Bridging the Cultural Gap: Strategies for Multicultural Teaching and Learning in Malta

Brian Joseph Vassallo

Abstract


The growing reality of multicultural education in Malta is critical for Maltese teachers to develop skills necessary to deliver a culturally sensitive curriculum for the students under their care. Often teachers feel confused as to the roadmap they should undertake to ensure that they are equipped enough to face the challenges of multicultural instruction. This study aims to facilitate this enterprise by undergoing a literature review on the cultural dimensions of learning and, through the construction of a cultural framework, establish a common set of precepts that should serve as guidelines for teachers to critically examine the relationships with their students and to device strategies for bridging cross-cultural differences. The Bilateral Framework for Multicultural Teaching and Learning (BFMTL) based on the works of Hofstede (1980, 2001, 2005), Hall (1983), Levine (1987), Lewis (2006) and Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (1997) was created and the use of the BFMTL questionnaire is advocated as a tool to help both teachers and students to critically examine the range of cultural differences present in their classrooms, the challenges they present and the range of strategies needed to overcome these challenges.

Keywords


Bilateral Framework; Multicultural Teaching and Learning

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References


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