Incorporating Family Involvement with Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Chinese Americans in Elementary Schools

Multicultural education is the key to incorporating ethnic and racial identities in the classroom. I believe implementing a culturally responsive curriculum would work best for the students. I would like to be a future educator who acknowledges and welcome my students’ diversity in the classroom. It is important to bring cultural awareness to the classroom and school environment. I want my students to know that I respect, acknowledge and care about their differences. I would model this behavior because I want the students to do the same for each other. The steps I would take incorporate a positive, trusting and healthy learning environment are:

Chinese parents and American parents differ substantially in their parenting styles, and a noticeable difference can be seen in the success of their children. The children of Chinese parents often excel in various areas, including in their educational, musical, and professional lives. The children of American parents, however, usually have a harder time excelling in those areas. Chinese parents and American parents hold opposing philosophies about how they view their children, opposing

Diversity is very visible in the schools within the United States. When you enter most classrooms you see students from different nationalities. As the immigrant population continues to grow in the U.S., teachers need to make sure they take everyone’s culture into consideration when teaching. It is important for teachers to create an atmosphere where all cultures are recognized and respected. Teachers should ensure to use culturally responsive practices in order to be able to engage all the student and their families, despite where they come from.

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,

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

The culture of a classroom is a direct reflection of the people who comprise it. All people carry their customs, traditions, and beliefs with them everywhere they go. It is important for teachers to understand the similarities and differences of the students they teach. Mexican and Islander students make up a large majority of students in Federal Way. Teachers must take into account the whole student and the home culture. More specifically, teachers must examine the roles that language acquisition, attitudes towards time, and family relationships play in a students’ ability to succeed. A closer look at these important components of culture can help teachers and students to avoid the misunderstanding and confusion that can take place in a multicultural classroom.

Toppel noted that cultural responsive requires teachers to question the curricula taught at school whether they promote inclusiveness or not. Furthermore, teachers should be more flexible and find a way out to include some reading materials with linkage to students’ live experiences (Toppel, 2015). Having knowledge of cultural responsive instructions expand teachers’ pedagogical practices and make them rely little on the traditional methods. In the same token, Ellis et al (2017) asserted that when teachers develop their cultural responsiveness, they broaden their awareness and gain insights into issues facing diverse students, as well as family, and communities. Cultural responsive instructions not only allow teachers to better understand ELLs’ concerns but also contribute to maintaining collaboration with family and community as a whole.

For more than two decades, school psychology has known about the necessity for, and importance of, developing multicultural competence (Fouad & Arrendondo, 2007). From research, ethics, and practice standards, school psychologists and other school personnel have been aware that an effective school professional is multiculturally competent and able to make sense of students’ sociocultural, socioracial, and sociopolitical backgrounds that present themselves within a classroom setting. Multiculturally competent professionals are informed as to which environmental, academic, and community factors combine to support all students’ learning and development across ages and abilities. Twenty-first century American schools are changing in dramatic ways partly because of shifting demographics in rural and urban communities and in public and private educational institutions, as well as among students who are homeschooled. These changes have produced a new generation of multilingual, multiracial children with racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic differences; multiple learning styles; native language learning; and changing family constellations. Some of today’s learners also come from families with multiple and/or generational family traumas and dysfunctions. These challenges and the shifts in student enrollment demographics are creating new demands on schools’ teaching and learning services.

This was program showed that students and parents opened a door to learn from one another. When growing up, children don’t tend to question their parents as to why they are raising them a certain way. This grant gave these families an opportunity to get parents and children to open up and talk as to why Asian American parents have such high expectations of their children. For most parents all one wants is for their child to be able to have a happy and successful life, but each parent may have different expectations of how their children will achieve that goal.

Through the years, many articles have been written about teacher’s being culturally responsive in the classroom. What exactly is being “culturally responsive”? Becoming culturally responsive means to acknowledge the differences and the similarities between individuals and groups and connect them within the teaching environment. This acknowledgment should be modeled by the teachers working with students in the classroom. Teachers play an important role in balancing the academic and social curriculum for students.

2)“Culturally responsive pedagogy is a student-centered approach to teaching in which the students’ unique cultural strengths are identified and nurtured to promote student achievement and a sense of well-being about the student’s cultural place in the world”. My understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy is that as educators we must promote respect and values in our students. Our learning environment, our institution and the staff members should reflect the appropriate respect and values which support the diverse makeup of our students. We therefore, would have to nurture and support each child diverse nature through new learning experiences that encourages and develops new learning outcomes.

Classrooms are getting more and more diverse. The most significant student diversities include: cultural, linguistic, that involving exceptionalities, and socioeconomic status. Because of these diversities in the classroom, students are on different academic, social and physical levels. In order for teachers to make a lesson more responsive for all students in their classroom, it is important for the teacher to take the time to learn the culture, history, backgrounds, and traditions of all the represented groups in their classroom. Teachers can teach students to understand and appreciate their own and others’ cultural heritages by incorporating such content in their lessons. Also, by understanding students’ strengths and contributions of individuals

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

I want to start out making an attempt to clarify my culture. I am a hardworking, educated, married, middle-class white Christian woman. This definition is an attempt at addressing the many aspects of culture and ethnicity as they apply to me. As I progress through this class, I find the need to know my own culture so that I recognize bias and stereotypes that affect my communication with others. Chapter four of Cultural Diversity and Education covers multiple facets of culture and ethnicity from which I attempted to derive my definition. I am focussing on the meaning and characteristics of culture, ethnic behaviors, and the educational impact of culture and ethnicity.

This paper explores the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children’s talent development through a specific perspective of several Chinese American families with gifted children. In-depth interviews were employed to collect data from the parents, and research questions focused on the daily practice of parenting and parents’ beliefs concerning how to nurture high achievement among children. Findings of this study include evidence of a sense of responsibility for parenting, a high level of confidence over their children’s future, and a mixed strategy of parenting that combines traditional Chinese parental expectations with an adopted Western notion of respect for a child’s own