What Would It Mean... January 16, 2019
What Would It Mean for
English Language Arts to Become More Culturally Responsive and Sustaining?
Growing up there
were many students of color in my various classes. However, what I wondered was
why people of color were often portrayed as negative individuals. For decades people
of color such as African, Hispanic, Latina/Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and
Native American were not truly excepted in the public education system. I
remember a White teacher in high school complain about the month of February
because the school’s curriculum required the staff to engage positive
conversation and activity around Black History for the entire month. I remember
this day for a couple reasons. One, I did not understand why my teacher complained about sharing history of
African Americans that
made a change for better. Two, one of my best friends felt empty and outraged
from his reaction. She questioned her position as an African American student
and in society because everything taught in our history books depicted her and
many others as worthless and inferior to White people. She wanted to know why
she and her ancestors were looked at in such a negative light. I had never
taken the time to think about events in history as much as I had that day. My
best friend opened my eyes to the injustices she felt at that moment for being born
with darker skin.
As the days went by, I noticed my friend ‘change’
who she hung out with at school. I admit I was jealous because I thought I had
done something wrong. I later learned my friend wanted to have friendships with
others who looked like her and spoke like her. I did not understand this
because I was not personally experiencing the heartaches she recently felt,
well not on the same level. As a future educator I hope my students will not
ever feel as my friend had then. Bomer states, “in order for diverse cultures
to be sustained in concert with schooling, they have to be recognized as
existing” (p.14).
Having
Black History month allows for every culture to express themselves in various
ways such as through word, painting, drawing, song, and acting. In the
classroom it is important to encourage students to work with what they know. To
dig deep within themselves to share who they are and how culture has shaped
them. We could and should push the use of literacy to be surrounded in
culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Introducing
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
In this video, Introducing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Jacqueline
Jordan Irvine, Geneva Gay, and Kris Gutierrez addresses culturally responsive pedagogy
in the classroom and how this works when a teacher is willing to step out and
try something new. Teachers need to listen to their students to help students
adapt to the culture of the school meanwhile the teacher adapts the school to
the students.
Nice post you have here! I love that you included this video and the pictures. Going off your questions "how do we make a point to go beyond what is taught in the classroom and add culturally relevant materials that will allow all students to learn about culture around us through literacy?", I think the chart from "What would it Mean" on page 13 of the text gives some good ideas.
ReplyDeleteOn this chart, it has 4 groups, culturally colonizing, culturally restricted, culturally tolerant, and culturally sustaining. We should be focusing on what is in the "Culturally sustaining" section. An example of what is said is, "Whole-class text: purposeful about advancing disadvantaged groups" (Bomer, 2017, pg 13). To go above and beyond to made lessons culturally sustaining, we need to chose whole group texts that represent this so we can have critical conversations. Discussion of the text would be the key component to make this culturally sustaining.
Hannah, I really enjoyed when you talked about what we as teachers need to be doing when it came to the chart. I think it is critical for us to do everything we can to meet the fourth column of the chart. I thought it was interesting when Boomer talked about the fourth column of the chart saying, "that means a journey of learning will be in order; it asks us for further transformations". (Boomer, 2017, pg 13). Boomer is saying it is not going to be easy to teach in a culturally sustaining way. This is why it is most common for teachers to educate in a culturally colonizing way, but does not make it right. When teachers find it too difficult they take the 'easy' way of teaching. It is crucial we as future educators change that.
DeleteHannah, I like that you talked about the chart on page thirteen because I think that chart is very important. It showed us what an effective culturally sustaining would be like in a classroom setting. The chart gave us a few example of what each column are and it is necessary for us to compare and contrast the first (culturally colonizing) and last (culturally sustaining) column. By doing so, we can see the importance of focusing on the last (culturally sustaining) column and do our very best to meet those criteria.
DeleteHannah, your response stuck out to me because you answered Heather's question by addressing the chart on pg. 13 about culturally colonizing, culturally restricted, culturally tolerant, and culturally sustaining curricula. This is how I went about answering her question as well-- I think it gives some very valuable ideas about how teachers can transform their classrooms into environments where students of all cultures feel valued and included. Perhaps my favorite part of this chart was how it makes students feel that each of their lives outside of school matter and deserve a spot in the curriculum even if it strays from the norms of the dominant culture. Having a teacher that validates non traditional experiences with literacy, encourages flexibility with different language practices, and helps students connect the many functions of literacy to their own individual communities helps all students see the positive impact that they bring to the classroom as well as how literacy can have a positive impact on their lives outside of school.
