Discussion Posts: Culture and Inclusion

Culture and Inclusion (1/27/16 – 2/21/16) EDUC-31217 – Alderson

Examination of culture and cultural diversity and the relationship to academic achievement, development, implementation and evaluation of culturally inclusive instruction. Topics include cultural concepts and perspectives; cultural contact; cultural diversity in California and the United States; cross-cultural interaction; the roles of culture in the classroom and the school; culturally inclusive learning environments; family and community involvement; and culturally inclusive curriculum and instruction.

Introduction: Hello Everyone, nice to “meet” you.  I am Gina Reidy, a K-1 teacher in California’s first charter school – San Carlos Charter Learning Center.  This is my 7th year as an educator, and also my 7th year in a continuing saga to earn my multi-subject credential (BTSA, yup! CSETS, did ’em). Teaching is my third career, after “Marketing Manager” and “Mother” (well, that career is ongoing…).  So you can imagine how oooold I am, older than all of you, but very young at heart! The joke around here is if I will retire before I am fully credentialed. But I don’t think so, as I love being with, teaching and learning from the kids. I am also excited and eager to learn from you younger, more recently educated teachers. Hopefully, I can share wisdom and perspective from my life experiences. I grew up in N.Y. in a large Italian family in a very multi-cultural area. I originally planned to be a high school English teacher (thus I have a single-subject credential), but as fate would have it, worked in Marketing in San Francisco in the 80’s earning a salary greater than my current one. Groan, sigh, smile. I spent it all, it’s gone, so what. This work is much more meaningful and fulfilling.  I am somewhat nervous about balancing the load, keeping up at work, and looking foolish in front of you all, but I am keeping an open mind to learning and growing in the areas of culture and inclusion

Week One Discussion Questions:

DQ#1  Discuss the impact of ethnocentrism within the United States as it relates to minority groups developing their personal identity within their new environment and becoming acculturated.

In her book, Other People’s Children, Delpit says, “One of the most difficult tasks we face as human beings is communicating meaning across our individual differences, a task confounded immeasurably when we attempt to communicate across social lines, racial lines, cultural lines, or lines of unequal power” (66). I think Ms. Delpit sums up the challenge we have at hand as people in general and as educators specifically when faced with the reality of supporting, teaching and mentoring students from a vast array of cultures, such as we are in California. Ethnocentrism of the dominant culture in the U.S. has historically blurred these lines of communication, sometimes unintentionally, to the detriment of immigrants and minority groups, especially school-aged children new to this country.

In his book, García says, “Historically, Americanization has been the prime institutional education objective for immigrant and culturally diverse children” (100). The pressure to assimilate to the dominant culture can be confusing and alienating to children and families from other cultures. Garcia points out that children can be caught between the two worlds of home and school, trying to honor their parent’s culture at home while feeling they need to reject it at school to blend in. Most educators in the U.S. have historically supported the notion of “assimilation” (i.e. the “melting pot”) vs. “acculturation” when it comes to educating immigrant and minority populations, fueling their alienation. The development of personal identities of minority groups would be better served with an “additive acculturation”, which is “the acquisition of knowledge and skills of a new culture without the rejection of the old” (79), as described by García.

Sources:

Delpit, L. D. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.

García, E. E., & García, E. E. (1999). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

DQ#2 What are your thoughts when you hear culture and inclusion?   How would you describe this idea of concept to someone from a different country and educational system?

As luck would have it, a young teacher, newly arrived from India, has recently joined our staff as a volunteer while she works through credentialing requirements here in the U.S. On Mondays, she helps in my K-1 classroom, and this has given me myriad opportunities to discuss culture and inclusion, especially in the school setting. One thing she has wondered the most about is how/why the children can interact so “informally” (as she sees it) with the educators. We are on first-name basis with our students, and discourse is often lively, albeit respectful, two-way communication. Interestingly, “inclusion” is a word that is central to our “classroom culture”, and we continually discuss, encourage and celebrate our similarities and differences. In the tender years of K-1, this can be as simple as stepping out of one’s own self-centered comfort zone (which is developmentally appropriate for 5-7 year-olds), and considering others’ feelings, inviting them to play, or working peacefully alongside them in class. The notion of “inclusion” grows as our students progress to include an understanding and openness towards differences in gender, family, race, sexual orientation, and heritage/culture. Our new volunteer is amazed and somewhat uncomfortable with this aspect of our school culture, being used to a more orderly and formal school setting where most of these ideas stay private.

I thought we were doing a very good job at our school, but as I read from our books and articles for this class, however, I am questioning if we are those always well-intentioned but sometimes misguided educators who think they are on the right path, but are still mired in our own upbringing and beliefs so much so that we are missing some major points. As Lisa Delpit puts it, “Within our celebration of diversity, we must keep in mind that education, at its best, hones and develops the knowledge and skills each student already possesses, while at the same time adding new knowledge and skills to that base” (67). I question if we are fully respecting the children and families in front of us for who they are and what they are already bringing with them. I will listen more closely and carefully to our new volunteer to better be able to understand and respect her views, too.

