Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Using it in the Classroom
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Using it in the Classroom
Culturally relevant teaching is all I am talking about. In
fact it is finally becoming so important that everyone in the teaching industry
is talking about, not just me. This video (A TED Talk, which everyone loves)
encompasses why culturally relevant teaching is so important—he actually
references Gloria Ladson-Billings who is one of the authors we were reading
from. At one point he starts talking in only Spanish, I only get a few
subtitles here and there to continue to lead me through what he is saying, but
I begin missing things he was saying because I could not understand. I was
frustrated. He then moves on to not learning about important Hispanic political
figured until he was a senior in college, and was not even told by a professor
but by one of his friends. As an up and coming teacher (that is a fair reference
for us isn’t it?) I was very frustrated by the idea that his life would have
been completely different had he learned about important figured that meant
something to him and in a language that he used in his home everyday. I went
through my whole life not wanting to learn about world history because it
wasn’t really ‘important to me’ but he was sitting here learning about all of
our white, male, Christian founding fathers. I guess I need to get to my point:
Why and how are we going to create an environment good enough for a student
like Isael Torres and many other that come from a background that isn’t the
dominant one.
Lets start with why. Why are we going to create an
environment for students outside of the dominant culture that will stimulate
their learning? Why wouldn’t we? I guess that is the real question. Over the
last few decades we have gone through these stages of different pedagogy.
Before and during the 1960s and 1970s we went through a
deficit approach. The goal was to eradicate minority cultures essentially, and
this was done by the legitimization of the dominant culture. Language,
literacy, and cultural practices demanded by school fell in like with White,
middle-class norms and positioned languages and literacies that fell out of
those norms as ‘less-than’ If it wasn’t based in the dominant culture than it
seemed ‘unworthy’. I know I have actually thought this before. I deemed things
that weren’t my culture (the dominant one) as ‘unworthy’ of my time. This is
what happened with the Native Americans, in their attempts to assimilate their
culture. This caused a large separation for these Native American students
because they were no longer accepted by their culture or the American culture.
(Paris, 2012)
The next stage was
during most of the 1970’s and 1980’s. This was the difference approach. We have
all heard “separate but equal” and this is what the difference approach was
about. Yeah sure we are equal, but we need to be separate. This is what
happened during segregation. This led to inequitable resources, which
snowballed into an inequitable environment for students who were a part of the
minority group. (Paris, 2012)
This led to resource pedagogy, or the Golden Age. This is the teaching that came out of realizing the
systematic inequalities of marginalized minorities and pushing teaching further
to culturally teach these students. Through this pedagogy, it was found that
“their most lasting theoretical framework was in the work of Moll and
Gonzalez (1994) with their formulation of funds
of knowledge.” (Paris, 2012) Funds of knowledge refer to knowledge that has
been built and passed down within a culture such as history and skills for
individual function and well-being. (Paris, 2012)
Using these funds of knowledge with in a culture will allow
for us as educators to teach through these funds of knowledge. This is what we
would call culturally sustaining/responsive pedagogy. (Gloria Ladson-Billings
refers to it as responsive pedagogy, while Django Paris believes that being
responsive isn’t enough, rather sustaining is a better word)
There is no special code to teaching a culturally sustaining
pedagogy, but there are a few things that I noticed, and that was there are
three criteria for this pedagogy:
- Students must experience academic success
- Students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence
- Students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order (Ladson-Billings, 1995)
Use this criteria to keep yourself in check every step of
the way. I believe using this will allow us to see where our shortcomings are.
If our students are speaking up were doing something right. If our students
think about the world rather than just live in it and follow rules we need to
keep going, but if a students shows a struggle with academics, we need to check
ourselves. We need to be able to adjust to our failures and grow as a teacher.
