Chapter 4: Preparing to Be a Culturally Responsive Practitioner (By: Alejandra Morales)
Hammond dives deep into chapter 4 about becoming
more culturally involved as a practitioner or teacher. I could not agree more
with what she had to say about how it is up to teachers to show to our students
what that looks like. Just the other day at work I had a little girl come up to
me and say, "Ms. Alejandra do you know that my friend can talk both Hindu
and English, she can speak Hindu because that is where her parents are
from!" I had to take a second and really let that sink in, I know I do
live in one of the most diverse counties, Montgomery County, however, I have
never in my four years of teaching students from 2-year-olds – 12-year-olds had
any child come up to me and say something like that before. I can say that it
felt nice to know that students now are getting some culturally responsive
teaching in public schools.
Hammond also states how to help your students
you first must understand your own cultural frames of reference. Hammond mentions it as “Self-Examination: Making the Familiar Strange.” Hammond also puts it as “A
critical first step for teachers is to understand how their own cultural values
shape their expectations in the classroom—from how they expect children to
behave socially, take turns during discussions, or even pass out classroom
materials” (Hammond, pp. 56). I never really thought of looking at my own
cultural values before teaching students but now that Hammond implies it, I can
see why the importance of looking at our own cultural values in three different
ways: Identifying our culture frame of reference; widening our cultural aperture;
and identifying key triggers. This can be beneficial for students because once
you as a teacher can recognize your own you can be a better model for the
students and can help determine what kind of influences reflect upon your
teaching methods.
I like that Hammond makes the statement to think of culturally responsive teaching is a mindset, and it is a way of looking at the world (52). She really pointed out that it is important to understand our own culture before we are able to understand others. After we are able to understand our own culture, it can help us understand why a student is acting a certain way. This is when a teacher and student relationship is important to have.
ReplyDeleteIf a teacher has a good, close relationship with their student then they are able to help and understand how the student is different. For an example, I think about a student that I had when I was in my internship senior year of high school. He acted out badly during school, and he never wanted to do anything but read a book independently. We were aware of him having difficulties at home, but his parents were not helpful in trying to solve the issues he was having. This showed me that this was a learning experience for both him and I in finding solutions for his behavior. We worked on having set times for him to read and times when he needed to focus on what was happening with the whole class. This was a long journey throughout the entire year to learn about him, and not judge him for the way he was acting since we never knew the whole story about his home life.
I really liked reading your review of Chapter 4! Preparing to be a culturally responsive practitioner is something every teacher should work on before even going in the classroom. I really liked how you put a personal experience you had in the classroom and how it is starting to connect to everything we have been talking about in class. It must feel awesome to see that your students are constantly thinking about their culture and that they feel comfortable to talk to you about it. Building this close relationship with your students is a very important part of culturally responsive teaching. Teachers must be able to understand and empathize with their students that are different from them to be a more effective educator.
ReplyDeleteAnother important point from Chapter 4 was about how we have to widen our interpretation aperture. It is essential that we know that our students were not raised the same way we were and that they may act differently in the classroom because of it. We must learn how diverse our classroom really is and try to understand where the students are coming from. This will not only expand our knowledge on cultures, but it will also help us avoid misinterpretation of students’ actions or reactions. Great Job!
Alejandra,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, and I agreed with the points that you made throughout your piece! I appreciated the point that you drove home about it being the responsibility of the teacher to show students what it looks like to be culturally involved and responsive. I also thought that you did an excellent job at making your points by using your own stories and drawing from your own experiences. The way that you also incorporated how those experiences made you feel was beneficial to conveying your message. Your points about self examination highlighted the crucial message that educators must first examine and understand themselves and their own backgrounds before they go on to understand their students’ backgrounds and experiences. This helps us as educators to be better prepared for various different situations in the classroom, as well as better equipped to deal with issues that arise in the classroom. It also helps us to reflect and think about our own experiences and how they affect us and others. (Christen Zuvich, 172)