Teachers meet the goal of professional standard 8.2. Growing and
Developing Professionally by voluntarily seeking out feedback from peers and
supervisors in settings of professional collaboration. Given feedback is
respected and consequently applied to improve student learning success if such
advice is offered in the ideal atmosphere of respect and inclusiveness—where
teachers acknowledge their differences is only in their backgrounds and their
sameness, in the heart they have for affecting positive change in society
through successfully educating their students. Ultimately, professional growth
and development of teachers should lead to assumption of leadership in
directing collaboration among fellow teachers [8].
A classroom in which the teacher embraces culturally responsive
teaching follows the same pattern of growth and exhibits the same level of
respect and professionalism in communicating to students’ parents that
their children are (1) in the hands of capable and caring teachers and (2)
deriving the most from their schooling and in teaching students so
that their learning has maximum authentic value and can be applied to the real
world [7]. Through interaction with the guardians of students, teachers can
acquire a better understanding of their students’ sociocultural backgrounds and
improve planning of differentiated curriculum that maintains respect for all
learners while fostering their educational success that leads to improved
socioeconomic mobility [3].
Consequently, I would expect students to self-reflect, speak on their
own behalf and accept full accountability for their academic performance: a
strong student voice cultivates the want and capacity of students to change
society rather than just survive it so, for this reason, should have precedence
over parental involvement [1]. As an immigrant student with parents although
educated had limited proficiency in spoken English, I had internalized that
self-evaluation, improvement, and accountability for my academic performance
was wholly my own since parental involvement and their communication with my teachers
was little to none. With the current surge in “helicopter parents,” this view
may thus be a “dynamic of differences” between me as a teacher and the more
fervently involved parents of my students (Almendrala, 2015).
However, it is this (1) practiced independence as a student as
well as (2) firsthand experience with both multicultural sensitivity and
discrimination as a bilingual student from an immigrant family coming to
America during the Third Wave of Vietnamese Refugees that provide me an advantage
of insight in creating differentiated curriculum which promotes all voices
and cultures in learning [3]. Due to my heightened sense of empathy for the
extra burden immigrant children face in having to align with two different cultures—feeling
like an outsider to the one they are trying to join—I would vary instructional
technique that enhances multicultural sensitivity among students. Within the
curriculum, I could integrate inclusive teaching strategies like cooperative learning
activities such as small-group discussions or inviting students to share
relevance of learning material to their everyday lives, which might offer students
glimpses into the sociocultural backgrounds of peers of “nondominant cultures”
(Kozleski, p. 2).
Utilizing a range of assessments which elicits both written and
oral discourse is another teaching technique that is culturally responsive.
When I arrived in the United States at nearly five years of age with no prior
exposure to the English language, I managed to learn to read and write English
very fast. But, like many children from nondominant cultures—both born &
raised and immigrated to the United States—my native tongue remained the
language of communication at home. Therefore, I lacked the practice in spoken
standard English that White, American kids most reliably receive through
talking with their parents. Due to this deficiency, I was less enthused about
volunteering answers orally. My experience highlights the fact that some students
may not reveal their understanding through speech as well as writing or vice
versa, therefore by giving equal importance to written and oral discourse, I
give all students—especially those of situations similar to my own—a better
chance at applying their learning and revealing its progress.
Finally, using inclusive examples for
explanations but avoiding exclusionary language—either implied or overt—creates
and allows for a classroom atmosphere of tolerance and inclusiveness, which in
synergy facilitate student cooperation and expected learning outcomes.
References
Almendrala, A. (2015, Sept 30). 5 Signs You Were
Raised by Helicopter Parents. The
Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-ways-to-tell-you-were-raised-by-helicopter-parents_us_5609de6ee4b0dd850308e260.
Kozleski, E.B. (2010, Jan).
Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters! Equity Alliance at ASU. Retrieved from http://www.equityallianceatasu.org/sites/default/files/Website_files/CulturallyResponsive
Teaching-Matters.pdf.
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