Here at St. Andrews Dusit International School in Bangkok, we view diversity as our strength. It is natural for an international school like ours to be diverse by nature, and it is one of our main sources of pride, providing direction to our programmes and classes.

We believe in the importance of fostering a mutual understanding among children about how diverse the world truly is. We wish to instil in them the sociological, ecological, technological, and cultural diversity of the world they live in.

Children from all walks of life enter our school. Thus, we do our best to introduce them to one another’s culture and heritage through our diverse school community and environment. We encourage our children to respect and appreciate each one’s culture and traditions and to learn from one another while keeping an open mind.

So, how does diversity benefit your child within as well as beyond their education in St. Andrews Dusit’s classrooms?

Why Is Diversity In St. Andrews Dusit Important?

There are endless benefits to a student attending an international school to embrace diversity. It doesn’t only expose them to a world of different cultures, languages, and perspectives—it also teaches them the values of kindness, empathy, and tolerance.

We, the teachers and staff, apply holistic learning to a diverse collection of primary school children from Nursery to Year 6. All of us also come from various backgrounds and nationalities.

Diversity should teach them the art of “thinking independently together”. That isn’t a contradiction, either. Inclusiveness and diversity allow harmony to exist in a melting pot of cultures. Such an environment allows our children to grow up retaining their cultural individuality while avoiding tribalism by valuing the diverse backgrounds of others so that they can function better in human society in the future.

The inherent diversity of international schools like St. Andrews Dusit ensures a global worldview and education for your children when push comes to shove.

What are the Benefits of Diversity in St. Andrews Dusit?

The advantages of enrolling your child to a diverse international school are myriad if not infinite. It introduces them to a world of multiple languages and cultures for one thing. It teaches them kindness, tolerance, and empathy for another thing. Accepting differences in society will be an essential trait in their adulthood life.

Through school trips, songs, books, projects, or cross-school activities, the children can increase their understanding of the world.

Instead of being stuck inside a closed bubble with your family, similar-thinking neighbours, or among those of your same ethnicity, it’s beneficial for children to interact with new and unique classmates, teachers and members of staff in an eye-opening multicultural setting.

“Diversity is our strength because humanity is diverse by nature. It gives children a kaleidoscope of perspectives through inclusiveness and camaraderie with people from all walks of life.”

Children should be exposed to many different backgrounds to prevent instilling prejudice, insularity, culture shock, or ignorance of other cultures and peoples. Diversity nurtures a global mindset as a young age, where everyone is a citizen of the world instead of merely a citizen of their own country, genetic makeup, faction, or kin.

Their global mindset opens their eyes and helps them understand the many nationalities, cultures and ethnicities around them at a young age by merely interacting with each another.

Nurturing Kindness, Respect, And Empathy

Children’s exposure to different religions, food, languages, and customs teaches them that even though they don’t share the same aspects of life, they can still show respect despite having different beliefs.

When diversity is celebrated, children are given the chance to join in with other cultures, try out different cuisine, and partake in traditions outside of their own.

An international school like St. Andrews Dusit will assist children to get valuable, first-hand experiences that teach them how to accept and respect people from other countries or cultures. Diversity is the connective tissue that brings together humanity without reducing their uniqueness and individuality to group homogeneity.

It also helps children celebrate their own unique culture and heritage. It doesn’t discard their own experiences in favour of belonging to the group. Their individuality is also validated along with the backgrounds of others. Students in every St. Andrews classroom can bond over shared experiences while opening their mind to experiences outside of their own in a respectful way.

Developing A Broad Worldview In A Multicultural Setting

Children love making friends. They’re curious by nature. With the help of parents at home teaching them about differences in other children, they will understand and cope better once exposed to the school environment.

World-mindedness or international-mindedness helps children understand they belong in a bigger community as unique individuals with diverse backgrounds.

Actually, the International Baccalaureate (IB) views this worldly perspective as a key trait in students, particularly when it comes to IB primary year programmes.

This type of mindset is a worldview, according to IB, allowing pupils to see themselves belonging to a larger global community, thus they’re able to feel a sense of responsibility to their fellow classmates on a world scale. Multicultural interactions also help build their words or vocabulary, which should support them in their developmental years.

In a multicultural setting, the curriculum isn’t limited on a specific nationality or country. Instead, it covers multiple cultures and nations to allow for a more harmonious learning experience.

Cultivating Open-Mindedness Of Others

Your primary school children will also learn a wide range of languages and cultures from interacting with each other as well as from learning lessons taught and doing activities prepared at St. Andrews Dusit.

Exposing your child early on to other children from all walks of life will give them a more informed perspective of the world that they’d otherwise only learn from constant travel when they are adults.

A child who grew up in a multicultural environment is less likely to believe in racial stereotypes and discrimination because he or she gets to interact with the actual people rather than just hear about them in an insular environment.

Diversity widens their perspective instead of limits them with the blinders of a sheltered life. No matter what country the child is from, he or she can celebrate with others their different heritages and share their experiences with one another. All this is for the sake of developing a broader worldview for the child.

The Bottom Line

We at St. Andrews Dusit believe in helping young students learn about how diverse the world really is, so that they are more aware and conscious of the people and society we live in. It also helps them to live in harmony with one another to achieve mutual success in their future endeavours. It also opens their eyes to a multitude of perspectives so that they don’t become divided by tribalism, prejudice, and bigotry from living inside an echo chamber of ideas.

St. Andrews International School Dusit is part of the Cognita School Group umbrella. Cognita itself is a major institution that operates schools worldwide, including the Americas, Asia, Europe, and beyond.

If you wish to learn more about St. Andrews International School Dusit, please book a school tour today.