Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Culturally relevant pedagogy is one of those terms in education that can carry with it a long and sometimes confusing definition. But breaking it down, to me, it simply means utilizing a student’s culture to enhance the learning experience in the classroom. The difference lies in what exactly we teach them and how we have them think to make connections to content. It is easy for example, to use content that is common to help explain topics. But what would be even better would be to use an example your own students have experienced in their lives or know about, in which they can relate and feel more of a personal connection. This affects teaching and communication with students in many ways. For starters, the lesson planning process becomes more challenging as you not just hit on the examples given in a curriculum but rather seek out further content that can connect to each of your students. You have to find a way to make more broad topics hit home on a smaller and personal level, which requires more time in doing so. In terms of your students, it is the idea of getting to truly know them and where they come from. Things such as interests, background, outside school life, types of intelligences, and for lack of a better term, “what makes them tick”. By using this process students become more aware of themselves and their own potential. They are not just recalling information and being told where they stand academically. Students develop the right to think highly of themselves and strive to achieve more by understanding the opportunity at hand. With these types of patterns engraved in them from early on, they can move on to the next chapter of their life making a significant and positive impact in their world.

One of the many benefits that comes with teaching in a community such as the one in Baltimore County in which I found myself, is the cultural diversity that makes up the school. I have students from multiple different backgrounds including African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian-American, and White/Caucasian. Some students are first generation in their family to attend high school here while others are second or third. Each and every student brings with them a very unique background and outside-school life. Further adding to the demographic is the fact that a majority of students in the school are of low-socioeconomic background. These facts are things that make culturally relevant pedagogy very important within my own classroom. Multiple examples have already arisen in my classroom in which culturally relevant teaching practices have taken place. Within a unit discussing genetic diseases students were prompted to research a disease within their own families. Because of the different demographics of students, a variety of different conditions that are more prevalent within different cultures were showcased, ultimately expanding classmates’ perspectives. As you can see, a two-fold benefit occurs here, as students expand their views and also have a pathway to learn more about themselves and their families. For some students this also serves as motivation, as one of my students of Asian decent shared how she aspires to be a doctor and hopes to work on such issues. This type of practice helps to create thinkers and innovators of students in which they strive to exceed any boundary they may have once thought existed for them. Moving forward, I plan to utilize relevant local examples to apply concepts and content. I want to use discussion prompts that challenge students to think more about where they stand and challenge any social or political boundaries they believe exist. In doing so, I will put in the necessary amount of time and preparation to teach students about themselves and others, so they have a firm root in their understanding of their own education.

Affective Assessment

One of the most relevant and intriguing topics we have covered in our MAT course work has been that of Carol Dweck in her work describing the growth mindset. It was easy to see from the get go, why we started with this work and began to plan our instruction with this important concept in mind. Within our own classrooms, concepts such as this along with the habits that come along with it are of utmost importance and even hold a higher standard then that of content-related knowledge. The whole idea incorporating a growth mindset is having students value the learning process and showcase the ability to work at taking risks, rather than worry about “who’s the smartest” or “who got the highest score”. I realize now being in a classroom, that this type of thinking and behavior is necessary to establish with students before hitting home on some science related material, because without it no student will succeed.

Within my classroom there are a number of ways I can work to establish this growth mindset idea and get kids out of their comfort zone. The number one thing I want my students to do is take risks. When students take risks, it means they are working slightly outside their comfort zone, hence where true growth occurs. When students take these risks, I value their “failures” that may arise. These “failures” spark opportunity to learn from mistakes and to dive deeper in to content to seek answers. In this process students can work with peers to increase collaboration. If at first their way of thinking and completing work did not let them succeed, they can attempt the problem from a different perspective and seek a new strategy. In these instances, students gain a sense of a number of 21^st century skills. To help students feel more comfortable in this process, I make examples out of my own mistakes. I applaud students when they question information I have provided them and make note that I may not be correct with this.

This type of instruction and feedback allows students to gain a sense of comfortability after a few instances. When students feel more comfortable they begin to simultaneously respect the learning process in your class more while also opening up to you. When a greater relationship is produced, I can require students to complete higher levels of thinking and content and know that they will respect it enough to give it a go. A specific example arose recently on a day when I was absent from a class.  There had been a mix-up in the substitute scheduling and students were in class, alone with no supervision, for the first half. Students without a growth mindset could easily do as whatever they please. However, knowing the respect students have between them and myself, they took it upon themselves to pass out the work in the sub-folder and collaboratively work on the assignment. This exemplifies the growth mindset in that these students stepped outside their comfort zone and took a risk without any instruction in working with peers to seek out a solution to this unfortunate event.

Affective assessment comes along with making sure students are valuing the process and feel in that comfortable zone in which we want them. Most of the time I use this domain in lesson closures to gain a familiarity with how students felt each day. A simple thumbs-up survey when asked how students feel working with the material and concepts is the simplest fashion to do so. In many exit quizzes and tickets I add confidence indicators to each individual question so I can narrow in on what aspects students feel comfortable with. Not only can I do this relating to material, but overall their moods on the day. If I can survey their before and after moods, I can gain a sense which type of instruction and content helps to increase student mood.

Cultural, Socio-economic, and Linguistic Diversity

Teaching in Baltimore County provides a unique opportunity to work with a great diversity of students regardless of school. In my current position, a majority of my students come from a low-socioeconomic area. Chesapeake High School is located in an area that is a little more rural then other schools in the county, and the student body reflects that in some fashion. In terms of ethnicity, it is a pretty even mix of several different examples. The school features an even amount of African-American students and White/Caucasian students. A small percentage of Latino/Hispanic population is also present in the school. Due to only a small percentage of truly “foreign” students, I currently do not have any English language learners.

The main influence that my students background has on my teaching and instruction is the ability to relate material to them. One of the main theories I keep in mind when tailoring instruction is constructivism which allows students to call on prior experiences and knowledge. If I begin a lesson by discussing an example of an event or concept that may have happened outside of Baltimore County, there is a very good chance the students have little to no idea what I am talking about or simply do not care. Many of them have not traveled due to a low socio-economic background or lack of opportunity to do so.

Certain UDL strategies can also be implemented in my classroom to help even the gap between lacking factors. A lot of student choice comes in to play in terms of articles to read, grouping choices, and presentation methods. Due to some background experiences, some students are hesitant to work with others while others crave that type of work. By allowing them to choose, it allows for students to feel comfortable to maximize their learning environment. The other form of UDL framework that comes in to play is creating clear, concise goals and accessible feedback. A lot of the students here have a tendency to show a dislike for interaction with teachers/elders. They also feature a sense of communication issue with teachers for several different reasons. By appropriately assessing students and offering feedback we can break this barrier/trend here that students bring with them for whatever the reason may be.  

With all this diversity present, it is important to use it to my advantage as much as possible. Often class discussions or “debates” offer students the opportunity to hear and experience multiple perspectives and points of view. When students become fully engaged in these discussions, they expand their way of thinking and collaborating with others who differ from them. Content aside, this offers a unique and valuable skill that will be important for them regardless if they go directly in to the job force or on to a higher education institution.