Chapter 3 Culturally Responsive Teaching in Diverse Classrooms

   Culturally Responsive Teaching in Diverse Classrooms

Reader Response   Chapter 3

As I read this chapter, I have flashbacks of my days in elementary school. I grew up in Anoka, MN. At the risk of sounding crass, Anoka was “white”. It was the 60’s and 70’s but realistically, the entire school district was white. Diversity was a term used to define where you went to church on Sunday; Lutheran or Catholic. I didn’t experience any sort of diversity until I reached high school. And there it wasn’t an issue of culture or linguistic diversity as it was skin color.

The diversity of the classrooms in Anoka is wildly different today than when I was a student. This is a good thing as it promotes a sense of community at a young age. Hopefully, allowing for tolerance as students mature through the grades. As a teacher, I am made up of the sum total of my experiences. From my meager beginnings in low diversity to my current place on earth, I have learned that diversity is a blessing that offers many significant views to a classroom. As a teacher, it is my job to allow those views and voices to be heard and shared with all the class.

 

This is a daunting task, especially if there is a language barrier. The English language is difficult to understand with a unique set of ever changing slang terms and common phrases. Teachers can often take these details for granted thinking that everyone understands. Culture and language are often tightly combined making clear communication a challenge.

 

Voices from the Classroom about Tim Fitzpatrick (page 53) shows how a teacher goes to great lengths to understand the needs of his students. I liked the way he used journal writing and extra communication early in the year to grasp the big picture of his new students. As I am also a science teacher, I am always on the lookout for quick tips that will improve my approach. The idea of using autobiographies, starting with the earliest childhood memories is certainly a tool I can use. This task used in the ABC’s of Cultural Understanding and Communication appears to be a tool for a language arts class. However, with further reflection, I can see how it would allow a deeper understanding of each student’s sum total of their experiences.

Culturally responsible teaching should reach beyond the classroom as well. Funds of Knowledge (page 61) points out that family and home life are key elements to a student’s academic and social success. Culturally responsible teachers will make efforts to connect with families of their students.  A strong understanding of the cultural dynamic at home will illuminate the classroom as to appropriate lesson plans and expectations for homework.

My history as a student here in Minnesota dictates my study habits as well as my style of writing and questioning during class, academic values, if you will. Other cultures will have their own style as well. Expectations and values may be different. This does not mean they are wrong, just different. This may create a challenge to a teacher to create a separate array of questions and have acceptable levels of participation. Even the value placed on material possessions from culture to culture can provide a forum for bullying and discrimination. Levels of income and high-poverty communities can create additional cultural barriers. Teachers with the knowledge of these constraints can re-align their lesson plans and objectives to target benchmarks differently.

 

While I know that repetitive vocabulary testing is boring and often misunderstood as busy work and simple memorization. I truly believe, especially in science disciplines, repeated reading strategy and vocabulary exercises will strengthen ESL students understanding and comprehension. Writing the words and writing the meanings is a boring strategy yet effective. Teachers must take additional time to insure that the meanings are accurate and clear. This is especially true with ESL students. Some words or phrases may not have a translation to their native language. Alternate teaching methods should be adopted to insure comprehension.

Minnesota, the United States, and eventually the world, is changing with each generation. Cultural diversity is a gift. When addressing a problem, or attacking a task, the more views from diverse individuals, the greater the opportunity to successfully please the most people with the outcome.  That being said, teachers must adapt and begin to be culturally responsible in their methods. It is highly unlikely that diversity will lessen in the near future and acceptance of these cultural needs in the classroom is the right thing to do.