Great post Kyrsten! Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy is crucial in today's world when it comes to education. It makes me wonder though, how many children have been left behind? Something that stood out to me in the readings and influenced me to become a better teacher was the quote, "utilize culture as a vehicle for learning" (Ladson-Billings, pg. 161) As teachers we MUST use our students' culture as a stepping stone in learning. We must connect the two, not segregate them. But how do we do this? How do we use our student's culture in the classroom when we don't fully understand that particular culture ourselves? How do we push aside our personal biases to make sure our students get a holistic experience connecting their home and school life? How do we meet the needs of ALL students when their culture's are all so different? A few ideas that pop into my mind is REALLY getting to know your student's from the get go. Learn from their cultures and ask questions. Make them feel as though you value them and where they come from and use those qualities in your classroom to make them feel like they are respected and cherished. Any other ideas?
ReplyDeleteMayson, I feel the same way with a lot of what you are saying in your response. I know that culture needs to come first in the classroom and following that education. It is like education needs to be integrated into culture, not the other way around, but how? I feel the same way about the question you asked. "How do we use our student's culture in the classroom when w don't fully understand the particular culture ourselves?". I think that is going to be very difficult. The more I think about it, the more I think that it is our job to learn about the culture. It is our job to incorporate it as much as possible so we can learn more. Even doing research on a particular culture I think would be important as well. As and educator it is our job to make sure our students feel comfortable in our classroom no matter who they are. In my opinion the students come before everything else. I know I am not a teacher yet, so saying all of this is probably easier said than done, but I know it is important and will make sure I am trying my 100% best.
DeleteI agree with everything you said Mayson. How are we supposed to give them the cultural experience they need along with everyone else in the classroom. I think asking questions is the best way to start understanding culture. Our first year will be rough, but it will be full of learning. Were starting from scratch, but as we continue to grow we will have a deeper understanding of some cultures, so it will be easier to integrate. I agree with Allison too. It seems so easy when were are reading and responding, but it will be much harder. I think as long as we are putting the students first we are on the right track.
DeleteI think everyone has some really good questions on here! Mayson has some good ones above me and the original post has some good ones as well. I also have some questions myself but I kind of like answering the others with my personal opinion. I wanna first say that I like the empathy that comes from the original post. I like that you got frustrated by what you saw in the Ted Talk because that means you get it and you sympathize with it which means you won't do it. in your classroom. I see a lot of questions about how to integrate culture in the classroom and so in my personal opinion, I don't think it has to be that deep in to the research of it. For example, making your students choose a book about a child that is not white, or written by an author that is not white. Maybe pick a book in a different language all together. Do research on Latino history, Asian history. Play music from different cultures in the background sometimes. I don't really feel like I have it all figured out myself but I realized that I get anxiety when I realize that i don't know much about the other cultures myself, like you all said. But that's what makes it fun is that you are all learning together. I hope that made some kind of sense.
ReplyDeleteMerannda, thanks for your take on integrating culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy in the classroom. I do also think that when we enter our classroom using our personalized lens, it can sometimes be difficult to use a lens that is critical of the dominant information that we have been socialized into believing. As educators, it will be easy for us to resort to teaching in the ways that we taught because it will feel comfortable and safe. However, we have to remember that learning is not meaningful, nor worthwhile, when not made to be personal. When education is simply emphasized as the rote memorization of facts, dates and equations, the information does not become valuable, nor is it hardly utilized outside the classroom. Therefore, we have to question whether we want to push our students to only engage in shallow, low-level processing of information (such as reading a book about another culture), or if we want to engage them into being social activist fighting for and seeking reform in the world and community in which they live in. Children will mimic their role models. It is also important to note that children can see the truth more than adults want to realize. Therefore, if we constantly set expectations for our students that we do not even hold ourselves to (such as acting as social justice warriors), we cannot expect their learning experience to be worthwhile and influential.
