1.      What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?

 

According to the article, Culturally Responsive Teaching is “using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively”. I believe that teaching students about many different cultures and their experiences so that all students feel that they are being represented. In addition, as a society, we are learning about where our peers come from, their history/tradition, contributions that they made/are making in the world and appreciating the similarities and differences each culture brings to the world.

 

2.      What can you do a teacher to prepare for culturally responsive teaching?

 

According to the article, there are five ways that teachers can prepare for culturally responsive teaching which are, “developing a knowledge base about cultural diversity, including ethnic and cultural diversity content in the curriculum, demonstrating caring and building learning communities, communicating with ethnically diverse students and responding to ethnic diversity in the delivery of instructions”.

 

·         Developing a Cultural Diversity Knowledge Base

 

The issue was teachers are ill-prepared students about culture because they themselves are not aware of the culture that their students come from. According to the article, “teachers need to be aware of the community that there students come from, how different cultures act towards each other in regards to adults and children and understanding of gender roles in the culture”.  In addition, teachers need to learn about many different cultures. 

 

I believe that we need to know where our students come from and how they interact within their culture. However, I think that comes with steps in introducing your class to each other and asking them questions in order for not only the teachers can learn but your students as well. 

 

·         Designing Culturally Relevant Curricula

 

Teachers need to design a curriculum that reviews textbooks and instructional materials in providing opportunity to learn about different cultures. This can include symbolic curriculum which are symbols, icons or artifacts that shows the importance of that person’s culture and history.  I believe these visuals/ images can allow students to see how the diversity of different genres such as class, gender, age, race etc... Also, societal curriculum which involves the many different kinds of media like television, radio, internet, print, movies, etc… in order to see how groups of people are portrayed to distinguish facts and opinion. I believe that is very important because there are so many stereotypes about different cultures based upon misinformation that we were told. This can allow students to develop their own thinking about a culture as well discuss the positive and negative representations of the media portrayal on many different cultures.  

 

·         Demonstrating Cultural Caring and Building A Learning Community

Teacher needs to care about their students as a whole person that includes how they feel, where they come from, how they learn and what they think. This notion is important when trying to build community among your students. If you do not value your students than they will not be want as open to allowing them to learn about them and their culture. I think that it is very important to show your students that your classroom is a welcoming environment that respects everyone no matter who they are so that students will be accepting of others which would avoid bullying. 

 

·         Cross-Cultural Communication

Teachers should understand how different cultures communicate when it comes to their values and learning behaviors. I feel that that may be challenging because people communicate differently from one another. We have to learn how to engage our students where they are heard and respected like debates, finding solutions to a problem or asking students how to explain their cultural norms the way they want to show and tell in an appropriate manner.  

 

·         Cultural Congruity in Classroom Instruction

According to the article, “Teachers need to provide instructional strategies and modify those instruction for their cultural diverse students which may include cooperative learning, autobiographies, music, movement or art etc...”

 

I think that could assist students greatly because we are using different strategies to effectively learn how they are and we are catering to the many different learners (tactile, visual, kinesics and auditory). 

 

 

3.      Why is Culturally Responsive Teaching important?

 

I believe that Culturally Responsive Teaching is important because we are among many diverse students in our classrooms and we need to find ways in understanding where they come from to effectively teach them. I think we would learn about the “whole person” that involves their cultural norm in order to know to treat them respectively and how can they can learn about one another. In addition, they should have representations of their culture to understand how they live, work, play and behave in different social situations. I think it gives more of a grasp of understanding and awareness about the individual and how they differences contributes to the overall community which is the classroom.

 

 

4.      What was the author’s message? 

 According to the article, the author’s message was “teachers need to be aware of how to teach culturally diverse students and they need techniques to prepare themselves for that”. However, that involves a deeper understanding of many different cultures in regards to “their behaviors, classroom interactions and instruction that embraces those differences”( Gay 1). With this concept, we can start to understand why different groups of cultures are not performing as well academically. The reality is that America is not well-equipped with the adequate resources to teach such a vast of different cultures because they are not the majority of the population which is issue to the ever-changing country that America is. Not only to these students have to adapt to a culture that is not their own but have to maintain their own self-identity within their own culture. That is very hard for them to do.  That is why teachers need to have tools to teach culturally diverse students to not only have to succeed in their academics but to show them their cultural differences are appreciated and welcomed. 

-Fatimah Ojesanmi

2.     As a teacher you can prepare for culturally responsive teaching by knowing the cultures of your students before they come into the classroom. To help this, you can send home a questionnaire in the summer maybe or in the beginning of the school year. Teachers can also research cultures, and demonstrate culturally sensitivity within the classroom, they can reshape the curriculum to include culturally diverse lessons, and also have students have some input in the lessons being taught within the classroom. Also included collaborative learning and small groups can help students work with members of different cultures and also learn first-hand about different cultures that may be present inside of the 
classroom.

