Hello Janet:

I did some research and published a few articles relating to cultural/international diversity in higher education. From my research, it appears you must have a policy for dealing with "diversity" in the curriculum and wider school environment, which will inform the openness to a multicultural view in schools. Here are a few of my published articles that can inform your topic:

CURRICULUM INCLUSIVENESS CHALLENGE: RESPONDING TO MULTICULTURALISM AMONG WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT (WED) GRADUATE STUDENTS - A MIXED METHODS STUDY:

http://journals.sta.uwi.edu/jbs/index.asp?action=viewPastArticle&issueId=3&articleId=23&galleyId=21

Generation I: International and invisible in a workforce education and development programme's curriculum content

http://journals.sta.uwi.edu/cts/index.asp?action=viewPastArticle&issueId=77&articleId=446&galleyId=393

Cultural Sensitivity Needed in Online Discussion Rubric Language

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous-learning-and-trends/cultural-sensitivity-needed-in-online-discussion-rubric-language/

Best regards,

Debra

Debra,

Thank you! These articles will be very useful.

Janet

You're welcome!

Doko,

I understand you to say combining worldviews of eastern and western philosophies creates a multicultural view. This is supported in the literature on mindset. Thank you!

Janet

Hi Janet - I am wondering when you use the term 'growth mindset' if you are referring to the work of Dr Carol Dweck at Stanford University and her ground breaking research on fixed and growth mindsets? 

salaam: I have attached a file regarding Bilal raḍiya 'llāhu ʿan-hu, you may find interesting the narration regarding his betrothal. unlike the reported activities of so called Islamic groups today (in many instances inconsistent with  the Quran and sunna) the example of the prophet Mohammad radialanhu anhu and his companions exemplifies "cultural/international diversity" as well as excellent manners, under extreme conditions. these historical documents are little understood today, and an excellent source of sociological material. enjoy

Omar,

I am grateful for your contribution. I will read the articles. I am interested to learn more about the aspects of cultural diversity.

Kind regards,

Janet

Ali,

I apologize for the delay in answering your post. I have been quite unavailable due to a move and beginning of a new job position. To answer your question, "Yes" I am referring to Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset. My dissertation was to validate the school growth mindset survey found on the Mindset Works, Inc. website

http://www.mindsetworks.com/assess/

I am grateful for your question and hope my answer is sufficient for your purposes.

Kind regards,

Janet

Markovic,

I appreciate the new resource you provided and the many kind words you have given me. I will read the resource and am certain I will find it useful and enlightening as always.

Kind regards,

Janet

Markovic,

I have read your paper and would like to respond. You stated, "One can speak of teaching methods and principles as separate things, but it is necessary to bear in mind that they never act independently of each other" (p. 4). This is a core idea as it highlights the difference between Eastern and Western pedagogical ideologies. Since early western philosophers proposed dualistic approaches to viewing the word, the western system of thinking has progressively and actively socialized teachers into a compartmentalist approach to presenting knowledge to students. (if I may take the liberty to suggest others may also view dualistic philosophies as having influenced a "system" of thinking identifiable in western pedagogy)

Some researchers have made efforts to explore differences between western and eastern mindsets as these relate to how individuals learn. Eastern worldviews "see" context more readily than objects while western worldviews promote the selection and memory of objects. Eastern worldviews are tend to view communal relationships in the context while westerners process using an individualistic lens. This results or is caused by compartmentalization in the western worldview and ultimately the fundamental attribution error of western thought. This means that westerner thought processes will impute causation to an object with less regard to the context the object (person or thing) is set within. While eastern thought processes more correctly attribute causation having taken into consideration the context and relationships between the objects viewed.

I relate this to your comment of the error prone instruction methods of didactic, dualistic approaches to teaching methodologies which you seem to suggest can be remedied through a context-rich, relational approach to engaging study learning.

Thank  you for your deep insights and the clarity with which you provide this information to the reader.

