The main aim of education is to offer learners the best possible development. Attending school enables individuals to lead morally, creatively as well as productive lives in society. Students ought to gain skills and knowledge that form part of the basis for lifelong learning. One of the ways that contribute to this goal is ensuring that there is diversity in classrooms. However, if classrooms are filled with most students of the same ethnic or racial background, then this presents potential harm to students as they may not fit nicely among other social groups.
When learning with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, students can have a more comprehensive comprehension of the subject matter. Diversity in classrooms teaches learners and exposes them to various other cultural and social groups (Jansson et al., 2020). The interactions effectively prepare learners to become better citizens in their respective communities and to fit elsewhere too. On the contrary, segregation spatially isolates ethnic and racial groups in one of the critical phases of human development when ethnic and racial attitudes are formed. Seclusion challenges the value of unity as well as equal opportunity, which education ought to contribute towards, and countries espouse.
Segregation in learning institutions promotes the notion of ethnic and racial differences as well as supremacy by making the idea of separation a physical reality. Children who study in mixed background classes learn about different ethnicities and cultures cross interact and feel more comfortable with the diversity in their lives in school and beyond. Diversity allows learners to freely and more confidently interact with different social groups thus forming friendships (Jansson et al., 2020). Globalization is on the rise, and students who learn in mixed classrooms are better prepared to work and flourish in ethnically and racially diverse workplaces. All schools must embrace diversity so that they produce learners that are conscious of diversity and hence can fit in any community.
Reference
Jansson, F., Birkelund, G., & Lillehagen, M. (2020). Segregation within school classes: Detecting social clustering in choice data. Plos One, 15(6). Web.