By creating a caring classroom environment, you can gain students' trust and confidence. Students will realize that they can come up and talk to you about sensitive issues and that you will listen to them and take their problems seriously. Students will open up about culturally sensitive topics and you can create open dialogues from which everyone can benefit.
Most of us will claim to be open-minded and unprejudiced, but we often subconsciously and unintentionally project our own cultural values at the detriment of other people's beliefs. For example, we are used to a passive receptive structure, where the teacher gives lectures and the students listen. Nevertheless, other cultures, such as African Americans, are more active in the classroom and prefer the call-and-response strategy. Hence, the teacher should be open to adjusting to and even incorporating other cultural methods.
Children often lack their own critical thinking skills and will imitate their parents' behaviors and attitudes. If there are cultural issues involved, it would be necessary to communicate not only with the student, but also with her family. By communicating with the family, you will get a better perspective on your students' cultural background and traditions.
As they say, knowledge is power, and it is much more so when you are in the position of authority. As a teacher, you need to do research as well as demonstrate your knowledge about culturally relevant issues. By demonstrating knowledge about your students' cultural traditions you will not only teach others about acceptance and tolerance, but you will also make ethnic students feel valued and respected.