Analyzing Cultural Relevance in Instruction

|Equality |To see each child as an individual and help them achieve what they are good at |

For this assignment, I have chosen to reflect on both my school site and the district.

Another major issue that is addressed in the article is with the teachers and their teaching styles. The method in which most teachers teach their

In the case scenario provided, Jeff Bliss though that the teacher was not teacher as it is expected of her. According to Bliss, students need to be taught on a face to face basis in order for them

Ruby Payne is respected by the educational world as she provides many ways to help those in poverty learn and rise to success. Educators attend conferences and seminars to learn about how to help those in their classroom that have conflicting behaviors to what is accepted at school. According to Payne in “Nine Powerful Practices,” she addressed nine ways to help these low-income students.

Teachers must learn about their student’s cultures if they want to educate them to the best of their ability. Many of the students in culturally diverse classrooms will want to learn in different ways. Some will want to learn in pairs, groups, as a class, or just alone. If the teacher is educated in their culture then lessons can be adjusted to appeal to every student as much as possible instead of forcing some to forget about their culture and learn like others. Students from

Teachers need to get through students on order to teach a student. Some students might not show up or care about the class. Teachers of elementary schools have the hardest because the kids just want to play, goof around and don’t listen. Elementary teachers have hard time teaching young uneducated students just like Miss Moore with her uneducated children from the neighborhood, in the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. Miss Moore teaches the students how to take the first step toward a better education just like elementary teachers, her teaching method were to show how the upper class lived in comparison to the children but she could have though them differently by giving rewards for something they did educationally.

It is important to promote equality and value diversity within the learning environment as everyone has the basic right to be treated fairly. Equality is about making sure people are treated fairly and given fair chances. Equality is not about treating everyone in the same way, but it recognises that their needs are met in different ways. As a teacher using the arts I choose my words of instructions carefully and have to consider everyones needs and abilities within the room when giving out instructions for tasks. For example if I am working with a group of disabled and non disabled students and I need them

As an ESL instructor, I teach a diverse classroom full of migrants with a variety of backgrounds. It’s as multicultural as a classroom can be! I try to incorporate my students’ cultures into our lessons. After all, everything we know and understand comes from the lens of our culture. Take for example our own education. Think about how much influence our point of view had on our education. Now, how much is our point of view affected by culture? I try to be as culturally responsive as possible. However, I know that there is always room for improvement.

I’ve always I thought I was a pretty good teacher. I’ve been selected as a STAR teacher and Teacher of the Year. But after reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, I had to seriously self-reflect, and I came to the realization that if I had read and implemented the suggestions in the book perhaps I would have touched student’s lives on a deeper level, a long-term neurological life-changing level. My heart and intent were pure, but did I reach as many students as I could have? I have always been focused on getting my students to be interested in their studies and to give it their all. I’ve been told many times by them, “You do too much.” I took that as a compliment because I have always tried to motivate them to want to excel, not just in school, but in life. After reading Hammond’s book, I see that I must overhaul my thinking and my methods. By following the techniques suggested in Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain I can grow in my individual approach to each student and grow more confident that they can each reach and achieve their best.

This is important because culture plays a central role in learning. It provides positive context, and enhances instruction through the setting of roots and branching out. Connecting new information to prior experiences (contextualization). Furthermore, culture-based education had been found to be effective. Culture-based education creates a sense of responsibility, facilitates trust, enhances students’ self-worth, and makes learning more enjoyable and

It has been proven many times that students from poor families, and students will horrible family backgrounds can still learn. The students learn because of the teacher. The teacher has the ability to influence a student in a way the family may not. If the teacher is lacking the confidence and the resources needed then her students are affected. “Just knowing they do indeed make a difference blunts arrested teacher development.” (pg. 133) Building block number 3 is also very important. Collaboration is key to success. Roberta was missing the collaboration from other teachers. Instead of collaboration she had complete opposite which was isolation. According to chapter 6, “effective site-based school systems initiate a team-oriented approach that permits principals to empower their employees and therefore promote a collaborative decision-making and problem solving process.” (pg. 135) Along with the collaboration also comes building block number 4: Creating community. Being part of a team and talking about common problems amongst students is extremely important. Roberta would have needed to share her concerns with someone and the veteran teachers could have helped her with some of her issues. In these learning communities Roberta could have also brought in some new ideas she had and shared them with the veteran teachers. “A professional learning community is, in essence,

In the “It 's Not the Culture of Poverty, It 's the Poverty of Culture: The Problem with Teacher Education”, Ladson-Billings states that the shortcomings of the teacher education that educators receive when working with students. The problem is that teacher education is filled with certain perceptions and thoughts about the students beforehand and that can affect how they see and treat them in the classroom. One of the major points within the article is how culture has become the answer to most questions in education, even though there is a lack of understanding to what culture is and how it plays in education and using as to blame for problems that can occur with students. Another major point that is stated by Ladson-Billings is the idea of culture is being used incorrectly with education, culture is something that is not simply one thing but made up many different aspects and educators are using culture as a way to put down students and using it as justification for their shortcomings. In “Whose Culture Has Culture Capital?” by Tara Yosso, one of the main points is that racism is embedded in the systems implemented and therefore creates a hierarchy in society. As a result of the hierarchy, it implies that there are groups that are superior and some that are inferior. Another main point is that with this hierarchy, it creates this environment and divides people based on differences and it affects

There are three teachers in the classroom, one does reading/lesson circle with a small group of students, another does arts and crafts, and one of them circulates throughout the room helping students with their work-plans. The teacher that circulates around the room all the time appears to be the head teacher and when a conflict arises she is the one to mediate it. The way that the teachers speak with the children is as if they are equals, they aren’t talked down to and the students give the teachers complete respect.

needs are met and they feel as if they are respected by the teacher. Mutual respect is once again