DeleteHannah I agree with what you said above me about the chart being a good reference as to how to have a culturally sustained classroom. There is a quote on page 15 that not only supports your post Hannah but also the original post itself. It states "at some point in time, students reading should enable them to imagine the lives of disadvantaged people, maybe like their group, maybe like others....." (Bomer, 2017, pg 15). I think this is also a good answer to the question of "how do we make a point to go beyond what is taught in the classroom and add culturally relevant materials that will allow all students to learn about culture around us through literacy?" We should be putting our students in positions that make them have to learn and accept other cultures and lives and practices and also put them in situations where they can think of ways to improve the world. This also related to chapter 2 in "Pose, Wobble, Flow" when it talks about "hacking" and how that means to get away from traditional instruction and take the lessons you are given and change them and improve them to be more relevant to your students". (Garcia, Allen, pg 33)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading "hacking" in chapter 2 as well because it created a setting that encouraged students to think for themselves. It also created a space for the teacher to think deeper to create culturally relevant material for present time where her students will understand the words and slang used. Students will want to participate because teachers have created an atmosphere that represents the students questions and responses in a cultural way. Hamlet is a difficult read if you don't pay attention. Being able to relate the play to their students shows how the teachers sincerely wanted student participation.
DeleteMerannda, I agree with you that students should be put in positions that not only educate them about other cultures and identities, but also about themselves and the lives of those who may be disadvantaged due to the institutionalized racism/oppression of our society and schools. I think a way that we can even take this "deeper" would be to create a curriculum that gives students to "pose and wobble" with the why's that they may come across in the place of vulnerability while learning about issues in and out of the classroom. Students should have the opportunities and resources made available to them to be able to pose questions as to why society operates the way that it does, and to wobble with their feelings of "why" when engaging with critical texts and writing. "We must nourish ourselves and our students with the ability to challenge status quo oppression, to foment change, and to transform society" (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015, p. 72). As an example relating back to Heather's post, with a critical lens we could question "Why is it that her teacher lacked the skills to respond to his students need of a diverse and culturally sustaining curriculum?" or "Why is it the teacher was only responding to the needs of his diverse students (poorly and reluctantly) during one month out of the entire school year?" If we can create curricula and experiences that are aligned with the culture, identities, and critical questions posed by our students, in combination with providing them the adequate space, resources, and relationships for them to explore these ideas and inequities safely, then we have not only dug "deeper" into real life experiences of our students, but we now have to opportunity to help our students find their voice and empowerment of civic engagement that extends beyond the walls of our classrooms. Through civic engagement, our students can have "the individual power to understand and take action in areas of personal and social concern that affect one's life and the lives of others in the community and in the broader world" (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015, p. 59).
DeleteKristen I appreciate what you wrote, students should be able to dig deeper in and out of the classroom about issues they may face or those they see of others. I often wonder why our society has not made a point to encourage people, especially students, to ask questions especially the difficult ones. Ask questions and command answers. Not answers someone thinks one wants to hear but answers that are beneficial to all of society to allow us to grow as one society with many backgrounds. I see people are afraid to ask in fear of the response. If truth is not told than history repeats itself. History needs to be shared correctly, not pushed aside.
DeleteI really enjoyed your post this week, Heather. I think the story about your friend is heartbreaking, and makes me wonder, if your teachers know they made her feel that way, what would they think? I think as educators, we have a huge and important responsibility. I think a great start to reaching that responsibility is relationships. It is obvious your teacher did not want to create a relationship with the students in her class. I really enjoyed the quote in the article saying, "A teacher who is not continually taking stock of a student's strengths, assets, and resources really cannot enter into a teaching relationship with that student". (Bomer, 2017, pg 13).
ReplyDeleteI found the chart on page thirteen to be a great resource for us when we become future educators, and to not end up being like your teacher. I think it shows very clear teaching ways to avoid and teaching ways to strive for. I think it is very sad to see that the left column is considered most common, and it so far from being culturally sustaining. This just shows that when we as future educators go into schools, we have a lot of important work to do.
