From Melting Pot And Beautiful Mosaic

Overcoming stereotyping is a challenge educators can encounter when it comes to ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. Some educators may compare one child to another child that comes from the same cultural background and use the same teaching strategy. One way to overcome this is to make sure that educators know each of the students individually instead of comparing one to another or relying on stereotyping. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness.” (Teaching Tolerance, 1991) Once they know more about each of the students then they can avoid stereotyping and adjust their teaching strategy to meet the individual needs of the students in the classroom.

Einstein said: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Now imagine the various students that enter the classroom. They come from all walks of life with different backgrounds and stories to tell. If educators don’t recognize that these differences do in fact exist then some of the fish that pass through those school doors will leave the building believing that they are incapable because of the trees presented for them to climb. Enter culturally responsive teaching. This method or pedagogical device is the answer to bridging this gap that students may encounter when they are not given the opportunity to show their particular geniuses or to act as their own agent in their education.

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,

The American education system is failing the generations of the future. Society neglects the children born into impoverished areas, while mainly white upper class children participate in superior educational activities. Low-income neighborhoods often produce schools with low scoring students. Therefore the government transitions these schools into impersonal factories. The phrase diversity masquerades the reality of re-segregation of schools. Many schools across the country are utilizing the phrase diversity, yet the statistics reveal that over ninety percent of the students are black or Hispanic. Creating successful environments is extremely difficult and subsequently results in serious consequences for the American education system.

As discussed by Jabari Mahiri, African American culture and discussions about African American youth cannot be eliminated when trying to help educate black students. In detail, two African-American teachers who taught in the same high school had two different outcomes with their students. The reason there were two different results between the teachers was because one teacher decided to introduced and exposed the students to familiar faces that they can relate to and African American issues. In addition, Quassan Castro Writer, Activist, Columnist, Poet, Educator and Culture Critic suggested some tips and strategies to teach African American students because he noticed that there is staggering amount of African American students dropping out of high school and not attending college. Specifically, Castro mentioned that main three tips all Educators Must Know About Educating African American and Latino Students is 1) Connect with Parents. “Establish a positive connection with parents from the first day of class. A phone call to report good news is as equally vital to the success of your student as informing parents when children are struggling” (Castro). 2) Cultural Images. “Due to the overexposure to white identities in media, African American and Latino students need to see images of themselves where they are not portrayed as inferior or subordinate to white culture.” (Castro). 3) Value of Education and Real Life. “Express the value of education. Explain the varying levels of educational possibilities one can attain. Do not assume your students know how many high school credits they need to graduate. Do not assume your students knows what a bachelors, masters or doctorate program consists of” (Castro). These particular sources link the issue of African American students not having a high rate of academic achievement because

Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). This approach to teaching encompasses how knowledge is both communicated and perceived by the students. The teacher must have a good relationship with the parents, have high expectations, learn about their students culture, have culturally mediated student-centered instruction, willing to reshape the curriculum, and be a facilitator in order to accomplish this method of teaching. These are key points a teacher must be willing to do if they intend to be an effective teacher especially in a highly culturally diverse area like central

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

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

The first step for me to become a culturally responsive teacher is to learn not to judge others. Working with students from diverse backgrounds requires us to question our reactions to families and students. We need to stop judging different as “abnormal” and embrace what the differences can teach us (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011). Embracing the differences

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

Our schools are full of a variety of children who are diverse in their own ways. What comes to mind when you hear the word diversity within schools? Many people think of race or culture, but diversity in our schools is more than that. Diversity can include race, religion, culture, and even learning styles in a classroom. In the past classrooms where not that diverse consisting of white protestant students. Currently diversity in classrooms is on the rise big time. Today’s classrooms are more effective in diversity, learning styles, and influences than past years.

If the quote above is to be believed, then the strength of a classroom resides in the differences rather than the similarities of its students. In my Pedagogy course (PEDG 5367) concerning diversity and multi-culturalism, I was able to realize first-hand how diverse a classroom of learners can be. I was instructed to create a unit plan (see Appendix A- Manners Across Cultures Unit Plan) that comprised approximately five hours of instruction time. In the unit plan I had to reflect on diverse learners and include instruction which met the needs of several different populations of students including special

In order to establish an effective role in high school student lives, teachers must create a positive environment in the classroom, engage the students with a variety of materials, and provide different variations of learning techniques that will accommodate the needs of every student (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010). While also, displaying the personality of a culturally competent teacher that is able to effectively incorporate diversity in her curriculum. On the other hand, some teachers lack the ability to influence their students, and cultivate a positive learning environment. These teachers typically do not incorporate theorist ideas and techniques for creating a meaningful classroom environment (Flinders & Thornton, 2013). For that reason, students lose interest

Education is one of the most important factors in every person’s life regardless of where they’re from, their race, or their culture. Becoming educated not only makes life easier for us but also can help people become more successful in all things. However with so many people of various races, ethnicities and backgrounds in the United States it is difficult to create an education system that attends to each student’s individual culture. Ones own culture influences their actions and lifestyle, therefore this can create conflict if it is different from their schools cultural teaching style. Multicultural and multilingual classrooms have become the norm in many educational and professional settings throughout the U.S. because of changing immigration patterns caused by globalization (Institute for Educational Leadership, p. 2). For teachers today, it is essential to understand the role of culture and have the ability to interact interculturally in the classroom to create an effective learning environment. Analyzing cultural issues or differences can help teachers to understand some of the unconscious processes that shape individuals’ actions and interactions, as well as their language use and communication. “Teachers who understand cultural diversity…are more likely to be successful in their multicultural classrooms” (Samovar, Pg.2).