Standard 5: Culturally Responsive Teaching
Standard 5 states teacher leaders establish a
culturally inclusive climate that facilitates academic engagement and success
for all students. To accomplish an
understanding of what this standard entails, I took the class Culturally
Responsive teaching. Of all the courses
within the Teacher Leadership Program, this course addressed the most personal
and vulnerable aspects of not only my teaching, but my place in society as a
whole. Through numerous engaging group discussions, articles, and reflective
papers, I now have a better grasp as to what it takes to create a culturally
inclusive climate for students.
Reflection:
As
defined by Wlodkowski and
Ginsberg (1995), culturally responsive teaching is “a pedagogy that crosses
disciplines and cultures to engage learners while respecting their cultural
integrity. It accommodates the dynamic mix of race, ethnicity, class, gender,
region, religion, and family that contributes to every student's cultural
identity”. Prior to taking this course I
had little understanding of this definition, or even idea of culturally
responsive teaching. This is
partially due to my upbringing and background.
For essentially my entire childhood, young adult, and adult life, I have
been surrounded by predominantly white individuals. My middle school and high school settings were
mostly white, college was mostly white, and the school in which I now work is
very white. I have never been forced to confront what it means to be responsive
to other races, culturals, or norms as my world has been seen through one lens.
I have always thought of myself as tolerant, understanding, and open to people
who hold different values than me.
However this course has showed me how much more it takes to be considered
a culturally responsive teacher. I had
two main takeaways leaving this course.
The
first takeaway came during week three of the course. A required reading for the week was an
article by Gary Howard entitled, “Whites in Multicultural Education: Rethinking
Our Role”. In this article Howard calls
on all people to search for an authentic identity. Do not simplify your being into words like
“White” or “Black”, instead search deeply into your roots and find specific
details of your heritage. Not all White
or Black people are the same, even though sometimes we might lump ourselves
into one category. Howard instructs all
individuals to celebrate their specific heritage. This in turn creates more individuality and
detail in our being, instead of using blanket terms in hopes they apply to all
individuals. As stated by Howard (1996),
“Any of us who choose to look more deeply into our European roots will find
there a rich and diverse experience waiting to be discovered” (p. 336). In a response to a posting on the discussion
board forum, Eleanor beautifully stated “it is equally important for White Americans to more
deeply explore their cultural backgrounds thus enabling them to add more fully
to the rich dialogue of diversity. It's not longer a valid excuse to be
"just White" when conversing in ethnicity and culture issues and how
they impact our society.”
To apply this
concept I will seek out information regarding my specific heritage. In the past couple of years my father worked
through piecing together the Van Pelt family heritage. He is a useful resource in this journey of
discovering my true heritage and background.
With this information I can speak clearly and accurately on who I am and
where I come from. In my professional
life I can bring my culture into the classroom and the students can witness
what it means to celebrate your heritage.
As I work in a predominantly white school it is important they see what
it means to celebrate and acknowledge where we come from. In today’s time there can be a lot of white
guilt and is something I hear quite a lot in our student body. We are teaching them to acknowledge the
differences and inequality within our society, but sometimes the students
confuse this with being ashamed of who you are.
By recognizing our individual heritage we acknowledge our differences
and what makes us unique. When we are
seen as unique and individual it creates a sense of connection between all
humans. By being different, we can come together more easily. If the students acknowledge their
individuality maybe they can start to see that we are all unique and have
something to offer for the world.
The second takeaway regards the idea that
developing cultural competence is a lifelong journey. During module one, a main idea of exploration
was the idea of cultural competency and what that entails. In the lecture there was a picture of an
iceberg with words associated with culture.
On the tip of iceberg were cultural artifacts, or words that most people
associate with culture. These cultural
artifacts are the low hanging fruit of understanding culture, and they are
ideas that most people use when interacting with culture. These words included, “cooking”, “games”,
“folk dancing”, and “dress” to name a few.
However underneath the surface were a plethora of other words that also
apply to culture. Some of these words
and phrases included: “nature of friendship”, “conception of beauty”, and
“definition of sin”. These words and
phrases are a main component to culture, however many people, including myself,
do not put these ideas in the front of their minds. These ideas and the image of the iceberg
taught me how important it is to take everything into account when learning
about or interacting with all people.
I will apply this
idea through openness and awareness.
Building cultural competency requires an open to mind to every aspect of
a person. As stated by Chris Lehmann
(2016), “Cultural competence means first understanding, as educational leaders,
that we come to school with our sense of who we are, and that unless we are reflective
about our own identity and how it creates a lens through which we view the
world, we will not be able to honor the identities of the students and faculty
we serve.” Nothing can be assumed and nothing can be brushed off as
“not important”. When interacting with
someone from a culture different than my own I must approach the relationship
as if I know absolutely nothing about what it means to be a human being. From this frame of mind, every action taken
or word spoken is one I must question and be curious about. Having a high sense of awareness applies to
both interactions in and outside of the classroom. As Gwenn said in one discussion posting, “As
teachers, we need to be aware and understand that our students come from
different cultural backgrounds. The more we are aware of that, the more
effectively we can communicate with our students and their families and build
relationships with them. Cultural competence can also help us build a community
within the classroom where all students feel included and safe.” We must treat our students as human beings
that need to be understood. Students
bring culture into our classrooms and we cannot expect them all to operate in
the same way. We do not teach
robots. They are individuals with
individual histories, even if those histories are only a few years old. When we interact with our students with
openness and awareness they have a space in which they can be true to
themselves and develop into their own person.
In conclusion, by
becoming a culturally responsive teacher, I am simply becoming a better teacher
who is more aware of the students and their individual needs. Often, teachers are instructed to meet the
needs of their students. However most of the time we forget to account for
cultural needs, usually because we are unaware of what these needs might
be. It isn’t always about learning
styles or academic ability. Learning,
understanding, and respecting every student’s heritage and cultural background
is highly important if we want to connect with them and ensure academic
success.
Artifacts:
Autobiography
Sources
Howard, G (1996).
Whites in multicultural education: Rethinking our role. In J. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural Education, Transformative
Knowledge and Action (pp. 323-334). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Wlodkowski, R., & Ginsberg, M. (1995). A
Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Educational Leadership, 53(1). Retreived from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept95/vol53/num01/A-Framework-for-Culturally-Responsive-Teaching.aspx
Lehmann, C. (2016). How Leaders Can Improve Their
Schools’ Cultural Competence. Retrieved from
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