Cory Bieber EPS 512 July 30, 2012 Culture in the Classroom America is a nation filled with so many

different cultures. Having so many different types of people from every walk of life is such a blessing. But at the same time it presents an extreme challenge for educators. As I prepare myself to become an urban educator I am learning the great importance of gaining knowledge of all the types of students I may encounter. Through my intense month of instruction I have learned that one of the most important parts of my pedagogy will be my cultural awareness. I was born and raised in the city of Chicago. I am well aware of the way this city works but it wasnt until student teaching that I saw how the public school system works. I student taught third grade in the citys Austin neighborhood and this was definitely way outside of my comfort zone. I remember walking into the school on my first day, I wasnt sure if urban teaching was really what I wanted to do. Even while I was teaching I wasnt sure if I was making a difference for any of my students. It wasnt until my last day with my students that I understood that I had made an impact. They were upset to see me leave and I was pretty distraught myself. As I have read the textbook and articles for class I cant help but think of how beneficial this material would have been for me before I entered that classroom. I had a classic case of colorblindness. I wasnt concerned about the race of my students and I thought that this was appropriate. I have since learned that by ignoring the students cultural identity I may have done them a disservice. My lessons were probably not very engaging to most of the class and Im sure the students werent sure if what I was teaching them was anything they could apply outside of

the classroom. I wish that I could have given them a more upfront opportunity to learn about me and to build a more trusting relationship with them. I may have had an even greater impact if I had give them this opportunity. I will keep my acquired knowledge in the back of my mind as I prepare to enter a classroom in Austin again, this time kindergarten probably the most impressionable. In our required text book Davis (2006) refers to the definition of culture from the book Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders, Lindsey, Nuri, Robins, and Terrell (2003) as being everything you do that enables you to identify with people who are like you and that distinguishes you from people who differ from you (p. 41). In both of my teaching experiences I have been culturally different from my students. When I student taught in Austin, the majority of my students were African-American and most came from low socioeconomic households. When I worked for Catholic Charities almost all of my students were either first or second generation Americans whose parents and/or grandparents were born in Mexico. I have been immersed into both of these cultures and I learned most of my lessons firsthand through interactions with my students and their families. Both groups were welcoming and were glad to include me in their cultural norms when I showed interest. Many of my co-workers with Catholic Charities were also of Mexican descent and they were so happy to educate me on many of the Holidays and the hidden rules of the Mexican culture. I believe that it is safe to say that I experiences true acculturation, or the process by whereby the culture, values, and patterns of the majority are adopted by a person or an ethnic, social, religious affiliation, language, or national group (Davis, 2006). Geneva Gay (2002) refers to culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively. I have been placed at Howe School of Excellence to teach for the upcoming school year and I plan to try to help build a cultural community of learners within the classroom. I hope that by planning

lessons that are culturally relevant to the students I may be able to encourage them to be active learners in the classroom. We have been presented with numerous examples of how to be culturally responsive educators Most of these examples have been readings but I am very much a visual and kinesthetic learner so just reading about how to implement a culturally responsive classroom did not necessarily paint the whole picture for me. I really enjoyed the video we watched in class that gave us an example of being culturally responsive teachers. I hope that during my training year Ill be able to identify some similar practices in my mentors classroom. Being a primary grade-level teacher, using some of the simple practices like call and response and bottoms up heads together will be easier to use than they would with middle school or high school students. There are many important ideas to consider when thinking about culture in the classroom. First it is important to build bridges between the multiple cultures represented in the classroom, not just the dominant one. Next, I will need to examine my own assumptions and stereotypes that I may bring to the class. I will need to remember that I dont know the whole story behind each student and to approach them accordingly. And finally I will need to remember that culture isnt just a list of holidays, religious traditions, and the language that is spoken. Culture is a lived experience and each individual has had their own experience. Even my young primary aged children will enter my classroom with their own individual experiences and I will need to be cognoscente of that in order to more successfully engage them in their education. Over and over again we have discussed the extreme importance of building relationships with the students and the community. I experienced this importance during my work with Catholic Charities as a School-Age Group Leader in the Little Village neighborhood. This position put me in a unique position by allowing me to form strong bonds with my students. I would listen to their reactions of their

