Coming from South Africa, the so-called “Rainbow Nation,” Talia was surrounded by multiculturalism every day—you didn’t have to search for it; it was woven into daily life. After growing up in Cape Town and beginning her career as an educator there, moving to Lithuania meant entering a very different context: one dominant language, one dominant culture, and classrooms where most children shared the same cultural identity. Yet Lithuania was not entirely new to her. With Litvak roots and family heritage stretching back here from South Africa, living and teaching in this context has also meant reconciling her South African identity with her ancestral past. Navigating these multiple layers of identity—some visible, some not—while encountering a cultural landscape so different from the one she grew up in has led her to raise difficult but necessary questions: Does the absence of visible diversity mean a society is homogenous? In schools, do we quietly set cultural diversity aside when it isn’t obvious, or do we risk inventing tokenistic versions of it to fill the gap? Or can we challenge ourselves to see diversity in more complex, less visible ways?

As a Grade 2 teacher at Vilnius International School and cultural proficiency ambassador for the past two years, Talia has worked with students, colleagues, and school leaders to confront these questions in meaningful ways. Her focus is on moving beyond surface-level markers of diversity to engage with the full spectrum of human differences, fostering an environment where students and teachers feel safe, seen, and heard. This work is not about checking boxes, but about building a culture of belonging—one where difference is valued as an asset and the often invisible dimensions of identity and diversity are explored and addressed with intention.

In this workshop, Talia will share how her school has grappled with these questions and invite participants to reflect critically on their own contexts: How do we define diversity, and how do we cultivate cultural proficiency whether it is or isn’t immediately visible? Participants will engage with practical tools and strategies to navigate these layered, often complex challenges, and will see how these approaches can be integrated into curriculum and classroom practice to make cultural proficiency tangible and actionable.