3.     Culturally responsive teaching is important because America is and always will be the “melting-pot” of the world. It is important to create sensitivity and awareness to all cultures that may be present in the classroom. By doing this, all students will be able to show empathy towards one another and work together in unison. It is also important to emphasize that although we come from different cultures and backgrounds, we have one goal in mind, to succeed and be treated equal and fair. It also gives students to see outside of the world we live in and broader their knowledge of the outside world. 

4.     The author’s message is to put an emphasis on the importance of having culturally responsive teaching in the classroom. The author also seeks to explain why including culturally diverse lessons in the classroom are important, and how teachers can prepare and implement these lessons. The author has goes on to say that creating a culturally diverse classroom can help students feel more comfortable in their school community and will overall lead them to be more effective academically. Creating component and culturally diverse learners can help prepare them for higher education and employment. 

 

Gay 2002 states that when it comes to culturally responsive teaching certain aspects are kept in mind. These aspects are the following: cultural characteristics, experiences, ideas and values of ethnically diverse students. 

            It also includes understanding the culture of students coming from different ethnic groups. Gay explains that every culture encompasses different things. Some are important for teachers to know as compare to others. As a teacher it is important for you to know the cultural values, traditions, communication and learn styles as they are more inclined towards teaching and learn.

            There are things that in one culture it will be acceptable where as in another culture it would consider respectful. Lets take an example of an eye contact, in some cultures making an eye contact with and adult is seen as a disrespectful behavior whereas in American culture when you make an eye contact with a person that means you are paying attention and respecting that persons opinion. 

 

2.     What can you do as a teacher to prepare for culturally responsive teaching?

As a teacher, I can make the learning environment comfortable for ethnically diverse students teachers must relate the teaching content to the student’s cultural background. 

Research shows that teaching that ignores aspects such as, student norms and communication can block or result is students not interested in the task. Whereas, teaching that is responsive results in students involvement. Olneck 1995, explains that “There is growing evidence that strong, continual engagement among diverse students requires a holistic approach—that is, an approach where the how, what, and why of teaching are unified and meaningful. p.2

Lets take an example of a teacher who reads Chinese Cinderella in the classroom where she has Chinese students. Reading something to the children where they can relate to certain things provokes interests. They tend to me more engage as compare to something where they have nothing to share. 

Also, celebrating and talking about certain cultural events can make students feel comfortable and acceptable.  In the beginning of the year a teacher can create a folder where she can collect all the information on his/her students, so throughout the year she can have activities, books or events planned according to the students culture. Also, this can help him/her research and learn about some the cultural aspects of the students in the classroom. 

 

3.  Why is Culturally Responsive Teaching important?

 

            Culturally Responsive teaching is important because from birth we are placed into a cultural group by our families. Culture affects how we think, communicate, how we perceive the world, make decision, and learn. It is an important component of teaching and learning as teachers need to be aware of what new skills need to be taught and if students have prior knowledge. The more students know about that topic the faster they will learn new information. What students learn at home and about their families is part of their prior knowledge. Therefore, teaching and learning goes hand in hand with culture as teachers need to teach material that is meaningful and important to students. Culturally responsive teaching is also important because students who feel values and respected by their teachers are more likely to want to learn because they will be engaged in the lesson as they will have prior knowledge about that topic and will have something to share. It is also an important skill that students can take-away when they attend college or begin working as they will be expected to work with other people who are different from them. This will help them to be more aware of different cultures and learn to be sensitive to others.  

 

4. What was the author’s message?

 

            According to the article, the author Geneva Gay wanted to express the importance of incorporating Culturally Responsive teaching in the classroom. The author also gives strategies on how teachers can implement cultural learning in their curriculum.  Gay also mentions the positive aspects of using Cultural Responsive teaching in the classroom as students will feel valued and respected and will be more engaged in the lessons which will lead to academic success.  It will also create a positive learning environment, in which students will feel comfortable to share their ideas and thoughts during discussions as they will not feel that they will be judged or put down. Therefore, the teacher needs to create a form of unity in the classroom by accepting and teaching students about various cultures. 

 

 

 

 Michelle Fedenko
 Article: Creating Culturally Responsive Literacy Programs in Classroom

 

1. What is Cultural Responsive Teaching? 
 Cultural Responsive Teaching is an essential element to learning in which the teacher gathers cultural information about his or her students from their parents, family members, and community members. Then the teacher will implement the cultural data into the curriculum to make it rich, meaningful, and interesting for the students. Also the students will gain information and knowledge about other ethnic groups. Cultural Responsive Teaching helps develop students’ thinking process because they are able to make a connection with the lesson activities and their daily lives, which is part of learning. 

