense of community between different heritages within our school culture, setting students up for long-term success.

To understand how OWIS respects and encourages diversity in our classrooms and school, contact us and find out all the details.

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