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management approach itself. It is therefore; theterm diversity shall refer to heterogeneity and
will be distinguished from attitudes valuing diversity and a policy of diversity management.
School managers‘ awareness of all aspects of diversities will help people understand each other
better, free from prejudices and lessen conflicts. In this way, it will lead a stronger social
adaptation at school (Van Der, 2012). Managers should establish school policies providing
respect for diversities and appreciation of diversities in order to manage diversities at schools.
Schools and teacher education institutions reflect the growing linguistic and religious diversity of
our communities, and need to find ways to address both the challenges and opportunities they
represent. These remain complex issues to negotiate, despite recent positive departmental policy
statements on cultural diversity and decades of support for various multicultural education
programs in schools (Mansouri & Wood 2007).
According to Ahmed et al. (2011), the effective management of diversity has different aspects
that organizations must implement in the workplace. One of these aspects is training which is a
common activity adopted by organizations to enhance awareness of diversity and management.
To ensure that organizations take full advantage of the positive aspects of cultural diversity, their
training programs should focus on four areas: awareness, attitude, knowledge and skills.
Awareness is a skill that requires one to overcome stereotypes and learn about one‘s own
reactions to people who are different.
Attitude enables people to examine their values and beliefs about cultural differences and
understand their origins. Knowledge is an essential skill that deals with behavior and how it
relates to fairness and workforce effectiveness. Skills allow organizational leaders and
employees to achieve cultural competence and create a new work environment based on
understanding, communication and cooperation.
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