Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy in the English Classroom

1. Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy in the English Classroom A Workshop with Tracy Wagner May 28, 2004 The College of New Jersey

2. In this workshop, you will: • Learn about culturally-relevant pedagogy in theory and in practice • In theory: learn the tenants of Gloria Ladson Billing’s philosophy of culturally-relevant pedagogy • In practice: see examples of how teaching through the lens of culturally-relevant pedagogy influences my daily lessons, curriculum construction, and teaching philosophy.

3. A Short Intro to Me • Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison • Secondary English Teaching Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison • Masters in Learning and Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education • English 9 and 10 teacher in a large urban public high school • Writer, researcher, and activist • White woman from a working-class background seeking to effectively work with urban students of color and effect social change through school reform • And you?

4. What is “Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy?” • An educational theory pioneered by Gloria Ladson Billings • The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children (1994). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. (a) • “Towards a Theory of Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy” (b) • “But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy” (1995) in Theory Into Practice (34) no. 3, 159-165. (c)

5. “Pedagogy” is the theoretical framework on which I stand as a teacher. “Pedagogy” is the lens through which I construct, conduct, and reflect on my teaching. Pedagogy builds who I am as teacher, and I come back to it again and again. What is “Pedagogy” and Why Should I Care?

6. Then what is “Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy?” • Culturally-relevant pedagogy is “committed to collective, not merely individual, empowerment” (160c). • It has three components: • “Students must experience academic success” • “Students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence” • “Students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order” (160c).

7. Teachers using their students’ cultures “as a vehicle for learning” (161c) – like using rap music to teach about meter and rhyme in poetry. Teachers using students’ cultures as “bridges to school learning.” Teachers incorporating students’ “home languages” into the curriculum – like writing poetry in home languages and then translating them into Standard English. Proud teachers who show “enthusiasm and vitality about what was being taught and learned” (163c) This looks like…

8. Teachers Who Practice Culturally-Relevant Teaching: • View teaching as a “art,” not a “technical skill.” • View themselves as a part of the community in which they teach. • View themselves as giving back to this community. • See a “connectedness” between themselves and their students. • Foster a “community of learners.” • “…believe that knowledge is continuously re-created, recycled, and shared by teachers and students alike.” • “Build bridges and scaffolding for learning.”

9. So, what does this look like in practice? How can culturally-relevant pedagogy benefit my teaching? How can it benefit me as a teacher?

10. Do I have to know the cultures of all my students? That’s a lot to know! What if all my students are white? What if I don’t know anything about my students’ cultures? What if the book I’m teaching doesn’t have any characters of color? What if my students don’t want to talk about race? Can I use culturally-relevant pedagogy with white students? Some questions you might be thinking about are:

11. A “photo” of the classrooms in which I teach: • Large urban public school • Primarily lower-income students • Primarily African American students • Also white, Latino, and Hmong • Many students who receive Special Education services • “Regular” level label • A wide variety of learning styles, life experiences, home languages, and academic skills

12. A “photo” of the school in which I taught: • Heavily-tracked into: self-contained Special Education classrooms; “Regular” education; ACAMO (“Academically-Motivated”); and TAG (“Talented and Gifted”). • Only ACAMO and TAG students were seen by the school at large as wanting/going to attend college. • Many of my “Regular” students were only passing my class…and, then, with a “A” or “B” average. • Students were regularly moved from other teachers’ classes to mine. • Working with culturally relevant pedagogy allowed me to be a successful teacher of the students who were not seen as “successful” within our school environment.

13. Hold high expectations Teach challenging material in a way that is student-centered Create real world ties Use “bridges” and scaffolding to increase my students’ interest and knowledge Keep myself growing and learning as a teacher Teaching with a culturally-relevant pedagogy allows me to:

14. But the challenges of doing this in a new classroom are: • The student demographics may be different. • How does a teacher approach learning about her/his students’ cultures, in order to use them as a base for teaching and community-building? • What if I have a class where the majority of students are white?

