‘ CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS ’ or ‘ Knowing Your Students ’

‘CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS’or‘Knowing Your Students’ LEARNING MEDIA Angela Millar, Julie Beatie and the Literacy Leadership Teams of ‘Fraser and Trentham School’ 1st March 2012 “The culture of the child cannot enter the classroom, until it enters the conciousness of the teacher”

WHAT CONNECTS US& WHAT IS DIFFERENT

Feels Familiar Activity… • Spend a few minutes thinking through who you are, whom you are and where you have come from’ • In twos complete the ‘ feels familiar activity’ IN PART OR WHOLE • FIND WHAT CONNECTS YOU • FIND WHAT IS DIFFERENT • WHAT DOES THAT BEGIN TO TELL YOU ABOUT HOW YOU ARE IN THE CLASSROOM WITH YOUR STUDENTS?

LINE UP ACTIVITYStudent and Teacher relationships A STRONG relationship will generate greater levels of engagement, responsiveness and positivity.

Co-construct lessons with students Lets students describe what is ‘relevant’ to them and what they wish to know more about.

Ako – Learn from as well as teach students Means people help each other to know more about what it is that they are interested in. & Teachers and students collaborating to achieve mutually understood outcomes.

Set relevant contexts for learning Engaging students with topics/materials for learning that reflect their world, the things that are relevant to their life experiences, the things that resonate with them.

Use a range of Teaching/Learning techniques ‘Mixing it up’ aligns the learning experience with the outcomes- learners also respond differently in various settings, which raises their level of enthusiasm for tasks and activities.

Have high expectations of every student’s performance An “Ok” response isn’t good enough because the teacher expects the best from everyone. Setting high expectations drives levels of achievement as both teachers and students strive to meet them.

Key Concept:Engage with Parents/Families/Whānau Bringing the most influential adults in a learner’s world together over a shared set of expectations.

Questions to Begin to Answer… • Why…? • Evidence shows that high-quality teaching is the most important influence the education system can have on high-quality outcomes for students with diverse learning needs. • Evidence also shows that effective teaching and learning depends on the relationship between teachers and students and students’ active engagement. • What does cultural responsiveness mean? • What does it look like? • What does it mean for my students?

RESOURCES TO BE DIPPED INTO: • NZC- New Zealand Curriculum • ELP- Effective Literacy Practice • Literacy Learning Progressions • Reading and Writing Standards • ALSO: • Registered Teacher Criteria • ELLP • Tātaiako

A Definition for Culture Culture is the shared perceptions of a group’s values, expectations and norms. It reflects the way people give priorities to goals, how they behave in different situations, and how they cope with their world and with one another. People experience their social environment through their culture. Culture is transmitted from generation to generation.

Cultural Responsiveness Defined: • Ladson-Billings, "It is an approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes." The use of cultural referents in teaching bridges and explains the mainstream culture, while valuing and recognizing the students' own cultures.

And in the teaching context…. • Culture and classroom instruction is derived from evidence that cultural practices shape thinking processes, which serve as tools for learning within and outside of school (Hollins, l996). Thus, culturally responsive education recognizes, respects, and uses students' identities and backgrounds as meaningful sources (Nieto, 2000) for creating optimal learning environments. • In order to teach students effectively, we need to maximize their opportunities to become actively engaged with reading and writing and this can be achieved by activating students’ prior knowledge, scaffolding meaning so that content and language become comprehensible, affirming their identities, and extending their knowledge of, and control over, language. Cummins, (in press)

Culturally Responsive Teaching According to scholar Gloria Ladson Billings, Culturally Responsive Teaching is: An approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impact knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Where are we currently with our thinking? • Join with another group of two for a three way interview to answer the following question, “what does being‘culturally responsive (knowing your student)’ means to you…?” • Be prepared to share a theme that clearly emmerged in your group.

VIEWING VIDEO… NOW THINK… • Look out for : • * E • Discuss with a partner what you noticed under these headings…

NOW WHAT?? • What does cultural responsiveness mean? • Explore as a group or syndicate • What does it look like? • Have we got examples in our own school? • What does it mean for my students? • Thinking about your inquiry (and focus group- boys, Maori) what are your strengths and possible needs?

CONCLUSIONSCulturally Responsive Teaching • Builds on what students already know. • Helps students understand there is more than one way of knowing. • Encourages students to embrace their culture and develop a love of learning. • Highlights students’ strengths, and gives them confidence to confront their weaknesses.

Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D. In her 1994 book The Dreamkeepers, Ladson-Billings, further defined CRT as possessing these nine principles: • Communication of High Expectations • Active Teaching Methods • Teacher as Facilitator • Inclusion of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students • Cultural Sensitivity • Reshaping the Curriculum • Student-Controlled Classroom Discourse • Small Group Instruction and Academically-Related Discourse

To Be A Teacher of Diverse Students You Need To: • Be willing to reexamine your teaching pedagogy and make it relevant to your students. • Be someone who deeply cares about your students. • Be a student-centered teacher, which means taking an interest in your students’ community and making positive contact with their parents. • Be willing to learn about cultures other than your own.

‘ CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS ’ or ‘ Knowing Your Students ’