DeleteKyrsten, this post was very detailed and caused me to challenge my thinking around culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy. The TED talk was a great resource to expand my perspective and empathize with the speaker on his educational experience. I can relate to your frustration when the speaker talked on Spanish and only gave us a few subtitles, but it also hurt my heart to know that children experience this everyday in our country's classrooms due to our schools failing to incorporate culture into education. In regards to your question around creating an environment to better suit our classroom, my thoughts are drawn back to the readings where incorporating culture into education is discussed. Rather than trying to squeeze culture into the ever-growing cracks of our education system to address the inequities children face in schools, we should place more emphasis on fitting education into the culture of our students (Paris, 2012). The doors of our classrooms should not be something separate of the homes and communities our students come from, but rather they should be representative and in tune with each students culture. In this environment, us teachers can "support young people in sustaining the cultural and linguistic competence of their communities while simultaneously offering access to dominant cultural competence" (Paris, 2012, p. 95). I think this reading puts emphasis on the message that dominant culture should not be the norm or the focus in our education system. Sadly, my experience at our placement school has not reflected these ideals, and neither has any of my experiences in public education. I think to be able to do this, we need to take the initiative to form personal relationships with students and their families and educate ourselves on culture means to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with how we could start to form a culturally sustaining pedagogy. I think when some teachers think about making the environment culturally sustaining they see it as only the books they use, but it is so much more. I think really tuning into the communities culture means going to events in the community, volunteering in the community, and getting to know your students families. I am still trying to understand what is acceptable as a teacher. I have heard some professors talk about how they went to a students home to talk about why they haven't been doing so well in school. I have never even heard of one of my teachers just stopping by a students house, so I guess I still need to understand what is acceptable as a teacher in creating relationships with students and families.
DeleteKyrsten your post made me think about two things in particular. The first, English as a second language students having difficulty learning and second, the three criteria for cultural sustaining pedagogy. As Kristen mentioned students already experience the feeling of failing or the feeling that their teachers have failed them in our country's classrooms. In the video Isael Torres shared his educational experiences in his native language because that is what he is most comfortable with. In an American classroom, students are expected to learn in a second language, English, and respond by writing and speaking in this second language. If a student is not given the necessary resources to be successful, they either are pushed aside ending in failure or the student does not try because they do not feel important also causing failure. As an upcoming teacher I feel it is my responsibility to seek resources to help my students be successful. If I have a student who speaks Spanish, I feel they should be given materials in their native tongue to allow success. I also feel the rest of the class should be instructed to take part in encouraging growth and given materials that show culture is in education, not just one sided. Example: If I have students who speak in Spanish and English than course work should be in both Spanish and English. It is possible to incorporate the second language into portions of the curriculum to allow success to students who are English as a second language learners and allow students who speak English an opportunity to learn Spanish. This will allow the class to see how difficult it can be to learn a new language and think in a new language in order to be successful in education.
ReplyDeleteThe second, the three criteria for culturally sustaining pedagogy, creates concern for student expectation they do not quite understand. How do students become successful when they are treated as an afterthought? How can teachers go above what they are expected to do to show students of color and other students with academic struggles they are capable and worth the time to be taught? If a student is expected to experience academic success, develop and/or maintain cultural competence, and develop critical consciousness to challenge the status quo then every student needs to be given the resources possible to accomplish these criteria successfully.
I really liked what you were saying about ESL students. I don't understand why some teachers expect their students to understand the coursework when English isn't their first language. I have always like the idea to incorporate a culturally relevant book to read to your students that has the other language in it. So find a book about a hispanic family, which includes Spanish words within the text. This can start the conversation about words in Spanish, and the hispanic culture that we see in the book. We can do this with plenty of languages. Reading to students books they wouldn't normally choose to read on their own will allow us to create discussions which creates an environment for a deep learning.
DeleteHeather, I like your question near the end, "How can students become successful when they are treated as an afterthought(Bobrow 2019)." Many children feel like they do not matter in school. However, we must be the change. As you stated, it is our job as educators to supply them with the recourses they need to reach their potential. We must practice culturally sustaining pedagogy in our classrooms. Unknown, I like how you touched on different ways we could integrate culture into the classrooms. A book can lead to whatever your children want it to. Let them control the conversation and let them inspire the activities. Children are going to teach us as much as we teach them, they deserve to be heard.
