Erin Bucheit

EDL 318

Inquiry to Curriculum Project: Part 2

Mini-Literature Review:

In the field of education there are so many methods and ways to teach and
sometimes it seems that it can be confusing if there actually is one correct way or
one best way. After thinking about the readings from EDL 318 and other courses, it
is easy to see how many different aspects go into teaching and helping students and
there is not one cohesive way to do things. In finding three articles to focus on, I
have chosen to discuss three different methods and/or ways one could approach
teaching students of differing cultures and socioeconomic status. The articles do all
differ in some ways, but at the same time they all are about how the teacher can best
help the student from any background or culture. The main idea of the articles
include teaching diverse student bodies, being a critical witness for your students,
and teachers working as a collaborative group in their school.
The question I raised had to do with teaching students of varying
socioeconomic status and differing cultural backgrounds and how to support them
in their learning. In Banks article about transforming education he talked about the
transformation approach and how it allows students of varying groups to view the
content in their own way. Teachers can help students understand that, while
Americans have a variety of viewpoints, we share many cultural traditions, values,
and political ideals that cement us together as a nation (Banks, 6). This approach
allows students to see how a variety of groups think and at the same time allows
them to look at the curriculum in a way that makes sense to them.
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

Another strategy that can help students of varying socioeconomic status and
culture is teacher collaboration. Collaboration reflects an environment where
teachers build their lessons cooperatively, eliminating redundancy and increasing
compatibility across parts of the curriculum and across grades (Moller et al. 176). It
is said if schools are more unified and the staff is working collaboratively then it will
have a greater impact on the students success in schools. Moller et al. talks a lot
about how teachers who work collaboratively together can help close the
achievement gap. The article more specifically talks about the collaborative
teamwork in regards to the math curriculum, which is what their study was about.
The study included students of varying races and socioeconomic status. In the end
the cooperative community of teachers was most effective with black low
socioeconomic status students. (Moller et al. 182) The concept of Moller et al.s
article reflects back to what Banks includes when talking about the dimension of
equitable pedagogy, when it says, research indicates, for example, that the
academic achievement of African-American and Mexican-American students
improves when teachers use cooperative teaching activities and strategies (Banks,
5).
How well a teacher knows their students and what they are going through
can determine how well the child does in school. The more the teacher knows about
a student the more they can help them. Being a critical witness for students is
something a teacher can do, which will allow them to understand their student and
where they are coming from. Being a critical witness involves not making
assumptions about students and includes looking at the whole picture. This can
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

include talking with students, speaking with parents, knowing the materials they
have access to, and how the student is doing academically (Dutro, 232). All of these
aspects make up a students testimony and a teacher observing all of these things
makes them a critical witness. Critical witnessing should involve finding innovative
ways for students and families to share their perspective on, experiences with, and
suggestions for public schools (Dutro, 237). This idea of critical witnessing reflects
back to helping the student and helping meet the needs of the student no matter the
socioeconomic status, cultural difference, or circumstance. Every students life will
be different and it is important for teachers to be a critical witness to help
differentiate for the needs of students.
All of these articles connect to each other in some way. Overall, each article
addresses how to meet the needs of students in varying situations. The topics of
diversity in education, collaborative teaching, and critical witnessing address ways
of meeting students needs and how it can benefit the student. Each article provided
various suggestions to help students of differing cultures and socioeconomic status.
Context:
For field this semester I was at New Miami Elementary, which is located in
the village of New Miami, Ohio. New Miami is located in Butler County and is right
next to Hamilton, Ohio. The population of New Miami as of 2012 is 2,267. Since 2008
the population has changed by -8.2%. The town is about half males, half females.
There are a few more males at 50.4% of the population. The average resident is
about 36 years old. The average household income is $36,533 and the average cost
of a house is $81,905. The demographics of New Miami include 91.1% of people
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

being white, 5.2% are black, 2.0% are people of two or more races, Hispanics make
up 1.2%, American Indian is 0.3%, Asian is 0.09%, and native Hawaiian/other
pacific islander is 0.09%. The percentage of people who completed high school or
higher are 64.5%. 2.0% is how many people have attained a Bachelors degree or
higher. 11% of people are unemployed. As of 2011, the percentage of people living
in poverty in New Miami was 29.5%. (All from city-data.com)
Since New Miami is such a small town, the school building includes every
grade from preschool all the way to 12
th
grade. With that being said there is one
website for both the school and the district. The website does not tell a lot about the
town, but it does include a lot of useful information for parents. The website
includes the district calendar, how the behavior system works, forms for enrollment,
medical forms, the districts report card, and things like Progress Book links. I am in
a kindergarten classroom at New Miami, and the size of the room is relatively small
for kindergarten. However, in addition to her room, another teacher and her share a
room in the middle of both their rooms for more space. The students sit at tables
when they are doing their work; three of the students have their own desk. The
room itself is a little cluttered and there is a lot of stuff going on. The walls are fairly
empty, but there is an alphabet strip displayed and there are also colors displayed.
In this kindergarten class there are 20 students, 6 of the students are boys and 14
are girls. One of the students is 8 years old and this year was his first experience
with school. Between all of the students there is a lot of tragedy in their lives
because a lot of the students have lost a parent, some parents have actually passed
away while others have kind of passed their child around. Single parents or
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

