Robust Instructional Strategies

The five questions Brian Sztabnik poses in this podcast heavily relates to culturally responsive teaching. By asking themselves these questions teachers use culturally responsive pedagogy that relates to classroom management. It follows two parts of classroom management from a critical perspective from Culturally Relevant Pedagogy by Gina Oran, specifically, “recognize that we are all cultural beings, with our own beliefs, biases, and assumptions about human behavior”, and

The process of embedding culturally relevant teaching skills in faculty development should be an ongoing process (Haviland and Rodriguez-Kiino, 2009). The excitement about learning new material and the importance of cultural awareness can lose its momentum if it is not reinforced throughout the school year (Boyle et al., 2005). One dose of training is not a cure-all for instilling a new method of teaching.

Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).

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,

An enthusiastic teacher can easily motivate students to learn because of the passion and drive he/she brings to the class. Such a teacher is also warm and humorous, which students will find encouraging. That might make them want to go the extra mile because the teacher is supportive of them through the feedbacks and scaffoldings he/she gives. However, students often relate much better to their teachers when they believe that he/she is credible, is concerned about their success and has high expectations from them.

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

In today 's ever changing world teachers need to understand the importance of a multicultural education. It’s becoming essential to provide opportunities for their students to learn about the many cultures represented in america and the world around them. Studies have shown that by the year 2040 as surveyed by the U.S. census bureau, that “white non-hispanics will make up less than half of the school aged population” (Smith) Our country is ever growing and it doesn 't seem right to exclude cultural education to students when our nation was built by immigrants. Building curriculums that acknowledge different cultures,

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

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

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).

There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then

The article reviews the importance of establishing the ability of teachers to build cultural capability and how it is a critical part of their work in diverse settings. The author reviews how a science teacher’s experiences in building cultural capability in a diverse school. Culturally relevant pedagogy is used as an analytic tool to explain and uncover the ways in which the teacher develops cultural knowledge to maximize student learning opportunities (Milner & Tenore, 2011). The article is based on reviewing how a White teacher is able to build cultural understanding with his diverse learners due to him establishing a cultural competence and understanding of himself and his practices. The article reviews the teacher builds relationships with his students, how he extends his knowledge about how identity and race help him building a deeper cultural knowledge about himself, his students, and his practices (Milner & Tenore, 2011).

This study looks at the effect personality has on teacher leadership. In this study, the independent variable is based off of the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and is a person’s T-score in each of the Big Five personality traits. The dependent variable would be the scores in each of the seven domains on the Teacher Leadership Inventory (TLI). An Analysis of Variability (ANOVA) will be used to determine if there is a relationship between personality and teacher leadership.

Countless studies and meta-analysis have been done on the effect of the individual personality on success, whether it be within the workplace or an educational institute (ETS, 2016).