Allison I like that you used the quote "A teacher who is not continually taking stock of a student's strengths, assets, and resources really cannot enter into a teaching relationship with that student" because it expresses many teachers who seem to be in a classroom to teach students information but do not take the time to be present in the moment to learn along side with their students. I hope to see more teachers forge a connection with their students to encourage intellectual and personal growth in diverse environments. This has also made me realize how sad it is that culture in the classroom is still a struggle and I believe this issue stems from above.
DeleteHeather, I completely agree! It is so sad that culture in the classroom is such a struggle when it should be one of the easiest things. We all come from different cultures, and backgrounds and bring these different perspectives into the classroom. So why aren't these different perspectives being cherished instead? "A literacy classroom needs to take up the study of language—not to force students to conform to prescriptions about correct grammatical forms but in order to examine everyday language practices: the ways they live in specific communities, the ways they change, and the ways they differ from one another." (Boomer, 2017, pg. 14). Allison, because I questioned why we aren't cherishing these differences, I actually ended up highlighting this same quote as well from the text. "A teacher who is not continually taking stock of a student’s strengths, assets, and resources really cannot enter into a teaching relationship with that student." (Bomer, 2017, pg. 13). These differences mush be held as important and individualistic. Everyone is different, and that is something that the classroom needs to address.
DeleteAshley, I have found different perspectives aren't being cherished in the classroom or outside of it because people are afraid to learn from others. Look in a place of work, often it is difficult for an older person to listen to a younger person simply because of age. So now you are in the classroom. Why won't a teacher listen to a student? Possibly the same reason as an administrator not listening to a teacher or a curriculum writer who doesn't listen to the school board. I do my best to show the same respect to all people, older, younger, same age, and have still found some just don't want to show the same courtesy. My wonder is where these people learn to be so negative or behave superior. This issue is definitely more visible outside of ones culture but if you think about it, the superior behavior is also very much in our own culture. All of it drives me crazy. So going back to the classroom, I believe our students deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. Our students are on the path to greatness so lets help them get there by letting them be who they are in and out of the classroom.
DeleteHeather, what a well-articulated and organized post you have here concerning your personal experience of how the public-school system oppresses individuals through the heartache of your friend. To build off your question of how we can dig deeper, I think the real question is not particularly how to add culturally relevant material into our curriculum, but how do we take on a culturally sustaining pedagogy that makes the culture, identities, and real-life experiences of our students the center of education as we build learning from such things. This reminded me of chapter 2 from our textbooks where Garcia and O'Donnell-Allen (2015) described the kind of environment that you, and many of us, are striving to create for our students - one where our students feel safe to explore who they are in and out of the classroom. The authors said, "Everybody needs a place to be able to struggle through who they are, especially when you're an adolescent" (p. 41). Many of our students need to be able to come to school and learn about the world or who they are to the world today without the oppressive, racist nature of your former teacher. I think before we look into building a curriculum and certain practices as to who we think our students need us to be, we must first understand who they are in a deep and personable way. Without the foundational relationship being built among each of our students, we would not even begin to understand who they are what needs they need us to meet in the classroom. Through "modeling, and building relationships over time, and pausing in moments of resistance to help them reflect on their thinking" (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015, p. 40), we can ultimately change the way that our classroom operates and the level of vulnerability our students our willing to occupy in the systems and environments that we create for them. Through this vulnerability, as Pose Wobble Flow expresses, students can access a deeper sense of learning that is more connected to their life experiences. Once we have a relationship with each student and understand them in a deep way, can we better inform our pedagogical and curriculum practices to be centered around the needs of their identities, culture, and experiences which can lead critically posed questions about inequities that may surround them, their peers, or people in the community.
ReplyDeleteGreat work and what a valuable example that we can use this week to learn to empathize with how teachers in our student’s past may have made them feel, which reiterates the critical need to build trustful relationships with them before entering into the teaching role.
I agree, having a relationship with each student allows for a positive environment. Students are able to voice their concerns and learn from responses. Also, teachers are given a new way of teaching because they are learning along side their students. Listening to the inequities faced daily by themselves, peers, and people in the community.