grandparents are raising a lot of students in my class. The families are engaged in
their childs schooling by the use of folders, where the teacher and parent can
communicate back and forth about the student. The parents are also involved when
they attend parent-teacher conferences. Other than these two things, the parents
are not too involved. The only thing I know about community involvement is a local
church will sometimes have an after school program for students. Other than that
there really is not a ton of community involvement with the school.
Findings:
My question for the first part of the project was, As a teacher leader, how
can I meet the needs of all students when there is variability between students
socioeconomic status and cultures? How can I provide effective and meaningful
instruction when there are students who come from all types of backgrounds and
have varying levels of understanding based on where they came from? The
methods I said I would use to investigate my question is talk with teachers and staff
members, make observations, look at student work, and talk with children.
From speaking with the curriculum director at the school, she said there
really is not a lot of diversity when looking at race throughout the school. The
district is predominantly white, so there is not a lot of diversity even mentioned.
From observations however, I could tell there is diversity in terms of a students
socioeconomic status. The teacher will tell me about different students lives all the
time and from talking with her I have been able to realize the differences of
socioeconomic status. It is easy to see which students are read to at home and which
ones arent. It is also easy to see whose parents are working with them on tasks
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

versus some who are not. Also, by observing how students dress provides me with
an idea of their status. If one student is constantly wearing clothes with holes in
them, while another student is clean and wears something different everyday this
shows some differences in socioeconomic status.
The teacher has shared there is not really any differentiation among the work
students receive. The only things that are really differentiated are the reading
groups. Groups of students are placed in reading groups because they are reading at
similar levels. One accommodation that is interesting is one student is reading at
such a high level that he does not read with his peers, instead every Thursday he
goes down to the fifth grade and reads with them.
Through observations I have realized a way that teachers can help the
students who are from different cultures and of different socioeconomic status. The
teacher can realize what the student needs and provide them more scaffolding and
help if necessary. Also, teachers should be sensitive to needs students might not be
getting at home. For example, if a student is from a low socioeconomic lifestyle they
might not be getting enough to eat. One student in my classroom at New Miami did
not have a lot of food to eat at home, so he was always hungry and breakfast is a big
deal for him. Teachers can help students like this just by making sure they have
breakfast and lunch. Another thing the teacher can do is to allow the student to have
a small snack throughout the day. A good time for a snack might be right before the
student goes home. My cooperating teacher has little packets of graham crackers
that she will give to students if they are hungry and in need of food. Overall, teachers
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

can make sure students basic needs are met first before continuing on with their
learning. If basic needs are not met, how can the student truly learn?
Discussion:
For me my findings mean there is a way to get students of other cultures and
socioeconomic status to improve on their learning. Thinking back to my literature
review and talking about my question it is clear there are many ways a teacher or a
school can approach meeting the needs of all students no matter the background.
Even though the school I am at is not very diverse in terms of race, it is very diverse
in regards to children because the children are different and come from many
socioeconomic backgrounds. Through the literature review it is clear that part of the
problem with teaching a group of diverse students is they all might not understand
each other and other peoples cultures.
Currently in education, I still think everyone is trying to figure out how to be
fair to all students and help all students learn and understand the material. The
culture in America is getting more and more diverse and as it continues to do so
teachers are going to have to navigate through several cultures and figure out how
to best teach all of the students. Since there is a more up and coming population of
even more diverse learners, it is important for teachers to consider other cultures
besides American when teaching about culture.
Overall, it is clear that students of varying backgrounds and cultures need
meaningful experiences that can be applied to their life, so they can understand the
material better. Using the strategies of diverse teaching and collaborative teamwork
is one way to potentially help students of varying groups succeed in school.
Erin Bucheit
EDL 318

Works Cited
Mini-Literature Review Citations:
EDL 318 Reading:
Banks, J. A. (1994). Transforming the mainstream curriculum. Educating for
Diversity, (p. 4-8).

Concurrent Class EDT 473 Reading:
Dutro, E. (2009)'Children's testimony and the necessity of critical witness in
urban classrooms', Theory Into Practice, 48:3, (p. 231-238) Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405840902997519

My Own Reading:
Moller, S., Mickelson, R., Stearns, E., Banerjee, N., & Bottia, M. (2013). Collective
pedagogical teacher culture and mathematics achievement: Differences by
race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Sociology of Education, Retrieved
from http://soe.sagepub.com/content/86/2/174

Context Citation:
"New Miami, Ohio." City-Data.com. Web.
<http://www.city-data.com/city/New-Miami-Ohio.html>.