Points of Views and Perspective in History

Teaching students of different cultural backgrounds can be somewhat daunting in more then one way. Of course there is the language barrier, which needs to be accommodated for, but in history, there is also a content issue. As a teacher we want to create lessons and talk about topics in a way that is as unbiased and, at times, as general as possible. However there are going to be topics that a student of a different culture may view differently than the other students. If their cultural background makes the student bring different views into the classroom, this should be addressed, and often encouraged. It’s important to tell the whole classroom that everyone, no matter their backgrounds, will, at times, have differing opinions or believes then their classmates. They should realize that their differing opinions or views on events are always welcome, as long as they are not hurtful to others. This way the other students will be able to see that not everyone thinks the same way, but this is not a negative thing, but instead a positive thing that can work for everyone in the classroom.