Kind regards,

Janet

Debra,

I am writing to express my gratitude for the references you provided for integrating multicultural views into the curriculum. In your article Ferdinand (2014) Generation I: International and invisible in a workforce education, you wrote,“…far-learning transfer requires application of skills and knowledge to new situations in the workplace away from the class or training room setting (Schunk, 2004) [and] has proven to be problematic in the past for international students” (pp.54 &55). You then relate this to the "challenge of internationally responsive curriculum content [as it] becomes critical to foreign students on government scholarships who must apply their new knowledge and skills to local work problems or innovations on return to their home countries" (p. 52).

I appreciate your writing and highlighting this important aspect of the need for updating university curriculum across the globe for all students to ensure students' acquired knowledge is transferable to new contexts. This was a key concern of Novak and Gowin in their work.

I personally experienced this concern of foreign exchange students  as they attempted to understand the grading methods in the United States schools. The students might find the grading more likely to reward responsiveness to the instructor's biases as opposed to rewarding improvement and expansion of a student's individual hierarchical propositions of the content. This is because the education systems, in most countries, tend to socialization as opposed to cognitive and content knowledge development;which is a messy and time-consuming business at best.

The reason educational institutions promote socialization as a primary goal is self-evident. This goal of socialization is a natural process and occurs through use of tools such as language and aspects of the social context (refer Vygotsky). 

I recommend that when the desire to maximize student's knowledge transfer is a goal, every student should make a careful selection of the educational institution and setting  before enrolling, with an eye toward individualized mentoring and instruction. Though this is not always possible, a realistic approach to obtaining the goal maximizes one's potential for success.

Implementing culturally responsive curriculum is one step toward helping international students identify with their education. Another is developing culturally responsiveness in educators, who will be able to understand how cultural identities are formed,  encourage identification with diverse groups in the classroom, and recognize and meet the individual needs of all students. Bless the teachers who are able to do this. Culturally responsive teaching is a high level skill and evidence of great cognitive development on the part of the instructor.

I hope my perspective may be of use to you.

Kind regards,

Janet

Omar,

I write to thank you for sharing your special references with me. I have read much though not all of the resources since one is quite lengthy (1700 pages). I paste a notable quote from one regarding the Prophets teachings:

 He taught that there is one God for all mankind.

 He taught Muslims to believe in all of the prophets and all divinely revealed scriptures, especially Biblical ones.

 As the Prophet established a peace sanctuary called Madinah after his migration from Makkah, he negotiated treaties with the Jews and the pagans of Madinah. Muslims consider these treaties to be the first written surviving constitution in the world. The constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, self-governance, and legal autonomy in all matters. It called for the common defense of Madinah, and declared the Jews, pagans, and Muslims of that treaty to be one nation, or “one Ummah.”

 He prohibited hunting and the cutting of trees in the peace sanctuary of Madinah.

 He declared killing non-combatants to be illegal, placed severe restrictions on how warfare could be conducted, and even paid compensation for the killing of some dogs by one of his commanders.

 The Prophet’s teachings and the Quran are the two major sources of Sharia. Some of his precepts include the following:

• o Moral behavior: personal cleanliness; emphasis on preservation and nourishment of all life forms, including plants and animals; rituals and spirituality of prayers; fasting and charity; righteous conduct and good deeds; and rights of parents, children, spouses, and neighbors.
• o Interpersonal relations: teaching to enhance human relations and to avoid breaking relationships; encouraging mutual consultation in all affairs; prohibiting bigotry and racism; and emphasizing kindness and hospitality toward others, especially the weak and the poor.
• o Financial guidelines: encouraging charity, rights of the poor, respect for workers, and rejection of exploitation; and circulation of wealth among all classes.
• o Personal rules and laws regarding privacy, gender relations, marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
• o Criminal laws implementing the many of the Ten Commandments. (The only one of the Ten Commandments not having a parallel statement in the Quran is the one having to do with keeping the Sabbath.) Less than two percent of Quranic verses deal with the criminal law of Islam, which is a part of the Sharia but not the totality of it.

 The Prophet asked his judges to make things easy for people, not difficult.

 He declared all sins forgivable as long as a person asks God’s forgiveness and that of the one who has been wronged.

 The Prophet gave special emphasis to honoring treaties, standing up for justice, and opposing oppression. (Mjahid, 2011, pp.2 &3).

Gratefully,

Janet