classroom teachers and the activities that they would do during the school day. I think that because I was not an educational teacher in their eyes, they were more comfortable giving their feedback to me. They had more opportunity to speak their mind and ask questions that they might not have asked their teachers. Most of my students were of Mexican descent and I was quickly introduced to the strong family bonds that they had. Many of the students had siblings or other family members in our program and they would do anything to protect their siblings if they saw a need. They also looked for any ways they could create projects to give to family members at home or would constantly try to save their snack for family members at home. At first I was reluctant to let them save food but I saw how much it meant to them when they could present their smaller siblings with part of the snack that they were provided. Although many of the students liked to act tough and misbehave, they hated the disappointment that their mothers or fathers had when we had to discuss their actions. I had good working relationships with many of the parents in our program and it showed. In addition to those strong relationships, teaching children contextualized material is extremely important. Lisa Delpit explains that when her daughter was in first grade she was assigned to write sentences and she discussed what to write with her and when she checked the sentences they were all about nothing they had discussed. When she asked her daughter about the sentences her daughter explained that sentences were stuff you write, but you never would say (Delpit, 2006). Her daughter was taught what a sentence is on paper but not how we use them in our everyday life. It is important that students understand that a sentence is also the thoughts you have, and the words you speak. Another example that Delpit presents is the example of a young boy who could not recognize and name coins and their amounts. Delpit almost recommended the child for special education because no matter how many times she reviewed the material with him, he could not successfully complete the

worksheets. She later found out that the boy was responsible for his younger sister who was physically challenged and that he also did the familys washing. This meant that he had a lot of knowledge about coins and money. He was also good at counting the money because he never got cheated when buying the familys laundry supplies (Delpit, 2006). This is an example of how a student had already contextualized the material outside of the classroom but did not know how to successfully apply it in the context of paper and pencil. By understanding my students strengths I may be able to help them recognize how to successfully use those strengths in numerous contexts. A topic that has presented itself throughout our class is the ways to bridge the achievement gap. Many of these factors are out of the control of the actual classroom teachers but awareness is not. As a teacher I will need to be aware of my students cultural differences and be sure to help them experience new things. I will need to open their eyes to ideas and concepts that may be common knowledge for me, but brand new and exciting experiences for them. An example that we discussed in class might be the different types of exotic fruits we may see in the supermarket every day. Some students may not know the differences between a peach and a nectarine and it will be my job as a culturally responsive teacher to familiarize them with those ideas. Part of being aware of my students is becoming familiar with their learning styles. It is important to understand those students who prefer to work independently and the students who prefer to work in small groups. As Davis (2006) states, The quiet, traditional classroom in which many of us learned, quietly seated in rows of desks and raising our hands to answer the questions the teacher posed, does not match the cultural communication styles of many of our diverse learners. The classroom needs to be multiculturally sensitive and each child needs to be appreciated. In order for successful multicultural instruction to happen, some work outside of the classroom will need to be done. I will need to familiarize myself and immerse myself into the different cultures that are represented within my

classroom. That may mean seeking help from some of my more seasoned colleagues and maybe even inquire additional information from my students (which may be more of a challenge with kindergarteners because kids sometimes say the funniest things). Once I have established the numerous types of learners and become familiar with the cultures represented within my class it is time to start creating classroom climates that are conducive to learning for ethnically diverse learners (Gay, 2002). It is more than just being culturally sensitive but also using cultural pedagogy in order to support the learning within the classroom. It is more than just having cultural symbols displayed in the classroom. And it will be more than just observing different holidays. I will need to make the lessons and activities culturally relevant and new and exciting for the students. I have enjoyed all of the new information regarding being a culturally responsive teacher. Many of these ideas and practices would have been beneficial to have before starting my student teaching not to mention before having started at my job with Catholic Charities. During my undergraduate classes we would touch on the subject but it was never easy to think about the ideas being put into practice. It was always talked about like it was an experience that we could only dream of. Only through firsthand experience did I really understand the concepts that we had discussed. Any teacher who thinks they want to enter into urban teaching should really take time to understand all of the responsibilities that come with it. If more teachers could learn to become culturally responsive, we may be able to make increases in urban achievement.

Sources Davis, B. M. (2006). How to Teach Students Who Don't Look Like You: Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Delpit, L. (2006). Lessons From Teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 220-231. Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106116