15. Giving a “student survey,” as in Fires in the Bathroom on the first day Giving a “History of You as an English Student” writing exercise on the first day Begin with a student-centered poetry unit, like “Where I’m From” in Reading, Writing, and Rising Up Start early! Read newspapers, have lunch in a popular neighborhood spot, talk to community members. Examples of how a teacher can learn about her students’ cultures:

16. Example: “History as an English Student”

17. Example: “Where I’m From” poems • Read models and analyze in groups • Learn poetry terms that will be used throughout the year • Brainstorm sheet • Quiz on terms • Rough draft • Peer editing • Final draft • Read-Around • Rubric for assessment

19. Tying the literature to students’ lives Starting with students’ lives, then bridging to the literature Incorporating small and large group work Involving parents and the community in the classroom Keeping constant notice of what students are reading, listening to, watching on tv, etc. Learning about students’ cultures through their writing and work in the classroom Carrying culturally-relevant pedagogy throughout the school year looks like:

20. Being a teenage boy or being a teenage girl Socio-economic status Tracking Cliques Race and ethnicity (and how these correlate with all of the above) Other examples? With some thinking, you can apply these “categories of culture” to almost any text you are teaching. Even though all of these apply, don’t do them “instead of” including discussions of race and ethnicity. Think about all the different contexts of “culture” in your students’ lives:

21. A few examples of lessons and units created with culturally-relevant pedagogy as my base: • Mary J. Blige and Romeo and Juliet (English 9) • Old School English 9 (English 9) • Who is Singing this Song? (English 10) • Other examples from English 10, or, how to teach with a culturally-relevant pedagogy in a class of white boys.

22. “Forever No More” And translating Romeo and Juliet

28. Old School English 9 And Addressing the “Grammar Basics” all Students Should Know

30. Homonyms “Weird Sentences” Titles and punctuation New “Old School” albums added to the classroom collections everyday Creation of an “Old School English 9” cd “Jeopardy” test review with categories from the lessons, plus “Old School English 9” Extra credit on the test Prince poster Many students commented on this unit in their final exam This theme continued into:

32. Conflicts of this Unit: • Did all of my students know who the Isley Brothers, Earth Wind and Fire, and Prince were? No, probably not. • Students pointed out what wasn’t included in my “Old School” compilation (no Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Ozzie, etc.) • Don’t want to “reduce” African American students’ culture into soul, rap, hip hop, etc. music.

33. Who is Singing this Song? And Getting to Know my English 10 Class of White Boys

34. “Base” of a published poem by a Japanese-American woman poet Learning of poetry terms that would be used throughout the year Reading students’ poems from the previous year Reading a poem I’d written Writing workshop: brainstorm, rough draft, peer editing, final draft, Read-Around, and assessment with a rubric Like the “Where I’m From” poems, this unit included:

35. This unit allowed me to: • Learn about my white students’ culture. • Learn strategies to “build bridges” into other work during the school year • Begin building community in my classroom • Begin to “break through” the racial gender role of white boys not writing poems, not showing emotion, not working well in groups, etc.

40. Other Examples from English 10 Choosing Texts and Creating Curriculum Using Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy When the Students are White

47. Do I have to know the cultures of all my students? That’s a lot to know! What if all my students are white? What if I don’t know anything about my students’ cultures? What if the book I’m teaching doesn’t have any characters of color? What if my students don’t want to talk about race? Can I use culturally-relevant pedagogy with white students? Revisiting questions from the beginning of the presentation:

48. I see it as part of my activism as a teacher and as a community member. It is my way to thank and commemorate the people who have made an impact on my life. It connects me to other professionals, providing community in a job that is often isolating. It fulfills me to always be actively writing. It provides me with a space for reflection. It allows me to hold my “practice” and my “theory” side by side, to see where things match, and to evaluate “what went wrong” when something doesn’t. I write because…

49. A few last thoughts… • Culturally-relevant pedagogy influences not only my lesson plans and curricular choices, but my every interaction with a student. • Culturally-relevant pedagogy calls on me to think about my place as a white, female teacher working with students of color and in lower-income communities of color. • Culturally-relevant pedagogy creates a “lens” with which I view my curriculum and teaching.

50. Questions? Comments? Thank you for attending, and special thanks to Emily Meixner for inviting me. tjwagner12@comcast.net