Nowadays, diversity is a main characteristic of society. Kazakhstan’s schools also face problems of cultural, social, and language diversity. Children from different cultural and social backgrounds communicate in one group. However, our Soviet pedagogical system teaches us that diversity is a negative aspect of society. Communist ideology tried to delete all thoughts about this. Nevertheless, many people in Kazakhstan hold on to the stereotype that we live in a monolithic society, i.e., we live in a multicultural country but with the same post-Soviet mentality. The statement came from our school experience, and when I compare it with the American school which I saw on TV, I can agree with this point. On the other hand, after 25 years of independence, the situation is changed. Our society is becoming more diverse than before. Our children speak in one language depending on the school instruction (Kazakh or Russian) but they have different sociocultural backgrounds. But, in my point of view, our diversity is determined by the region where you come from. For example, people from the south feel the influence from the Uzbek culture, the north – Russian, part of the west (Mangistau region) from Turkmenistan, and these differences make our diversity.
That is why I like the idea “diversity is seen as a resource that can be supported by classroom practices” (Ehlert&Boschman, 2013, p.4).Moreover, as the authors write, this pedagogical method can help develop tolerance and “multimodal channels of communication”(Ehlert&Boschman, 2013, p.4)between different ethnic groups.
Reference
Ehlert M.P. &Boschman L. (2013). Plurilinguals in Motion. Retrieved from the website of a
non-profit group, Multilingual Forum Canada Society (MFCS; http://www.multilingualForum.org) on April 18, 2014.
NUWG 
Thanks for your post. Obviously, from your discussion, there is a paradigm shift of diversity in the interpretation of people. You made your own claim that diversity is somehow related to the regions where people live. It might be the influence of different cultures at the local level. But when we consider a higher level of the cause for the diversity, globalization and internationalization also affect the diversity in Kazakhstan. For example, the spread of English and teaching children in this international language makes individuals more diverse in their linguistic competencies. Diversity is a broad term. In your post, you connect diversity with the education, I would suggest adding more evidence to support and give readers more details.
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Thanks a lot for your blog! You have provided pertinent points about diversity. I agree with your points the regional differences. This is because I feel influence of neigbour country’ culture on culture of our people. I was grown up in Zhetysai which is situated in the boderline with Uzbekistan. I have noticed that there are many aspects of Uzbek culture in our regions traditional life. We have Uzbek dishes and celbrate Uzbek holidays. Also, we speak some Uzbek words in our daily conversation and this is quite different from established culture. But I think we have the same religious view with Uzbek, that is, we are Muslims. My question to you is what do you think how does relgious diversity influence on educating Kazakhstani ethnic groups?
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thanks for yr post I think diversity can be regarde as an utmost part of society and a person. yes, historically diversity regarded only African-American people’ rights and protection. But nowadays, we can say that every person regardless of nation, race and ethnicity is divers personality.
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