DeleteKristen, I really like the part of your post that talks about making students have to be put in vulnerable situations. I completely agree with that and I also really like the idea of making a curriculum that makes students have to pose questions and wobble in their why. I look at it like we need to do this for our students sake. It is almost like we are doing them a disservice when we do not teach them about the issues that are going on in the world and at least inform them. We talk about it all the time in class, people didn't know about this or that until they got to college! We are not trying to defeat the ignorance, and I want you all to hear me on that because to be ignorant doesn't mean lack of knowledge it means lack of information. This relates to Secelia's post this week because she was talking about how someone called her a "beaner" and her principle didn't understand why that was offensive. We learn through mistakes, 100%, but that is still such an offensive, yet ignorant thing to say. Not even issues such as race and oppression should be talked about, gender roles and stereotypes, things like that can be talked about as well. We have to be culturally relevant to raise culturally relevant kids and that's what we should want. Chapter 3 in "Pose, Wobble Flow" sums this all up when it talks about teaching civically and how we should be teaching them to go out in to the world to see the issues and try and solve them. Page 60 and 61 give a lot of great ideas and tips on how to do this and I made sure to highlight those!
ReplyDeleteMerannda, I like what you had to say about needing to know more about race and oppression and how these topics should be discussed in school prior to college. If our young are not taught until they come out into the world where their parents can no longer think for them, per say, makes moving forward positively more difficult because people do not know why many are upset or frustrated with what has taken place or continues to take place in many cultures. We need to help students find their voice while they are young to help build a greater future for all.
DeleteHeather , this post was very good, heavily detailed and full of information that brought the readings full circle. What I felt was most important when analyzing How to make things more culturally relevant in the classroom is not trying too hard. I think many of us sit and worry about if we will be enough for some kids, if what we have to contribute will be Perfect for all of them. I feel that if it comes from our hearts and we truly mean our best with the curriculum tasks that we place before them, they will feel included. This is not a practice that has to be thrown at the children full force from day one. In the reading from Bomer on page 13 it discusses having a well stocked wealth of resources to be able to implement throughout your year and that is what is important. Continually staying current and relevant with the children’s lives and showing an interest even in the smallest of ways will keep them engaged in the classroom and perhaps most importantly comfortable at school and with you as an educator. Bridging the gaps caused by countless years of distance between teacher and student is what we aim to do but it is a marathon not a sprint.
ReplyDeleteNathalie, I am glad that you pointed out how sometimes we as educators (and in our case, future educators) can try too hard to do it perfectly, when the truth is that we all start somewhere and we're all on our own journeys when it comes to our multicultural development. However, it is still important to bring this into our classrooms and build our curriculum and lessons AROUND culturally sustaining pedagogy. Like I mentioned in my own reply to Heather's blog post, we have a unique opportunity here at IUPUI in this urban education program to build up our "wealth of resources" (Bomer) that we can bring to our students in our classrooms. It is important that we be "purposeful about advancing disadvantaged groups..., seek out texts that represent students' own groups as well as those of different groups..., focus on community as writing agendas..., and value flexible language practices." (Bomer, 2017, p. 13) These are all ways that we can bring our students a multicultural experience and cultivate culturally sustaining pedagogy in our classroom.
DeleteNathalie and Anna thank you both for pointing out the importance of not being perfect in the classroom. Our (future) students will look to us to see how we handle situations. If we show our students it is okay not know everything or it is okay to mess up once in awhile they will be able to approach situations in and out of the classroom the same way. We will help our students grow while learning and growing with them.