Delete(continued.. this is still 1 post) What are other ways we could integrate culture into the classroom? What do we say to a parent that feels we are targeting their child in class? How could we spread this practice schoolwide?
DeleteI like what you said! When you talked about how he was speaking in Spanish at the beginning, it reminded me of last semester. Last semester we talked about how one of the IPS schools taught in half the day in Spanish and half in English. This was so students can learn a language and students could learn subjects in their native language. I was always interested in this because I thought it was such a great way to be culturally relevant to the school's population. Over winter break, I learned that an elementary school from my hometown (Valparaiso, IN) is doing something similar to this. They teach math in Spanish so students get to learn a new language. Valparaiso is a predominantly white town, so to be incorporating something like this in their curriculum is a great way to culturally relevant.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that your own hometown is doing something similar to that. Because, when we were in school I felt like lots of this help was never offered. In this part noted, "English-only policies; narrow, de-contextualized language and literacy programs in poor communities of color; and even one state’s explicit ban on studying the histories, literatures, and struggles of particular ethnic groups" (Parris, 2012, Pg.95). This to me really makes me mad, because the fact that it still is happening. Something needs to happen to help the students learn in the best environment possible. This type of thinking needs to be introduce in schools now more then ever. This will make the bridge between each other close more each day.
DeleteKyrsten, you make some compelling points, such as the idea of "funds of knowledge," and teaching through that outlet that we find as teachers. I think it is also important to remember that as teachers, it is our job to not just "insert culture into our education, but to insert education into the culture of the students," as stated by Ladson-Billings. Students' inquiries, interests and culture should be at the forefront of our interest, as those are the outlets in which we insert our education curricula. Once we establish where are students are at culturally, or where their interests are at, we are able to meet them there to better maximize their learning capacity. This is where we reach every student.
ReplyDeleteIt is also our job as teachers to create a space in which we raise our students to be political agents of change. We can teach our students that it doesn't have to be this way, and that we can make a difference. We can do this by writing to legislators (For a better world), and we can even make a writing lesson of it. This is a great example of incorporating lessons into being an agent of change instead of vice versa.
Overall, this is a great post. You have challenged me to think about the fact that not all children will be stimulated educationally in the same way and that it is our job as teachers to meet the student where they are at and change the system of education.
Anna, I like how you included the extremely important idea of culturally relevant pedagogy that explains how students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order (Ladson-Billings, 1995) by saying that students should be empowered to be political agents of change. Multiculturalism has many aspects to it, but I agree that this is one very important aspect. We begin by welcoming and encouraging different cultures in our classroom so that all students can feel that their life experiences are valued. Let them feel that, although they are outside what society has deemed the dominant group, they deserve a spot in our education system as we attempt to move away from the norm that supports a monocultural way of life/thinking.
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ReplyDeleteKirsten, thank you for sharing your blog with us. The ted talk touched on how language can be a barrier in the classroom. Many of us in our cohort have seen children who speak little English get pushed to the side during class and told to grab a book. How can you feel like you belong if it is so obvious that everyone is pushing you away because you’re “different”? It is very important that we (as future educators) place ourselves in our children’s shoes. That is exactly what you did, Kirsten. Your frustration is good, and your frustration can lead to change.
DeleteIt is vital that we as future educators appreciate every ounce of knowledge our children bring into the classroom. When they walk into our room, they are not blank canvas boards. They have history, they have heritage, they have so much to bring into our classroom and they deserve to have a chance to spread it. We must learn about our children’s culture and making sure they feel valuable in the classroom because they are. Then we must integrate their culture into the curriculum. “Support young people in sustaining the cultural and linguistic competence of their communities while simultaneously offering access to dominate cultural competence (Paris, Pg. 95, 2012).” Incorporate a book that includes different languages to show children linguistic diversity. Its not just a matter of here is a new word its digging deep into different cultures and capitalizing on it its greatness.
