According to Britannica, cosmopolitanism is "the belief that all people are entitled to equal respect and consideration, no matter what their citizenship status or other affiliations happen to be."
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Dr. Christopher Emdin, author of the New York Times best seller, "For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education" shares his thoughts about how to foster cosmopolitanism in a classroom, especially one that is filled with a diverse group of students.
A cosmopolitan classroom is a space where each student is a full citizen, responsible for how well the class meets the collective academic, social and emotional goals.
Isn't that the class that we all want to create for our students? But what struck me the most was that many times, the barrier for creating such a class is actually we, as teachers!
In many ways, teachers are hardwired to look favorably upon students who remind them of themselves.
We might unconsciously be creating unnecessary "norms" in our class of certain behaviors of what "being smart" means to us. Which is often times utterly untrue because there are so many types of intelligence and just because a student sits still and keeps quiet during class, doesn't mean he or she is learning or smart!
It's important that we create a classroom environment where all students feel valued and welcomed. Every student is a good student and wants to learn!
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