DeleteHeather, great content! I feel sorry for that teacher that didn't see the importance of celebrating Black History Month. He's missing out on an opportunity to diversify himself and bring his students appreciation. However, us as teachers in the classroom, we do not have to wait until February, and we are able to bring Black History into the classroom whenever we want. To best serve our students, in fact, we should be bringing not only African American and Black culture, but many other cultures into our classroom as well. As 21st century teachers, we need to see it as our job to expose our students to cultures other then their own, as well as cultures other then OUR own. I love that you asked the question about how to go beyond sharing education from our own experiences. Thankfully, we have a great opportunity here at IUPUI to be a part of this urban education program that pushes us to broaden our multicultural scope so that we can bring that to the classroom of our students. We need to teach our students to "see cultural differences as assests; creating caring learning communities where culturally different individuals and heritages are valued; using cultural knowledge of ethnically diverse cultures, families, and communities to guide curriculum development, classroom climates, instructional strategies, and relationships with students, challenging racial and cultural stereotypes, prejudices, racism and other forms of intolerance, injustice and oppression." (Gay, 2010) Boner pulled this quote and put it in this article we read from, but I wanted to dial in on this quote because it really stuck out to me. This is our job as educators, to bring this to our students and what better way to do this than through culturally responsive literature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point. I mentioned a similar point in my response. I think teachers should do more that just celebrate a students' culture on a specific day. It seems forced and idle for teachers to follow a national calendar. National calendars do not contain enough days that appreciate different cultures. It only covers a minimum of cultures and the rest of the holidays only represents predominant white culture. I like your statement that teachers should celebrate a variety amount of cultures as each student are individually different. I believe what you said that students will learn from other students cultures. I know I had in the past when new students arrived to my school from different countries. I think this will allow students to be more open-minded about the world and people in it. It is a shame that my generation have little knowledge on many people's cultures and worldviews. My peers and I rarely saw teachers appreciate differences of people, especially the students of color. They were often looked as outsiders and students with no intelligence. Now when I look back, majority of past teachers rarely developed "cultural knowledge of ethnically diverse cultures, families, and communities to guide curriculum development, classroom climates, instructional strategies, and relationships with students...(Gay,2010)." Anna, it was nice for you to pull this quote because it's a powerful and informative statement. I think the teachers should follow everything what Gay said, if one wants to be culturally responsive teachers or a teachers who wants to help students of color be successful. Also, this quote will help us see the goals in which we should accomplish as future educators.
DeleteThinking back to my grade school education I remember learning bits and pieces of history. It was not until I was out of high school that I learned about Columbus in its horrific entirety. Learning this made me wonder what other important history was being left out of books? Why were certain events 'chosen' to continue to be taught while others were pushed aside. Obviously we can't go back and ask for details but we can begin from now and teach what we should have been taught. Embrace color because it is beautiful. Share knowledge and learn from others. Seek truth. Most importantly love. Allow our students to grow in our classrooms through information and materials they are comfortable and uncomfortable with. It is time to be real in our classrooms and encourage greatness.
DeleteHeather, I really enjoy reading your post because you included many example of what a culturally responsive would looks like and you even brought up your own experience as a student. Making a connection with the reading and relating with your own experience is crucial because it will help us later in the future when our students go through the same thing that your friend did. I can relate on what you talked about how students of colored are viewed as a negative individuals. As a student of colored, I experienced a few things that a white student didn’t. I’ve had a few teacher who treated me differently because of my nationality and as someone who is still learning English. I never really had teacher who teaches culturally responsive pedagogy. As a future educator, it is so important to create a curriculum that is relevant to our student’s lives and encourage different types of learning style in a diverse environment.
ReplyDeleteMang, thank you for sharing a little of what you experienced, I can only imagine. I will never understand how anyone is okay with the mistreatment they show others. How do they live with themselves. I feel bad enough when I forget to tell someone thank you or I don't want to help someone with something because I'd rather do nothing at the moment. I hope you have also experienced wonderful moments. Having culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom is beneficial for everyone and is definitely something all of us need to strive to teach in our future classrooms and in our lives now.
DeleteVery nice job on your blog post. The article that you covered was very interesting as it gave me more insight on how to be more culturally responsive in education. I agree with your point that culturally sustaining pedagogy is an important aspect in education as it inspires teachers to represent students' cultures through art, literacy, music, and etc. Like your friend, I wished my teachers acknowledged my culture throughout the year instead of specific date in the year. I loved the feeling when my peers talk about my Mexican culture and I'm was always excited to answer questions during this time. Unfortunately, it rarely happened when a teacher connected to my culture to a lesson. I can relate to your friend as we both wanted to gain a teacher and student relationship, but it was difficult to obtain one when the teacher refuses to get to know the students. These types of teachers are missing the opportunity to build students up. Bomer mentions that, "teacher who is not continually taking stock of a student’s strengths, assets, and resources really cannot enter into a teaching relationship with that student (pg.13)." In order to be an effective and culturally responsive teacher, one has to be aware of students' needs and strengths that Bomer mentioned. Importantly, teachers should create a curriculum that matches the students' of different cultures and backgrounds. "These students deserve to see themselves in academic content, deserve to have a curriculum that is inclusive of their cultures (pg.11)." As I learned from many of courses so far that American schools weren't designed for students with different cultures or identities. This statement is true due to the fact the achieve gap is high. A large amount of students of color are not successful as white students. I believe the lack of culturally responsive in education is the reason the score of these students are so low.
