Culture in Education

In preparation for our upcoming placements at local schools, a number of our classmates and I attended a meeting to acquire information on what to expect. During this meeting, a piece of information stuck with me on educating students with a diverse cultural background. Students are often absent, or what we consider to be late to meetings and classes. As educators, our initial reaction may be to assume that the students doesn't care to learn. However, certain cultures determine that being on time means they will "get there when they get there". This shows as professional educators, we cannot accept students' actions at face value, and instead learn to understand why they act as they do, whether through cultural background or personal issues in their lives.