Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing culture and its place in schools. Culture is something that we all participate in, but sometimes forget to give thought to. So what exactly is culture? As educators, culture needs to be at the forefront of our minds when planning instruction and interaction with our students. Culture impacts the language that students (and ourselves) use, the classroom expectations that we set, and beliefs that ourselves and our students hold about topics, and the background knowledge that students bring with them to school. Imagine a class full of students who live in a small, rural town. They may have experience with farm animals, outdoor activities, and houses on larger plots of land. Now imagine a class of students who live in a city. They may live in apartments, take public transportation, and are used to have to go to parks to be able to play outside. This is just one simple example, but where kids grow up and who they are surrounded by can influence their background knowledge, behaviors and beliefs.
Now comes the challenge: How to educators meet the needs of ALL children, especially in culturally diverse classrooms? It is not easy, but it is necessary. Culturally relevant classrooms celebrate the differences between children and their families, raising them up FOR those differences, rather than despite them. Teachers, administrators, and curriculum directors also must take a hard look at what is being taught to ensure that information is not only filtering through one lens - often the white/European lens. Being culturally responsive in the classroom may seem impossible, but it isn't. To be honest, you do not necessarily have to plan for every possibility that you may encounter. You do, however, need to have enough flexibility to pivot your teaching based on the input your students are giving. You also have to be willing to learn more and to learn from your students. Teachers are no longer the ultimate authority over knowledge in classrooms. Instead, they need to be partners in learning who are able to guide their students towards new knowledge, while also acquiring new knowledge themselves.
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AuthorI am a graduate student at Michigan State University and a first-year Kindergarten teacher. Archives
April 2021
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