 2. What can you do as a teacher to prepare for Cultural Responsive Teaching? 

As an educator, I will use the following methods that will help increase students’ confidence and reading skills. According to Shealey and Callins (2007) these strategies:  Positive perspectives on parents and families, Communication of high expectations, Reshape the curriculum, Demonstration of cultural sensitivity, Provide culturally mediated instruction, Small group instruction and cooperative learning, Facilitate learning, and Use active teaching methods that are used to teach reading to  students from different cultures in general education and special education classrooms.    Positive perspectives on parents and families- educators would communicate with their students, parents and community members about important events and issues. In other words, the teacher would see to it that parents, students, and community members would be informed about everything that are happened in the neighborhood.
 Communication of high expectations- is when teachers and other staff would focus on how well the students are doing with their grades and behaviors.

Reshape the curriculum- refer to making adjustment for the students’ backgrounds and interests.
Demonstration of cultural sensitivity is when teachers reduce the assignments so that the students can learn about cultural backgrounds.
 Provide culturally mediated instruction- students are taught how to handle conflicts with other diversity backgrounds.

Small group instruction and cooperative learning- is when the teachers placed students that have a low academic skills in small groups and then provide with them specific instructions of what their tasks are.
Facilitate learning – refers to when the educator is conducting a lesson as he or she is given or doing other tasks to do. 

Use active teaching methods is when teachers develop new directions to help students participate in the lessons activities.

 I think that as educators we are responsible to make sure that all students that have  learning disabilities and culturally diverse backgrounds should be taught with the skills that they will need to improve their reading strengths. Adolescents with learning disabilities can use these methods. Shealey and Callins (2007) explained that students with learning disabilities should implement these methods as they read. Ask what they read, recognize, comprehend and keep in mind the language or vocabulary, arrange the details into notes, notice how the text is organized and used it as a learning, look up information on the computer, analyzed your concept of the reading material, and assess the writer’s point of view and ideas.

 3. Why is Cultural Responsive Teaching is important?
Cultural Responsive Teaching is significant because it provides students and adults that are from various parts of the world the ability to communicate and interact in a respectful manner. It is essential because it allows both the educators and students to learn about different cultural backgrounds. Plus the students’ language and literacy skills increase and develop. It can help students learn about other languages and cultures that are in the melting pot of America.    

 
4. What was the authors’ message? 
In today’s society the population of students with diverse cultural backgrounds and learning disabilities have increased tremendously.  From my experience as a New York City per diem substitute teacher I have been in middle schools and high school classrooms which are overcrowded with some adolescents that are  reading and writing below their grade level . I believe that the author purposely writes this article Creating Cultural Responsive Literacy Programs in Inclusive Classrooms so that  they can inform and educate teachers, school administrators, and people of the community  about the different elements that can be used to improve the reading skills of students with learning disabilities and different cultural backgrounds.

Gloria Ladson-Billings described it as “ways to develop a closer fit between students’ home culture and the school.”

2) What can you do a teacher to prepare for culturally responsive teaching?

Learn about different cultures. Maybe learn some more Spanish because “If students’ home language is incorporated into the classroom, students are more likely to experience academic success.” -Gloria Ladson-Billings

3)Why is Culturally Responsive Teaching important?

I think teachers should focus on “good teaching” rather than “culturally responsive teaching.” What I mean by that is that teachers should work with students as individuals rather than cultures. In my undergraduate education courses, I was told several times about how Asian students don’t look up at their teachers out of deep respect for authority and educators must be culturally away so that this doesn’t get misinterpreted. I have worked with many Asian students. I have never once had an issue where a student was too respectful to look at me. We should not look at students and make assumptions about their values and attitudes. 

I think that multiculturalism should come from the students rather than coming from the teacher. A teacher trying to bring multiculturalism to the class has a lot of potential to backfire. If I’m teaching a class of African American students about measurements, and I try to relate it to them using Kool Aid mix as an example, I think that’s more likely to create a problem than solve a problem. What can work is to let the class come up with examples that are meaningful to them.

4) What was the author’s message? 

I think the crux of Gloria Ladson-Billings’ message is that student’s experiences and interests should allowed into the classroom to help them engage with the information

Culturally responsive teachers demonstrate the following: 

3. Why is Culturally Responsive Teaching important?
Culturally Responsive Teaching is important because addressing the issues of culture and language has the greatest potential to help students with disabilities successfully read.
4. What was the author's message?
The authors' message is it is important to have a literacy program that effectively addresses the needs of diverse learners specifically student with disabilities.