ReplyDeleteEva thank you for sharing and I am sorry you experienced this. I agree with you regarding the reasoning behind the lack of culturally responsive teaching in education, it is a huge culprit to the achievement gap. I also believe students of color are misunderstood and quickly pushed out of the classroom because of a reaction or lack of during a hands on assignment, transition, oral report, etc. If teachers would take the time to connect with each student, not only White, they would learn characteristics of all students. They would learn how a Black student responds when they are excited, how a Latinx responds when nervous, or how an Asian responds when they are having a bad day. If the teacher paid closer attention to these qualities there would be less discipline in class and more cultural responsive learning. Students would be successful because teachers gave them a greater chance to be.
DeleteGreat post! That was an interesting story. I'd probably be confused or hurt if friend were doing that, but it sounds like she was exploring what she thought might make her happiest so that's understandable.
ReplyDeleteI loved the ideas of using spoken word, writing stories/poetry, creating art/music as possible outlets for our students to use. For a time like Black History Month, we might prompt our students to create something that expresses their favorite black leader/figure/inventor, or other approved ideas (to ensure they're appropriate beforehand). Students can choose the mode of expression that they are most comfortable with, and I think that would aid in them feeling free to express themselves fully.
We could have a class discussion centered around issues students see in their lives or on the news, and talk about possible solutions to those issues. According to page 13 of the Randy Bomer's "Leading the Call", culturally sustaining classrooms would include "Whole class texts: purposeful about advancing disadvantaged groups... Independent reading: explicit encouragement to seek out texts that represent students' own groups and language practices, as well as those of different groups" (Bomer, 2017). We could encourage students to research their figures so they have a better idea of what their chosen figure's life and accomplishments were.
Christa, I enjoyed reading what you had to say because learning about Black history is important and the opportunities students are given are slim. I also agree students should be encouraged to share about a black leader/figure/inventor or other approved idea to allow growth in all. Students may come across information others may not know and it is important to share truths with the class especially when the topic/event is difficult. To add to the research project/presentation students can relate something positive about themselves to the person they chose. This will allow them to see they are also capable of great achievement.
DeleteAmazing post! I totally agree about really embracing black history month, but we should also not just talk about Black History Month just in Black History Month. This goes for other races too.We don't need to only talk about a race when something has happened to that race. We need to be honest to our students and tell them straight how we started this country, because it's not a good story, but it's something they need to know. There are many things that we set a side and say we'll focus on that later, but we never get to it. Like we are never going to end racism if we don't talk about all the time, not just during one month. We need to tell the good things about it and also the bad. America's upbringing into this world is the best, but it's something that happened and we need to be able to tell the real story about it. In my experience, I didn't know the true story about Christopher Columbus until I started blocks. I knew that he sailed the ocean blue in 1492, but there were so many things that seemed censored. Their making Columbus out to be a hero and he is actually a terrible human being. So I liked our your post and the article made me think about that a little more. It makes me as a teacher, want to fight to be able to tell stories of our right way and not to lie to my students. They deserve to find our when they are supposed to instead of like 12 years later and be shocked like I was. Great job Heather!!
ReplyDeleteAmber I really enjoyed what you had to say. I really like how you said we need to teach about cultures throughout the school year and not just during a specific time frame. I was that student who was excited to learn about different cultures and often found myself sad because I did not understand why people of color were portrayed as less than white people. Growing up I guess I thought our country was formed because of white people and people of color are lucky to have time during the year to show how great they are and what they had accomplished. White people didn't have that in school (because everyday was about white people). Now I look at my thinking and realize people of color had plenty taken from them. Like Africans and Latinx, Native Americans were also a culture to have their lives torn upside down. How could any person think cruelty is acceptable. Columbus was a major cause to this cruelty. Why are Native Americans only taught about in the beginning of the school year in a negative way. The way history of cultures is taught in grade school definitely needs an adjustment. Sometimes this change may come in difficult waves but our students and their families have the right to learn the truth about history and also given an opportunity to ask questions.
