Culturally Responsive Teaching Reflection

 


Although language, literacy, and power all have different meanings they are all part of the same concept. "None of us is born knowing how to talk appropriately in church, in court, in school, in a group of friends, and so on. Similarly, none of us is born knowing how to write a personal letter, a story, a science report, an excuse note, and so on (Purcell-Gates, 2002)." For educators to teach in the Appalachian region, they must understand that the language spoke in this region is different from other languages across the United States. The people within the U.S. who hold powerful positions believe that people who speak with the Appalachian dialect are unintelligent and ignorant. However, the students within the Appalachian region have a vast amount of knowledge but they must fight the cultural deficit placed upon them. Many people within society place cultural deficit perspectives on students and this makes a teacher’s job even more difficult. Teachers and schools help contribute to poor literacy instruction by viewing students with cultural deficit perspective rather than with a cultural difference perspectives on the students.
One way for teachers to overcome the cultural deficits perspectives placed on their students is to allow each student to create a digital story to portray where they come from. By allowing students to create this digital story they are able to demonstrate many skills dealing with literacy and language that may not be portrayed with a pencil and a piece of paper.

Teachers and schools help contribute to poor literacy instruction by placing cultural deficit and difference perspectives on the students. For example, after reading about the Moll research, I had never put into perspective how it may feel to totally not understand one or more important concepts of life. However, the Moll research stated that it is unfair to tell someone of a different nationality that they are incompetent and unable to learn to drive when in reality they just need to be taught differently than the people within the United States. I thought that this was a wonderful example of how teachers contribute to poor literacy. The cultural deficit perspective is a wonderful way to describe the issue about driving. However, cultural deficit perspective is also portrayed against students from different cultures within the U.S. Some teachers and school districts do not want to take the time to teach struggling student’s different strategies to become proficient in literacy. An example of a strategy that can improve literacy instruction for speakers of non-standard English to allow the student to create their own digital story about their heritage and where they come from. By allowing students to create their own digital story, a teacher is drawing on students’ cultural capital and allowing them to exhibit their strengths without feeling pressure from others.

Teachers can eliminate cultural deficit perspectives of their students by creating teaching lessons around their students "funds of knowledge" (Moll, 1992). For instance, the article written by Moll about Funds of Knowledge is about examing what is going on within the society and how the community can help the teacher prepare and implement lessons dealing with the things occuring. By teaching things that the students understand and believe is usefull in their lives, the students can better relate and understand the concepts. By using the student's funds of knowledge, they will be able to participate better within the classroom and on their daily assignments.

The where I am from project supported culturally responsive teaching and inclusive practices by allowing each student to tell their own story and use their own background information within the story. The digital story designed instruction that was appropriate to each student’s stages of development, learning styles, strengths, and needs. It also created a learning community that respected each student’s individual differences. It is sometimes difficult for students who come from different backgrounds to feel comfortable telling people about their heritage and family. This project made the concept of a family history paper and made it a project for the 21^stcentury. I look forward to being able to allow each student in my class to create a “Where I Am From” project. I believe that this project is a great way to get to know each of your students and to begin a new school year. Implementing culturally responsive teaching practices is essential to having a functioning classroom. As teachers, we should be advocates to students and should be there whenever our students need our help. We need to be able to understand their heritage and background information to be able to help them gain their full potential within the classroom.


References

Moll, L. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. (1992). Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-41.

Purcell-Gates, V. (2002). “...As soon as she opened her mouth!” In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.), The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language, culture and power.