Sources:

Delpit, L. D. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press

Week Two Discussion Questions

DQ#1 What is culture? How would you define the idea of culture? Please refer to the handout that I posted and the readings for this week. When you have responded to the DQ, reflect on ways that people from different culture groups have been treated and perceived because of different cultural worldviews. How does this impact your students?

Culture is a collection of all the beliefs and behaviors of a group. In my opinion, culture is like concentric circles surrounding a person. The innermost circle is family. A child’s earliest encounters with language, food, music, customs, religion, interactions with family members are the center-most circle of their culture. Next is the environment in which the family lives and how that society acts. As a child grows older, the influence of this next circle becomes greater. Yet another step out is their school, and depending on where it is, it either further supports their family culture, ignores it or comes into conflict with it. García explains that most every anthropologist considers “culture to be something that is learned and transmitted from generation to generation” (p. 74). Delpit argues that a “culture of power” exists in U.S. schools, making it difficult for those outside of this culture to thrive (p. 24). In her article, Vision, Privilege, and the Limits of Tolerance, Cris Cullinan theorizes that only by recognizing the privileges of the “dominant culture” (white-middle class), can those who are part of it begin to understand those who are not.

In her essay, The Silenced Dialogue, Lisa Delpit explains how cultural differences in language can cause misunderstanding. For example, studies show that black teachers and parents use a more direct, authoritarian oral style, and white middle class parents and teachers use less direct requests, often couched as a question. The indirect requests of white teachers often confuse black children who don’t respond appropriately and then are perceived to be misbehaving. Another example is that of the Athabaskan Indian, whose approach to story comprehension is one of individual interpretation. If tested by a school their modified retellings of stories could be interpreted as lacking in comprehension.

At school, these conflicts in the way people say and do things usually turn out poorly for the student, since they are not the one in power. The student may not even understand what he/she is doing wrong, and the teacher may misinterpret their behavior as non-compliant or even belligerent. The impact on students is that they understand less, are in trouble often, and sometimes become discouraged and quit.

Sources:

Cullinan, C. (1999). Vision, privilege, and the limits of tolerance. http://www.eastern.edu/publications/emme

Delpit, L. D. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.

García, E. E., & García, E. E. (1999). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

DQ#2 How do schools mirror the dominant culture? Regardless of the “dominant culture of the school population”, what are the things expected of students and parents that mirror the dominant culture and may create conflicts for students who have different culture world views? Reflect on the article by Delpit and Gray. Remember the first article by Bowman (Week 1) and her discussion related to assessment of children based on standards that reflect the “dominant” culture. Regardless of ethnic and racial makeup of your school, what aspects of the school and school culture support the dominant culture? Examples regarding this idea around: English only, assessing ELL and Special Ed students with one assessment, schools with greater wealth often attract more teachers and have greater success by the standards of the dominant culture.

The history of our public education system began humbly in 1647 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which decreed that every town with at least 50 families should have an elementary school. The main purpose of the schools was to ensure that Puritan children learned to read the bible and understand their religion. Many iterations of our public education system followed, but few even considered non-whites to be eligible for public education until relatively recently. Public education for children of Chinese immigrants was only mandated in California in 1904. Native American Indians were not even considered U.S. citizens until 1924! Segregated schools have only been illegal since 1954.

Given the dominant white routes of our public education system’s history, it makes sense that minority groups are still having difficulty with acculturation, as defined by García, in the public school setting. García says, “If we see teaching and learning as embedded within cultural context, we are more likely to recognize that performance will vary as a function of that context” (p. 86). García points to research by Phillips who identified the concept of “participant-structured demand”, which basically refers to the demands of the dominant culture of the school on its students. For some, these demands “violate the norm of the home” (p. 86), but if not heeded then the norms of the school are violated. García offers an example of this issue with Native American students. Although typical talkers in their community and home settings, they grew silent in the classroom. Phillips “found that classroom lessons imposed varying demands on the children” (p. 86). At school these children were being asked to stand up alone and answer questions competitively. At home the children were expected to act cooperatively, and to not act independently. The school’s demands were in direct conflict with the demands of home.

In her article, Cultural Diversity and Academic Achievement, Barbara T. Bowman points out the “danger of using white-middle class children as the gauge for judging other children”. She claims the tests fail to “separate culture from development”, so they inaccurately portray a child’s abilities, which often leads to a false developmental delay. Once placed in the wrong learning environment, the children don’t thrive.

