Here's how you can foster teamwork among students with diverse backgrounds.

In my European Union class, I encourage students to share their national and cultural backgrounds. We also prepare national dishes and beverages for one session, in which everyone can show a piece of their heritage. This helps students to develop self-awareness and self-confidence, and it helps to shape intercultural dialogue. This approach embraces diversity as a key part of the collaboration, which is also very crucial if we jointly discuss issues of the modern European Union.

Antes de tudo, deve se começar incentivando os alunos a compartilharem suas origens e experiências em um fórum respeitoso e aberto. Iniciar o semestre com atividades que valorizem a diversidade cultural e étnica é essencial. Discussões em grupo que encorajem os alunos a compartilhar suas histórias pessoais não apenas quebram barreiras iniciais, mas também estabelecem uma base de confiança e respeito mútuo. Durante as interações em equipe, é importante que os alunos aprendam a reconhecer e respeitar as diferentes perspectivas e habilidades trazidas por cada membro do grupo. Isso não apenas enriquece a qualidade do trabalho realizado, mas também prepara os estudantes para colaborar de maneira eficaz em ambientes profissionais diversificados.

As an international student, I understand how important embracing diversity is in fostering a healthy and inclusive team discussion. This allows multiple perspectives and looking at people beyond the usual cultural biases and stereotypes. Culture is a big part of what makes us humans, embracing and encouraging everyone to accept people from various backgrounds can be truly powerful!

In my inclusive school in India, a student named Rohan with Down syndrome struggled with math. Meera, a gifted peer, noticed and offered to help him with patience and visual aids. Her act of kindness sparked a classroom culture of support and cooperation. Soon, students were helping each other, leveraging their unique strengths. Rohan, with his excellent memory, assisted with recall tasks, while others helped him with problem-solving. This experience showed me the power of embracing diversity, as students learned empathy and collaboration, proving that inclusion enriches everyone's learning journey.

I use smart goals in my classroom, and students work on weekly, mid-term, and final-week assignments. Since I work on multiple smaller assignments, it is very easy to ensure that each one is measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. The more complex and big the task, the harder it is to design it SMART. Try splitting up your class into smaller tasks, and it will become SMART organically.

Definir objetivos desde o início de um projeto ou atividade em equipe é essencial. Isso não só fornece uma direção clara para todos os membros do grupo, mas também estabelece expectativas que orientam o trabalho conjunto de maneira produtiva. Ao articular esses objetivos, incentivo os alunos a considerarem como suas habilidades e contribuições pessoais se integram no quadro geral. Isso não apenas aumenta a motivação e o compromisso de cada aluno, mas também fortalece a coesão do grupo, pois todos trabalham articulados para alcançar um resultado comum.

I usually try to identify the strenghts and weaknesses of students, and I let them work in groups and in individual assignments. You need to regularly give students tasks that are comfortable to them, in accordance with their strengths, and sometimes mix in tasks that are outside of their comfort zone. This way, you can ensure a balanced growth of your students. Design your class in accordance with the group you teach. Obviously you need to prepare your content and syllabus in advance, however, ensure that you leave yourself space to adapt the semester accordingly.

Gerenciar talentos heterogêneos requer não apenas reconhecer habilidades individuais, mas também integrá-las de maneira eficaz para alcançar objetivos comuns. Ao discutir com meus alunos sobre as diferentes funções necessárias para atingir metas específicas, enfatizo a necessidade de uma distribuição estratégica de responsabilidades. Cada membro da equipe possui habilidades e interesses únicos que podem ser aproveitados de maneira produtiva. Nesse sentido, encorajo os alunos a identificarem seus pontos fortes e áreas de crescimento, permitindo-lhes escolher ou serem atribuídos às funções que melhor se alinhem com suas capacidades individuais.

As a teacher I try to discover the strengths and weaknesses of my students including the peculiarities of each of them. To ensure balanced learning I make the learning to be student -centred by getting them to do projects which is to be defended in the class. Everyone is forced to be involved knowing fully well that anyone could be called upon to perform another role aside from the one given to him/her previously

This is very important, assigning roles to everyone in the class, when everyone knows that they all have a role to play in the class, no one will be left out, and they will all come together to make sure the work is done, that is building the team spirit.

I offer different teaching formats, such as simulations, stakeholder or Oxford debates, planning of sustainable projects, and so on. Every semester, I implement some sort of innovation to keep up with modern teaching techniques and styles and to offer students a colorful semester with different approaches and insights. I specifically focused on so-called future literacy, which is a skill set through which students will be prepared to navigate professionally through challenges like climate change adaptation, etc.

Durante as aulas é bom abordar problemas emergentes desde o início. Isso promove um ambiente de trabalho colaborativo e integrado. Ao longo dos anos, tenho visto como a avaliação qualitativa regular contribui não apenas para o progresso acadêmico dos alunos, mas também para o desenvolvimento de habilidades interpessoais e para a construção de uma cultura de equipe forte e positiva. Encorajo meus alunos a valorizarem esses momentos como oportunidades preciosas para refletir, ajustar estratégias e fortalecer os laços que os unem na busca por objetivos compartilhados.

I try to find good ways of check-ins, however, this is still experimental for me. E.g. I tried check-ins via Microsoft Teams, however, I do not find this very suitable. What works best so far is using Mentimeter and anonymous check-ins and students answer those very frankly. This approach helps to get an idea of where the class is headed and where to redesign some parts of the semester.

We do this quite often in the class room, e.g. with Mentimeter 📈📊 The debriefing part is almost as important as the preparation or the theoretical and practical part of the teaching session! 💬💡 Incorporating diversity helps to foster more authenticity in the participation and the reflection about it helps the students to internalize those values! 🌈☀️

Encouraging students to share their cultural backgrounds, values, and perspectives can help create understanding and respect for one another's differences. Group activities and projects can also be structured in a way that requires collaboration and draws on each student's unique strengths and experiences. Creating a sense of belonging and inclusivity is key to fostering teamwork among students with diverse backgrounds. Teachers can emphasise the importance of teamwork and create opportunities for students to work together towards a common goal. It is also important to address any biases or prejudices that may exist within the group and promote a culture of acceptance and respect.

Diversity makes a classroom more engaging and helps to foster respectful dialogue. There are different means to foster diversity, which we have discussed above. I believe something important is also to find balance in fostering diveesoty. The teacher should foster diveristy but also let it happen organically. Overdoing might be also perceived as exhausting for students. The teacher should also interfere if there are forces if there are students and other colleagues involved, who try to harm diversity, by being disrespectful to others.