Urban Teacher Relationship

This first chapter has quick insights of how Cultural Competence could be so effectively with children. What this chapter made me recognized is that it’s essential to building a relationship with students. As the text points that students may be more comfortable with a teacher of their own background, regardless of the teachers background the true success of having a learning environment is based on a sensitive, caring and committed teacher. Having teachers getting to know their students would be encouraging for a teacher-student relationship student might discovery acceptance and comfort in having someone who provides stability and structure by getting to know them. Additionally, teachers should not be scared to permit themselves to be taught

For the first informational interview, I interviewed a credentialed teacher, who is part of a program called Urban Teachers. I selected her because I wanted to know other ways or path to become a teacher. Additionally, I always dream of becoming a teacher, but I am hesitant on whether I have the skills to teach students. Lastly, my interest assessment showed that one of the possible careers that are suitable for me is teacher. Therefore, I decided to interview a teacher, who was referred by my mother. The interview was done through Skype because she is currently working at Washington D.C since the program Urban Teachers is from John Hopkins University. The question that I asked were: what was her hesitation in becoming a teacher, what is her

Lisa Delpit’s book, Multiplication is for White People, she outlines different reform strategies that will change African American education in the 21st century. The first reform strategy Delpit outlines is to recognize and build on children’s strengths. When teaching in an urban school, teachers should begin by understanding the children and their home lives. Using the knowledge that the children already have, and building on that will help students succeed. Believing that African American students are not worth being taught, plays a major role in the way students react to their educator. I believe that once an educator begins at a specific school, they should survey the student's knowledge to use that to go forward. Then using that to build on everyone’s strengths throughout the year will help in class participation and build a sense of community in the class. Recognizing a student's strengths, will make the student believe that he or she has someone on their side who cares. Once they feel that someone cares, they will want to do

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

In order to know the whole student, teachers must take the initiative on familiarizing themselves with the students’ peers, parents, and neighborhoods. It is very difficult for black males to achieve if the teachers know nothing about the students in which they service. If you build a solid relationship with your students, you will know that black males believe it’s important to be accepted by their peers. Therefore, the teacher should be aware of each students’ acquaintances. Because of this, we want to make sure that they surround themselves around peers that exhibit positive characteristics.

The educators in the documentary, “Rethinking High School: Best Practice in Action,” claimed that authenticity, collaboration, and challenge are the three core principles that are needed in our school system to achieve better teaching and learning. I agree with the statement, especially when we are talking about urban schools.

The essential question I will focus on for this CREQ is “What kinds of changes need to be made in schools to better serve and reflect our multicultural communities related to curricula, policy, and engagement and collaboration with the families that schools serve?” The most prevalent idea that I took away from Chapter 4, 5, and 6 of Emdin’s text about how to better serve multicultural students was for teachers to rethink their role in the classroom, along with their students’ roles. In order to challenge the traditional urban education paradigm, Emdin instructs that educators make use of tactics that shift the teaching into the hands of the students, including: cogenerative dialogues, co-teaching, and cosmopolitan classrooms. Using these methods, students become responsible for

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

Students would be exposed to positive images, representations or depictions of culture throughout their learning day to facilitate positive attitudes toward individuals of differing cultures. Jennifer Nicole Bacon author of the article, “5 Tips for Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom”, believes that positive images or representations, such as play African drumming music, during classroom activities allows students to gain appreciation of their culture as well as other cultures (2015). Also, educators are encouraged to discuss multicultural role models and their accomplishments, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as a means to provide students with an understanding that they have individual roles within society that have potential to make positive impacts. In addition, Jason G. Irizarry states, “It is important to make connections with students to help foster their learning and growth. Connecting with students and responding to their cultural identities are at the heart of culturally responsive pedagogy— an approach to teaching and learning that is consistent with the culture(s) of the students in the classroom community” (Irizarry,

Cultural capital is different for each child. The relationships and resources between classes have profound affects on student outcomes and social mobility. When I began my research about the history of American education, I was still hypmotized by the individualistic idealism that is characterized in American culture. One of my favorite movies is Rocky Balboa, has long inspired me that anyone can make it in America with hard work ethic. I grew up with the idea that colorblindness was the appropriate way to consider society in general. My veil of ignorance is slowly being lifted as I continue to understand and learn about the communities that make up our world. If we are going to build relationships that support each other, then we have

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.

In order for teachers to create a learning environment that is culturally responsive to each individual student, a teacher must learn the student’s funds of knowledge. The importance of learning the funds of knowledge of your students is crucial. A teacher can approach learning more about a student’s prior knowledge and culture in a variety of ways, including, instructing personal interviews with questions about their personal life such as what are the most important things in your life. Another way to discover your student’s funds of knowledge is by placing yourself in their shoes and doing a school and community walk through. You can also be provided with more insight into your student’s lives by conducting an adult interview from someone that also lives in the same community. In order for me to create lessons and classroom practices that are culturally responsive is by discovering my student’s funds of knowledge. I am at Blackwell Elementary School, which is located in Marietta and is apart of the Cobb County District. After having the students create heart maps and interviewing them, doing a school and community walkthrough, and talking with an adult, I was greatly impacted by all the new information and perspectives I learned. Without going through this process to obtain the information, I would have no knowledge on my students or the community surrounding Blackwell besides what meets the eye. This experience impacted my own thinking about the school I am working in for

Cultural capital is an idea that was used by Bordieu to contribute to his explanation of inequality in social settings (Zepke & Leach, 2007). It comprises the “norms, values and practices of a society” (Zepke & Leach, 2007, p.657). “Cultural capital includes cultural resources and activities that are expressed in the relationships between parents and children” (Tramonte & Willms, 2010, p.203). This results in cultural capital being different in different social settings. This can create inequality because of the difference in values, knowledge and skills that individuals can bring to a certain environment. One issue can be the conflict between teacher and student because of their cultural capital and can result in unequal educational outcomes because the cultural capital of others is valued higher than other students.

Teachers should advocate for all students’ backgrounds and cultures to better their students’ learning. To accomplish this, teachers should be informed about their students’ home lives, be conscious of how and what they should be taught, and ultimately make their education a priority. Students from poverty in a multicultural classroom need the correct tools and teaching approaches from their teachers.

The three things that have made the biggest impact on and have influenced my life that shaped me into the person I am today are family background, experiences from my school year, and religious beliefs. Our culture provides a lens through which we view the world and interpret our everyday experiences. In order to know who I am today, I must look at who you’ve been. Many educators around the country are interested in developing a multicultural approach in their teaching. They find themselves in classrooms with 25 children of varying racial and cultural backgrounds, and are looking for ways to connect what they do in the classroom to the cultures represented by their students. Before we can begin to understand others, however, we need to understand ourselves and what we bring to our interactions with others.