Although I think my school embraces all people and tries very hard to offer inclusive curriculum, by the nature of our location and parent body, we mirror the dominant culture. Since our school is a “school of choice”, our parent body makes a conscious decision for their children to attend. They are most often highly educated and involved parents who are members of the “dominant culture”. One thing that really bothers me is the “round-up” (my term) of all the ELL students during the first couple of weeks of school for language testing. Now that I think about it, they are all given the same test regardless of their culture. If I am to understand Bowman, I think that test couldn’t possibly glean what is needed from each student due to his or her different cultures.

Sources:

García, E. E., & García, E. E. (1999). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Historical Timeline of Public Education in the US. (2006). Retrieved February 04, 2016, from https://www.raceforward.org/research/reports/historical-timeline-public-education-us

Week three discussion questions:

DQ#1 Visit this web site.  Explore the resources.  Take the quiz.   Let me know what you think?  How can you use this information in your classroom?   Can you see connections between this information, Garcia and Delpit? 

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/quiz.html

My sons are always impressed that I can read the same sports page in the newspaper as they do and come away with an entirely different view of what is going on. I always focus on the human-interest side of the players and gloss over the statistics. Them: “Mom, did you see how many points (fill-in-the-blank) scored in the game?” Me: “No, but did you see that he bought the grandma who raised him a house?”

I think that the focus on personal stories on The New Americans website is what makes it so valuable and readable. It focuses on the stories of people coming to the U.S. from all over the world. I think these stories are much harder to ignore and more compelling than group statistics. The stories put a face with a culture, which teaches us about it and draws us in. I couldn’t stop reading! Yes, I took the quiz and only got 3/9. Abysmal. I need to be more in touch with the facts about immigration, however I think a website such as this one will teach me more and entice me to understand better than dry facts, like the U.S. Census website. Like many, the number of different languages spoken in the U.S stunned me. Delpit’s points on understanding, respecting and working with language differences really come into focus when faced with that fact. I don’t think I have ever thought about how many languages there actually are in the world, and I wonder how many 460 represents. These stories paint the picture of what García describes as acculturation. It’s the bits, pieces, steps and challenges towards becoming an American in their own way, not “Americanization”, as in cleansing people of their original culture.

The actual website is too advanced, of course, for my grade level (K-1), however the theme of learning about cultures from stories about real people is an excellent idea. I did explore the “For Educators” tab, and there are some excellent lesson plans for raising cultural awareness for older students.

DQ#2 After reading the following articles, and reflecting on your discussion regarding culture, discuss how educators can mitigate the “conflict” when we measure academic achievement, using a yardstick and benchmarks that do not present a “clear” picture of a student’s academic achievement?  What can educators do to ensure that student assessments reflect their learning? What can educators do to ensure the learning needs of their students are addressed?

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0bow.htm                   

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0att.htm

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/15_04/Glb154.shtml 

If we are to understand, value and include the various cultures of our students in our classroom, then our assessments of these students must also reflect their diversity. Using the status quo “yardstick” will yield inaccurate data. In her article, Cultural Diversity and Academic Achievement, Barbara Bowman says the following: “Assessments of individual children should focus on each child’s unique response to his or her experience rather than assume a stereotype based on the child’s social and economic background. In order for assessments of young children’s functioning to be reliable and valid, they must use multiple methods and sources and be obtained over time, in a variety of settings, within the context of children’s daily lives.”

García demonstrates how teachers’ ideas on how to assess evolve after participating in the AVANCE project, targeting alternative instructional strategies aimed at minorities. He said a “major change occurred in the teachers’ attitude toward performance-based – sometimes called authentic – assessment of students’ academic achievement” (p. 389). The teachers reported how they evaluate using “a wide variety of activities” (p. 389). They used portfolios, lab binders or lab notebooks, exams, unit tests, lab work and the students’ self-evaluations. They also accounted for participation in class.

I think when we are assessing children from other cultures we need to think outside the box to find ways to truly let them demonstrate learning. There isn’t one good way to do this, so using multiple methods, such as projects, portfolios, and lab work, will give a better picture. These types of evidence will inform teachers’ instruction to better meet the needs of their students.

Week four discussion questions:

DQ#1 You have students in your classroom that have 504 plans, IEP’s are at different levels of their ELD and are EO students.  What strategies do you use to ensure that ALL of your students learning needs are met?   How do you address for example that some of your students are not fluent readers, and though they may be able to decode, they cannot comprehend?   What do you do to differentiate your lessons?

