EDU 6525 – Final Assignment – Multicultural Responsive Unit
According to Banks (1996), the debate has been stirring between different multicultural representative groups for a long while. Western culture scholars are worried the traditional canon of literature and curriculum are threatened by feminists and minority groups. These scholars are worried about the increasing cultural diversity, expanding family structures, changing values and morality, and revolutionizing technology, teachers must work even harder to maintain an inclusive learning environment (Parkay, Hass, & Anctil, 2010). Before taking EDU 6525: Culturally Responsive Teaching, I had the best intentions of creating such an environment for my students. What I discovered throughout my coursework, however, is that perhaps I have not done everything I possibly could be doing. It is one thing to be accepting of the changes our society is undergoing; it is something entirely different to foster understanding and acceptance in my students around these changes. As mixing of cultural identity increases, it is important to preserve the unique characteristics of each ethnicity while working together to create an American culture. Students and teachers are products of our culture and attempting to abandon these components negate the significant role this socialization plays in our understanding and involvement in the world: “. . . Education is strongly influenced by societal factors such as race, class, and the sociocultural context in which it occurs” (Hillis, pg. 115). These factors affect communication, relationships, and one’s ability to problem-solve. Therefore, it is imperative that we spend time examining the role they play. Rather than asking students to change for education, we should focus on changing education to meet their needs and be based on their personal experiences (Hillis, pg. 121). This means that educators must be multiculturally literate; take the time to understand the cultures of our students and give the students opportunities to walk in the shoes of those in history that may be a part of their cultural past.
Educators must engage all learners, which is our goal every single day. Although I understood previously that engaging my students is my aim, this class made it clear that there is a whole other element I need to engage my student on, multicultural education. The practical way to engage all learners is by engaging in culturally responsive teaching. The attached artifacts demonstrate my understanding of culturally responsive teaching with practical application in the classroom. Through my coursework, I decided to restructure my unit on Pre-Civil War unit to include the characteristics listed below:
Culturally responsive teaching is transformative: “When teaching is transformed, the content of the curriculum, pedagogy, and the ways in which students learn are substantially modified” (Banks, p. 80) As you can see in the artifacts below, I’ve included primary documents in my Pre-Civil War unit that requires students to transfer their knowledge to new and unknown situations and people from that time. Learning experiences like the simulation and journal entries push students to look at these unknown situations from multiple perspectives.
Culturally responsive teaching is inclusive: Teaching to the whole child, establishing a positive classroom climate, using student-centered instruction, implementing an open-classroom organization the principles of self-actualization in education. Culturally responsive teaching includes the social and emotional, as well as the academic. Having students develop a relationship with the characters examined in the unit allows them to write their journal entries and acknowledges their social needs and its impact on their understanding of this time.
Culturally responsive teaching is authorizing: Learning must be connected to students’ prior knowledge, including their identified with culture. Teachers must take the time to explore what students already know and understand about the topic/issue/concept, as represented by the inclusion of multiple perspectives stating “I Was There” and if you were there, this is probably what you would have been doing. Student choice, as represented when the student gets to, later on, take on one of the characters and write from their perspective, paired with high self-efficacy, fosters motivation and brings on freedom.
- Artifact 1: Unit 4: Module 2 – I was there part 1 – unit-4-module-2-4-26-16
- Artifact 2: Unit 4: Module 3 – I was there part 2 – Unit 4 – Module 3 – 4-26-16
- Artifact 3: Unit 4: Module 4 – I was there part 3 – unit-4-module-4-4-26-16
References:
Banks, J. A.(1996). The canon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge & action: Historical and contemporary perspectives (pp. 3-22). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Hillis, M.R. (1996). Allison Davis and the study of race, social class, and schooling. In J.A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education: transformative knowledge & action (pp. 115-126). New York, New York: Teachers College Press.
Pressley, M. & McCormick, C. (2007). Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. New York, New York: The Guilford Press.
