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.