Carmen Reid
EDU 6918
Assignment: Course reflection
Objective: To summarize learning and show emerging
competence on program standard 8. Professional Practice - The teacher
participates collaboratively in the educational community to improve
instruction, advance the knowledge and practice of teaching as a profession,
and ultimately impact student learning. 8.2 Growing and Developing
Professionally.
Topic: Cultural competence or culturally relevant
teaching.
The
cultural conversation is sometimes a touchy one. No one wants to step on anyone else’s
toes. While there are many ways in which
one can raise awareness of their own culture and experience to reduce
misunderstandings, I have found reading and researching on this topic to be
profoundly helpful in my quest to becoming an effective and culturally
competent teacher. According to the
Washington state endorsed SPU teacher certification program standards,
“8. Professional
Practice –
The teacher participates collaboratively in the educational community to
improve instruction, advance the knowledge and practice of teaching as a
profession, and ultimately impact student learning…
8.2 Growing and
Developing Professionally
Teacher welcomes
feedback from colleagues when made by supervisors or when opportunities arise
through professional collaboration.”
This standard is a key element in the
multicultural growth that must occur in order for any of us to attain an
effective stance at teaching in a culturally competent way. We have to begin with an open dialogue. We have to accept people for where they are
in the moment and personally we have to be willing to transform our own methods
for the better. In reading Gloria
Ladson-Billings (1995) article, But that's just good teaching! The
case for culturally relevant pedagogy, I was struck by how frank she was about the current state
of education in our predominantly African American public schools. She states, “Given the dismal academic performance
of so many African American students…,” for me these few words are all in takes
to bring the urgency of reevaluating the current k-12 institution into the forefront. As an African American woman, who has tread
water on both sides of the train track, I am all aware of the necessity for
change. The most beneficial aspect of researching
cultural competence is the awareness that comes with this work and the hope
that is highlighted by the few individuals who have dedicated their lives to
fixing this innately broken system.
According
to the Teach for America team (2011), “Dynamics of difference and sameness” is
a phrase we use to refer to the complex—often unspoken or even
unrealized—dynamics of power or bias that can arise in any human interaction. (p.49)”
As individuals, we all come from different places, ethnically,
socioeconomically, academically, and psychologically, to name a few. We all have our own individual experiences
and perceptions of life that have helped to define our thinking and
interpretation of our very place in the world.
Chapter 4 in Diversity, Community,
& Achievement by Teach for America (2011) addresses the issue of
Dynamics of Difference through a vast compilation of Teachers’ Reflections on
Diversity in Their Classrooms. As a new
teacher, these uncensored quotes were invaluable for me to gain an understanding
of the multitude of perspectives that surround the very nature of a what it
means to be culturally aware. It pushed
me to reexamine my own idea of a multicultural classroom.
In
the infamous 1983 published case study, A Nation at Risk, Bell quite eloquently
extrapolated on the current situation.
At one point he summarized it by saying, “Our society and its
educational institutions seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of
schooling, and of the high expectations and disciplined effort needed to attain
them.” This 18 month of study shed light
on so many avenues where transformation is needed. As teachers it may not be within our reach to
generate reform the entire educational infrastructure or to, “renew the
Nation's commitment to schools and colleges of high quality throughout the
length and breadth of our land,” as suggested by Bell. However, we do have the power to make change within
in our own spheres. We can start by
incorporating culturally relevant pedagogy into our classrooms. One great suggestions comes from Ladson-Billing
(2001), who encouraged teachers “to utilize students’ culture for learning. This culturally relevant pedagogy is an
important tool for teachers to master. By
following this culturally applicable technique, we are able to instantly
empower our students and thus encourage academic participation and engagement.
The road is not always an easy one to navigate, however, it is our duty to
ourselves, our students, and our democratic society at large, to try and do our
job in a socially responsible and advantageous way. In a way that is beneficial to ALL of our members.
References
Beaudoin, B. B. (n.d.). Culturally
Responsive Pedagogy/Culturally Relevant Teaching. Multicultural America: A
Multimedia Encyclopedia. doi:10.4135/9781452276274.n236
Cross, Terry L., Marva P. Benjamin, and Mareasa R.
Isaacs. Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care. Washington, D.C.:
CASSP Technical Assistance Center, Georgetown U Child Development Center, 1989.
Print.
Ladson‐Billings, G. (1995). But that's just
good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into
Practice, 34(3), 159-165. doi:10.1080/00405849509543675
National Commission on
Excellence in Education (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for
educational reform. Washington, DC: United States Department of Education.
Nieto, S. (2002). Profoundly Multicultural
Questions. Educational Leadership,, 60(4), 6-10.
doi:10.1093/019829610x.001.0001
Teach
America. Diversity, community, &
achievement: 2010.
(2010). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.teachingasleadership.org/node/404