Kyrsten, I appreciate your take on this week's reading. I feel the content was heavy, and the messages are illustrated very strongly in each piece. I first would like to touch on the question you asked, "Why are we going to create an environment outside the dominant culture that will stimulate their learning?" It is important that we frame our student's learning experiences around their funds of knowledge and experiences that they bring into the classroom. When educators do not do so, we are devaluing who are students are and the many aspects of their identity. If educators want there to be established respect in the classroom from the students to the teacher(s), students must also feel respected. This "respect" comes in many forms. Sometimes, respect looks like opposing a limited and prescribed curriculum that follows an idea as a one-size-fits-all rule. Research has shown that a culturally relevant, student-centered approach to teaching and learning is helping to extend a pluralistic society (Paris, 2012, p. 96). With this being said, it is important that we identify culturally-sustaining pedagogy as a means for implementing a democratic society in the classroom versus passively including "multicultural" literature pieces, but not serving as a role model to the change and expectations that are held for our students in the "real" world. In order to encourage our students to be "involved in activist communities outside of school", we must model that too through learned strategies for action, specific skills for affecting public opinion and leaders' decisions (Bomer, 2001, p. 155). Children cannot be what they can't see. We can not preach for our students to be activist in their communities if we don't become involved and learn how to do so ourselves.
ReplyDeleteReading through this post helps me realize just how much I missed as a child in public schools. Culturally relevant petagogy is the backbone of how kids will be successful in our education system today. The only way to make schools successful for all children is by reconstructing this enlightenment philosophy that schools were built around. Education was founded in a ln age were not all were seen as equals and the higher by for that is still true today. We abolish these ideas and move forward in society , yet out most crucial system is still built around this. Culturally relevant petagogy is the sure fire way to help children relate to their education and flourish in the classroom while feeling connected to what they see in the curriculum. Landon and Billings focus on children being the focal point (meaning ALL children of every color and gender). That children need to be individually recongnized and seen as a learning point for all in the classroom. What we learn from each other is the most fruitful knowledge there is.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your post it really got me to think about the single-sided way of teaching. It's really unfortunate that many cultures have to give up their way of learning and learn only one way, the white way. That they have to learn about our culture and pretty much forget about their own. When reading through the posts I saw a commonality of a single-sided way of teaching. I don't wish to have that in my room. My room will have ways of teaching all across the world. I want to bring in different ways to do math, science, English, reading, and so much more.
ReplyDeleteI want to bring in people with different cultural backgrounds into the classroom. I want them to help teach me and the other students to be better learners. I really want the parents to come in and teach the history they grew up with. Because, more than likely they know more than any teacher. Because a family from Mexico or China will know more about their own cultural than a teacher reading in a book.
I feel like 320 really got the ball rolling for education. But, with this class in the other ones were taking this year we will really drive the hammer down and solidify our understandings.
I really appreciate the insight you brought into this discussion. I particularly liked how you took a step back to look at your own experiences that resulted from this monocultural style of education. Throughout my own years as a student, I too have thought things like “why does this matter to me” when learning about something like world history or anything dealing with the non-dominant culture that I am a part of. I appreciate your honesty because, unfortunately, I can relate with you on this. Us, like many others, are prime examples of the negative affects that a monocultural education has on students. Thankfully, we can now look at our past mistakes and ensure that we do not do the same to our future students.
ReplyDeleteWe can now see the importance in applying a multicultural education framework into our classrooms that, as you mentioned, makes students from outside of the dominant culture feel valued and empowered. I liked how Paris (2009) described multiculturalism as rich in explaining how “such richness includes all of the languages, literacies, and cultural ways of being that our students and communities embody—both those marginalized and dominant” (p. 96). We cannot truly accomplish this without looking taking culturally relevant pedagogy a step further to becoming culturally sustaining pedagogy where this value of multiculturalism is embodied and internalized into all of our students so that it is natural and long lasting. I like how you said we will know students have taken steps toward this if they speak up for themselves or what they believe in and begin to really think about and value the world rather than just live in it. It is our responsibility as teachers to instill these values into the minds of our students so they stick with them for the rest of their lives.
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