How do I deal with cultural diversity?
We suggest two ways of dealing with cultural diversity.
- The salad bowl or multiculturalism. Differences are recognised, valued and taken into account.
- The melting pot or colour blindness. Disregarding differences is central. The prevailing principle is that everyone is equal by law.
Alex is 14 years old and recently moved from the UK to China with his family. As a result, he’s now attending a Chinese school. He, Alae (Egyptian) and Sophia (German) are the only foreign children in his class. Alex’ new teacher doesn’t pay any attention to the cultural differences between the students and treats everyone the same. This means that Alex, Alae and Sophia get the same homework (in Chinese) and follow the same rituals as their Chinese classmates.
In this case it’s clear that the teacher uses the melting pot or colour blidness approach. He ignores the differences between the children, as well as the cultural differences between the Chinese and foreign kids.
This is where we see that equal treatment doesn’t necessarily leads to the same results.
- First of all, not everyone starts from the same position.
- secondly, there’s something to be said about ‘everyone being equal in the eyes of the law’. In groups with a clear majority, the laws, standards and values are often about the majority.
Is multiculturalism better then?
This approach is often desirable as it recognises individual needs and requirements. This does, however, require a joint effort and good management, where collaboration (rather than subgrouping) is encouraged.