ERIC Digest: Teaching with a multicultural perspective available in class and on the ERIC website: http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/perspective.htm  

DuPraw and Axner: Working on Common Crosscultural Communication Challenges (Article from previous week’s reading)

 School and parent interaction by household language and poverty status: 2002-03. Issue Brief. NCES 2006-086, available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006086.pdf

My classroom consists of 22 learners aged 5 to 7 in two different grade levels, kindergarten and first grade, some with IEPs and 504s. There is a big range of learning needs that must be addressed and accommodated. I am given the help of an aide two mornings a week for 1.5 hours, and an inclusion specialist two afternoons a week for 50 minutes. I can also include the help of parent volunteers in my planning for differentiated lessons three mornings a week. Since multi-age learning environments are a feature of our school, it is already expected that lessons be differentiated. I build the lessons so that there are various “entry points” that scaffold the lesson to work for all children. For example, a writing lesson may include the same teaching points, such as having a beginning, middle and end in a story, but the expectations are adjusted for kindergartners, first graders, and learners with special needs. Kinders may be “writing” with pictures only, first graders with words. Depending on the learning challenge, a child may use pictures with labels. But I am still looking for the idea that all their stories have beginnings, middles and endings. Some content, such as handwriting and phonics, are taught in grade level configurations in order to target the needs of that group. I plan for those lessons while parents are volunteering in the room teaching cooking, art or gardening to a portion of the class. Reading is taught in “guided reading groups” based on reading level, while the other students are working independently (ha ha) in other stations. My reading groups are very dynamic, as children this age progress unevenly and rapidly. They can be rearranged as often as weekly if need be, and sometimes include “double dipping” – having a child read in both his/her old group and a new, higher one. Among other math curriculums, we use Marcy Cook’s, which is self-leveling. The children work in small, mixed-age groups with parents on independent tasks and progress at their own pace with adult support and guidance. Since the kinders leave at noon, afterwards I am able to focus more fully on first grade math, reading and writing. Learners with IEPs/504s often need one-to-one support which I give while others are working independently. Slow-progressing readers (below grade-level) may be assigned to our reading specialist for “Slingerland” and small group intervention. Fast-progressing readers are offered opportunities such as creating story maps, book reviews or working in small book groups with a parent volunteer.

I read with interest about the various fundamental patterns of cultural differences in the DuPraw and Axner article, Working on Common Cross-cultural Communication Challenges. It further raises my awareness that people approach life and learning from different perspectives. To know and understand those perspectives, gives greater insight into how people learn and can inform teaching practices. For example, one boy in my class who is from India, does not initiate his work until he has been personally invited/instructed to do so. His mother explained to me that it would be rude of him to do so. We have worked out a compromise to bridge his cultural belief with our classroom culture. When I give whole-class instructions, I take a moment to look him in the eye personally and nod my head so he knows its o.k. to begin.

Sources:

(n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html

DQ#2 After reading James Banks, is your classroom culturally responsive to the students in your classroom? Does your curriculum reflect a multicultural perspective, regardless of the demographics of the students that you serve? Discuss the methodology needed to develop and implement an effective multicultural curriculum. Be sure you reference the text and articles.

I think that the culturally responsive nature of my classroom is good, but could be improved. The “open” and “inclusive” framework is in place due to the “responsive classroom” methods I am already using based on The First Six Week of School, and other responsive classroom practices I have incorporated. We discuss hopes and dreams, create classroom agreements together, and have a “morning meeting” every day where each child is able to speak. We talk about being inclusive and “problem-solve” in our “peace corner”. There is a lot of communication going on, however, after reading Banks’ article, Educating for Diversity, Transforming the Mainstream Curriculum, I see that when it comes to being multi-cultural, my curriculum is more “additive” in nature instead of pervasive. He describes the alternative approach as “the transformation approach”, which “changes the structure, assumptions, and perspectives of the curriculum so that subject matter is viewed from the perspectives and experiences of a range of groups” (Banks, 1994). I’ve tried to highlight the accomplishments of multi-cultural Americans such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez. But after reading Banks, I want to shift my thinking to making these figures more incorporated in the curriculum so their accomplishments and viewpoints are considered equally with all others. Banks calls this “content integration” (Banks, 1994). To move towards true “unum” I must consider this and all the dimensions of multicultural education that he describes. Upon reflection, there is one area I think where I have unintentionally mastered a non-biased curriculum, and that is in the music I play. Without regard to race or culture, I introduce many songs from various American artists from several musical genres and time frames. I often talk about the life of the musician and we discuss aspects of the song such as its lyrics, rhythms, beats, feeling, etc. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I just finished a series of love songs, which the kids listened to and discussed. They’re top picks: “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”, sung by Elvis Presley and “All of Me”, sung by John Legend. It never occurred to me that I was highlighting artists from many cultural backgrounds, and it was easy and natural learning for the kids. If I can bring this thinking into my curriculum, I think I would move toward reaching the goal of a multi-cultural learning environment.

Sources:

Banks, J. A. (1994). Educating for Diversity, Transforming the Mainstream Curriculum, Educational Leadership