Culturally Proficient Instructors Summary

First, it is important to cover what the dimensions of cultural diversity are. The two groups here can be divided into primary and secondary dimensions. Primary dimensions can include age, ethnicity, gender, physical or mental abilities, race, sexual orientation, among other aspects (Cultural Diversity, 2012). Secondary dimensions include geographic location, military experience, work experience, income, religion, first language, organizational role and level, communication style, family status, work style, and education (Cultural Diversity, 2012). Whereas primary diversity dimensions are important to humans,

Culture incorporates many different aspects of life such as religion, food, language, ethnicity, and many more. All of these aspects influence the way a person lives and acts. Although culture provides a positive influence by bestowing self worth, it could also negatively affect someone’s life. Culture affects a person in many ways by creating internal and external conflict, which influences the way others view them and therefore affects their actions and how they feel about themselves.

Culturally Responsive Teaching is an emerging field that focuses on student cultural backgrounds and experiences in the development of pedagogy. According to Kea (2013) cultural difference is the single largest difference in U.S. schools and also the most neglected. The goal of Culturally Responsive Teaching is to provide an equal opportunity for all students to learn in school, regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic, racial or cultural characteristics (Banks 2005). Ladson-Billings (1994) suggest that the historic failings of educators in educating non-white students is that educators attempt to insert culture into education rather than insert education into the culture. In other words, educators are not providing an equal multi-culturally relevant education by bringing tokens of culture such as food, national flags, or maps from around the world into the classroom alone. Although these actions promote a sense of multiculturalism, an education that is relative to a diversity of cultures is not necessarily being provided. Culturally Responsive Teaching attempts to bring the various experiences of the student’s cultural home life into the classroom. Schmidt (2005) identifies seven characteristics that must be incorporated into curriculum in order to provide culturally responsive instruction. These characteristics are high expectations,

Research has been conducted and the study showed that, "Latino students perceived that teachers' actions escalated disciplinary problems and believed that administrators used unfair and discriminatory practices"(90). Educators will never be able to teach students if the students perceive them as being racist. The degree to which education for cultural diversity is realized depends on the teacher's attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. They make the mistake of mismatching their own life experiences and professional training. Le Roux realizes that an increasing diverse school population encounters a mostly middle-class teaching force that is inadequately prepared to manage the reality of diversity in schools, and that is due to lack of knowledge of diversity (46). He also states that some teachers make the mistake of generalizing about particular ethnic groups and cultural groups, as a result of being exposed during training to information about culture; that is very dangerous in itself. Educators also focus mostly on general characteristics of a group instead in a single individual, and this is wrong because each individual is unique and should not be generalized by culture (Le Roux 46).

Cultural differences pose several barriers for students and may impair their opportunity to learn. These barriers are created by differences in language expression, communication style, preferred learning style, gender-role customs and behaviors, and limited parental involvement due to these cultural or socioeconomic barriers

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

Essentially, chapter one opened the door for me to look at myself as an educator and realize that my beliefs, values, religion, customs and traditions influence my thoughts and actions in the classroom. Many times we as educators go about our daily routine of instructing students, unconscious of how our preconceived notions about life and education influence our instruction and interaction with students. In chapter one, Delores B. Lindsey, Richard S. Martinez, and Randall B. Lindsey invite deliberate conversation about who we are as individuals, why we do what we do, and other thought provoking issues like race and socioeconomic status. And the sad but true fact of the matter is, many times in education we acknowledge religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, but that is as far as it goes. They are acknowledged but often times not addressed- in the sense of how ethnicity and socioeconomic status influence teaching and learning and how to use this knowledge to enhance by teaching and learning. It

After reading Geneva Gay’s article Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching I realized my pedagogy is culturally responsive in many ways. For one, I always

Gaining learning and experience about other cultures background will enrich my multicultural knowledge. Therefore, as an educator I must learn about others culture. As I begin to learn about others cultures I will understand how values influence the ways families interpret the instruction that feels right to them. A close study on Figure 3.1 implies that a teacher’s point view or the way the students are treaty can affect their learning. It keeps narrating the story of a teacher that had to learn her students’ roots, their culture values, to get to know them in order to reach them in an academically level. The cultural values are very important and cannot be overlooked, they shape our intrinsic motivation. Many families try to keep their values and belief intact at home, so their children when they step in a classroom. Monica Brown, is the Department editor of Diversity Dispatch, argues in her article, Educating All Students: Creating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Classrooms, and Schools, that nowadays it is noticeable the diversity growths in schools, however, this is not the problem. The problem is the way teachers have responded to the diversity growth. (Brown, M. 2007). Therefore, this will affect the students learning. Brown cross with a strong point in regarding the lack of sensitivity some educators show towards their students’ culture. As educator I don’t want to be one of many teachers Monica Brown speaks on her article. I will understand that I must respect my

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.

Culture regions tend to reveal a certain diversity but do not mean that everyone who lives there shares that feature. Therefore, it is great to comprehend that diversity typically exists within a culture region by use of specific instance. (Heatwole, 2006)

Diversity is an ongoing discussion in day-to-day life. Not many situations occur without diversity having a role. There are a multitude of topics that introduces or involves diversity, to include age, sex, race, gender, ethnicity and so on. Prior to participating in this Diversity Awareness class, I’ve always thought diversity was more geared around discrimination and racism. Through weekly readings and discussions, I have discovered that diversity is much broader than that. There are many countries that are mixed culturally

The attitude, values, ideals and beliefs of individuals are greatly influenced by the culture in which they live. Precisely, culture is the sum total of the ways of life of people in a particular society.

As an educator it is important to be aware of the various learners in the classroom as well as being able to shift lessons accordingly to adapt to a greater number of students. In addition it is essential that culturally responsive practices is adapted in the classroom in order for all students to have a sense of belonging and are able to participate. For this reason, a teacher must actively use culturally responsive practices to engage students and their families because it helps to develop a relationship and maintain a level of communication. Learning “facts” about different cultures is not enough, it is more important that we make

The generic definition for diversity is the “state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.” (Merriam-Webster.com). Culture is similarly generically defined as the “beliefs, customs, and attitudes of a group of people or an organization” (Merriam-Webster.com). A deeper perspective encompasses sociocultural theory, where the social and cultural context of a person’s thought and actions are considered. According to sociocultural theory, we do not live in a vacuum. Interaction with social forces, or those omnipresent social influences that surround us, goes a long way toward explaining our attitudes, character, knowledge, feelings, and other individual attributes (“Diversity Consciousness”, 2010, 2004, and 2000).