DeleteThe question you posed is something that goes to far in many areas, that means so much in this one question. Which I mean that you can not answer this so easily. The classroom is hard to change, because it is labeled as perfect. Which means it is hard to change one’s person ideas and thought on how a class is managed. When growing up, change means bad things happening. something you know is changing and change even small can cause an issue. In the book it noted, “Rather, because learning entails wobbling emotion are also at play. H.G. Wells is credited with saying, ‘You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.’” (Garcia and O'Donnell-Allen, 2015, Pg. 36). There will always be the fight to not start something new. But, if we use the idea that is also in the book of posing that you (the teacher) are not perfect, will instill in them to ask and go towards ideas. I think that bringing in more culturally relevant ideas and practices in the class to learn and explore is a great idea. So, in my mind, giving them the idea, you don’t know something is the way for them to be that student who wants to show the teacher what they do. By asking if anyone knows about a certain animal and where they live. Then that gets them to the people who live around them. This will give the idea at the start of school to dive deep and let the students be the center of the room. This should also be advised to make sure a reminder to not say anything mean. Because, a certain group might eat bugs and say one student does for lunch for their cultural background. That can go into an issue no one should be singled out as weird.
ReplyDeleteChris, I like to believe change is often a good thing. I am not one to look at change in a negative light. I do understand how many people are afraid of change because it is new and often one does not know what the outcome will hold. On the other end of this change can be beautiful. Change in the classroom may be hard to take in but in the end where there is culturally relevant practices being presented it is going to make a class shine. I would have to disagree about not saying anything mean. I think if the class is going to be culturally relevant and using your example that a culture may eat bugs I say let the class discuss this in its entirety. There may be other interesting traditions that are learned about in the classroom as well. Students need to see what one culture or family does does not mean they are weird or disgusting. Let students share to teach new information. As for people saying anything mean, there is definitely a line for disrespect and put downs. But saying it is disgusting to eat bugs, people are entitled to have an opinion. Just learn to have an opinion respectfully.
DeleteWell, I was using the bugs as an example and to put it down cultural is an issue in my mind. If they were saying that it is nasty, I would like to have an discussion about that part of the talk. I think change is good and beautiful. But, it also can be forced with little to no input from others. I have had many teachers change lessons, how we did things, and forced us to stop things. During which we all were just playing or talking about and assignment. This was part of our free time and taking away or changing how things are done and have the bad results. But, how you manage the change to doing parts at a time is the key.
DeleteHeather, thank you for sharing your experience with this issue as you watched a friend suffer from the lack of culturally responsive pedagogy. The education system certainly failed this student by making her question how she fit in at school as an African American. I also think you did a great job at presenting us with the very thought provoking question “how do we make a point to go beyond what is taught in the classroom and add culturally relevant materials that will allow all students to learn about culture around us through literacy?” Although there are many factors that could play into answering this question, I think a huge first step will be for teachers to first acknowledge that our education system has always functioned to benefit the White dominant culture and work against students of color. By recognizing this truth, teachers will have the knowledge to actively challenge it. As mentioned previously by one of my peers, I think that the next steps will come from the chart on pg. 13 that lays out how we can move from culturally colonizing curriculum to culturally restricted, to culturally tolerant, and finally, to culturally sustaining. Teachers should center their instruction around a culturally sustaining curriculum that incorporates texts and discussions of disadvantaged groups, readings about different cultures, encourages flexibility in language practices, and empowers students to become advocates for themselves and their communities. Only true educators will make it a point to take their required teaching standards a step further to ensure that students of all cultures are included, appreciated, and celebrated in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHunter I agree with you, only a true educator will make a point to take their required teaching standards a step further to ensure students of all cultures are included, appreciated, and celebrated in the classroom. Teachers who look out for students of color are helping the students future become brighter and more fulfilling. As educators challenge their white students it is important for them to also challenge and encourage their students of color to become the best version of themselves.
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