Culturally Responsive Teaching

Program Standard 5

Background

The primary class for standard 5 was EDU 6525, "Culturally Responsive Teaching." Each week, we read essays from James A. Banks' compilation Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (1996). These essays, and other coursework, helped me critically examine the story that I tell, and how my story interacts with others'. I also became more aware of ways that some stories are honored and others are silenced.

Learning

Each week throughout this course, we examined a different part of "culture," from religion and language, to access and race. We were asked to complete an autobiography exploring our own cultural history or to examine the culture and identity groups around us and how that impacts our teaching. As a privileged, straight, white, middle-class, Christian woman, I know that I often struggle to see my own privilege since so much of what I do and believe is normalized in American culture. I chose to reflect on the different groups I see on campus, particularly the differences between the boarding or international students and our domestic students. Since my reflection contains photos and identifying information about students at my school, I have chosen not to link to it here. To summarize, I examined some of the ways in which language is a barrier to education. As the dorm program at my school expands, we continue to search for ways to make a better connection with the students and families from outside the United States. Recently, we held a meeting on campus for Chinese speaking families to help clarify some of the major changes that have been going on. The parents advocated for the formation of a Chinese Parent Council, in addition to or within our current Parent Association, to better serve international families. This is one way in which my school continues to grow in working with different cultures in a better way.

For the final project, I wrote a paper to encapsulate my learning about the role that culture plays in the classroom. I changed the names of anyone involved, so you may read my reflection here. In the paper, I describe different "types" of students and how my interactions with them have changed, or at least made me think more deeply about, my teaching methods. These students range from those whose disposition might make some teachers view them as "difficult" to those who are inclined to please and are seen as the "perfect" student- until you realize that they are blindly following everything you say. Both are problematic, and both are real examples of how different values lead to teaching challenges and teachable moments.

Impact

Reading stories about Mourning Dove, Mary McLeod Bethune, Allison Davis, and Carter G. Woodson gave me a lens through which to evaluate my teaching. As I plan a new 9th grade course on global issues, I hope to find a variety of ways in which to allow my students to tell their individual stories. Before we examine global issues with any depth or seriousness, students will need to identify their own values and think critically about how their background impacts what they value. This is one way that I can help students come to terms with their own identities and how it intersects with others'. Furthermore, my school is moving toward greater integration across curriculum with inter-disciplinary classes in the upper levels. As this trickles down to freshmen and sophomore classes, we will be able to get students to focus more on ways of knowing and critical thinking, as opposed to just studying for a test. Banks (1996) writes that the goal of the multi-cultural education movement is “to help students acquire the knowledge and commitments needed to make reflective decisions and to take personal, social, and civic action” (p. 344). By thinking about how my values and background impacts my teaching, I can help my students critically examine their own beliefs and empower them to stand up for what matters.

References

Banks, J.A. (1996). Transformative knowledge, curriculum reform, and action. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action (pp. 335-348). New York: Teachers College Press.

Barnett, E.F. (1996). Mary McLeod Bethune: Feminist, educator, and activist. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action (pp. 217-232). New York: Teachers College Press.

Hillis, M.R. (1996). Allison Davis and the study of race, social class, and schooling. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action (pp. 115-128). New York: Teachers College Press.

Miller, C. (1996). Mediation and authority: The Native American voices of Mourning Dove and Ella Deloria. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action (pp. 141-155). New York: Teachers College Press.

Roche, A.M. (1996). Carter G. Woodson and the development of transformative scholarship. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action (pp. 91-114). New York: Teachers College Press.