1. Cultural Dimensions of Learning - Teachers’ Cultural Skills

Current demographic changes are increasingly raising the issue of appropriate changes in the educational process as well. This paper brings into question a new imperative in current education: the teaching curriculum and educators must find ways to meet the needs of students with a wide range of experiences, skills and interests. Understanding the ways in which cultural specificity influences the educational context, opens the way for better communication between teachers and students. Teachers need to understand not only how culture influences student behavior, but also how it influences their own perceptions and behaviors. Like students, teachers reflect in their classroom attitudes preferences, perceptions, abilities, and expectations that specifically shape their communication. Teachers often question culture, viewing it as a limitation of the student. Students who overcome their culture succeed. Students who do not want to make this adjustment fail. Teachers rarely reflect on their own prejudices or the limitations of their pedagogical practices. Instead of placing full responsibility on students, we propose that teachers, regardless of their cultural heritage, increase their cultural competence so that they can be better prepared to facilitate students’ learning. This perspective may seem difficult and threatening, but an honest and careful examination can also be rewarding.