Diversity is often considered to include colour, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, age, political and religious opinions. And although in the past the emphasis has been on fostering intercultural tolerance, new concepts about diversity and inclusion have emerged, moving the emphasis to enhancing human learning and experience, so-called unity in variety.
Education in Global Context takes seriously the transnational mobility of trade, wealth, and people, as well as their effects on education and social structure within a global context. In the global economy, migratory patterns, and increasingly in education, globalization impacts all of us. The increasingly globalised and knowledge-based economy leaves the factual relationships between education and social and economic outcomes and structures up for grabs in a number of countries, while simultaneously elevating their significance. This series highlights the worldwide and domestic repercussions of globalization while highlighting the need for a paradigm change in our view of education and social/economic systems.
Diversity enhances learning.
Diversifying the classroom improves student achievement. Queens University of Charlotte found that students perform better and work harder in multicultural settings. When lesson plans reflect students' diverse experiences, they learn a topic from several viewpoints. This broadens and deepens pupils' comprehension.
Diverse learning settings inspire creativity in understanding and applying information, data, and facts. Diverse group activities foster creativity and collaboration. Diverse pupils improve critical thinking and problem-solving, particularly for business difficulties.
Students and instructors need diversity. More schools are employing diverse instructors. This helps pupils connect with instructors, who then tailor teachings to student variances. Culturally relevant lesson-planning emphasizes academic success, cross-cultural competency, activism, and political analysis.

• Umera Noor Fatima

What have been the global dynamics of diversity? How has this impacted learners and their learning?
Diversity in Education
Diversity in education is a wonderful opportunity to create a better sense of belonging for learners. Embracing diversity means accepting differences in others. To raise broad-minded and well-educated citizens of tomorrow, we need to teach them to stand up to intolerance and discrimination and to reject stereotypes.
Students should not judge others, but tolerate differences and show respect for themselves and for others. Similarities have to be recognised and differences in appearance or behaviours should be openly discussed. A diverse classroom can help the learners to realise that they are all unique and that differences are good and valuable. Students should learn how to appreciate and respect others’ opinions and ideas. They need to learn to respect others and appreciate differences. In so doing, they learn how to adapt to change and value diversity. However, multicultural classrooms may also pose a lot of challenges especially to the inexperienced teachers. Students are easily manipulated and influenced. They seek acceptance by peers and it is sometimes hard to change existing perceptions for a welcoming, accepting and inclusive class ethos. A sincere educator who shows concern for his/her students will always be seen as a strong person. Trust and commitment will always help to have a solid background for building a diverse and respectful class.
Embracing Diversity in Education
Educators play a crucial role in the lives of their students as they are the ones who will eventually shape the learners’ world. Educators should be role models for their students; they should lead by example, provide guidance and set rules to follow, thus their behaviours and habits are copied by the learners. Teachers should be passionate and inspire their students. Educators should help learners to recognise and accept similarities and differences. Acceptance of diversity has to be lived to become a normal routine for children. In the same way, respect and tolerance has to be lived and practised every day. Educators can encourage children to learn about their strengths and individuality and not to focus on other people’s perceptions of one’s self. Exposure to diverse situations, people and surroundings offer valuable input. Different intellectual and physical abilities, different racial, cultural and sexual orientation needs to be encountered and stereotyping must be removed. Different cultural perceptions and cultural heritage, traditions and preferences for example; food, clothing, appearance and festivals need to be discussed in class openly while respecting the views of all learners. Educators therefore need to be prepared and learn about their own cultural background as well as about their students social, racial and cultural backgrounds. If educators are not fully aware of the cultural differences existing in their groups of learners, this can pose huge challenges in classroom teaching and may affect negatively the students' ability to become successful learners'.
Describe one instance of learning in a global context, illustrating the dynamics of diversity.
Dynamics of Diversity in The Mauritian Education System
Mauritius’s ethnic composition is the result of more than two centuries of labour migration and European colonisation. The people of Mauritius are descendants of European (mostly French) settlers, the Franco-Mauritians; African slaves and creoles, the Afro-Mauritians; Chinese traders, the Sino-Mauritians; and Indian labourers, the Indo-Mauritians. Although the country's past contains dark chapters of inequality and exploitation, modern Mauritian history has been remarkable for its relatively smooth and peaceful transition from colonial rule to democracy. Ethnicity, religion, and language have been important factors in shaping the way Mauritians relate to each other in the political and social spheres. Such cultural diversity and geographic isolation have led to a nationalised sense of pride. There is unity in being a Mauritian despite not having a shared language and customs. Mauritius is often considered a global example of successful cultural integration.
This cultural diversity is reflected in our education system. It is crucial to acknowledge diversity in our classrooms as this helps learners to function properly in a multi-cultural environment and to understand the perspectives of different backgrounds. Mauritian learners are taught to respect and value people’s differences. Educators ensure that every child's individual efforts and ideas are valued and respected. We may have cases of bullying as a result of ethnic differences but these are easily dealt with since our schools accommodate students from different spheres and diverse backgrounds.
http://adspmauritius.com/
http://countrystudies.us/mauritius/10.htm
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/edpsy/chapter/learning-differences/
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/indo-mauritians-is-the-largest-ethnic-group-of-mauritius.html

• Ysheeta Ramjutun

The value of learning from other cultures and its impact on our current knowledge has always been something that made us stronger as a people no matter where we live. An example in history of this value is when The Silk Road developed and trading boomed. Sharing knowledge vastly supports our society in how we govern, how we build, what we teach and how we live. Diversity has always made us stronger, yet we struggle with the human quality of dominance and power. Who is in power and who is on the periphery. Unfortunately who holds the power often dictates who benefits from this combined knowledge. Currently we are very lucky as we have resources that allow us to share knowledge almost instantaneously. One example of global learning are the symposiums that are held at conference centers all over the world. Where people from different industries bring together current knowledge to share with each other. These are inspiring and spark global relationships. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learnerdifferences/discussions/all/threads/XOLGSnNWRpSixkpzVraUvQ/replies/ARLCXBAWQI-SwlwQFtCPNQ

• Jennifer Boer