TPE-D The Culturally Responsive Teacher

This reading penetrated down to my core. I began thinking about all of those students I have had over the years who come into my classroom with unique and sadly sometimes horrible homelife experiences. The demographics continue to change and this reality forces us to let go of old practices that do not work. There are six qualities and shared ideas of culturally responsive teaching. Let me begin with the first one which is the use of prior knowledge. Teachers must tap into a student's prior knowledge because in this way he or she is able to make sense of new concepts at school. It boils down to making it personal for the students. This was demonstrated in the example given where Belki would be able to learn more on a unit about immigration if her teacher uses her very own personal experiences of coming to the US from the Dominican Republic. Other ideas mentioned would be to invite immigrant parents to talk to the class.

Second, teachers must learn about their students' lives. Learning about their family history, immigration history, strengths, and concerns . A useful strategy would be the implementation of home visits. I have made many home visits over the years; however, this was not for every single student. These were the ones that I had to reach on a deeper level. For a short time in the summer of 2004, I did work for Head Start, and home visits were mandatory. They took a lot of time and energy, but the results they yielded were precious. The most solid bonds that I made with my students and their families have been the ones where home visits and steady contact was made. I definately agree that this is critical for the culturally responsive teacher to apply.

Third, one's worldview is influenced by personal experiences. This suggests that teachers who rely on their own personal experiences to make sense of their students' lives will end up in misinterpretations and miscommunication (p3). I am thinking about the example, and let me know if this fits here of the differences in how to show respect in the Mexican culture vs. the Anglo culture. A Mexican child is brought up to show respect by not looking directly into the eyes of an adult when a reprimand is being given. On the other hand, how many times are children in this culture told, "look at me when I am talking to you." A teacher with no cultural sensitivity would perceive this Mexican child to be disrespectful and lacking proper upbring. You cannot impose your own worldview and beliefs on everyone.

Fourth, holding affirming views about diversity is another key element to the socially responsive teacher. Teachers should not fall in the trap of associating a student's socioeconomic status for example with either low or high achievement. Here I am reminded of the excellent film "Stand and Deliver" in which a group of East Los Angeles barrio kids were labeled as low performing simply because of who they were and where they lived.

The fifth piece is the implementation of appropriate instructional strategies. Several strategies were given to help guide the teacher. One of the strategies mentioned was providing additional reading in their native language for the the students who demonstrate literacy in their native language to help build background knowledge. It also provided the idea of using bilingual dictionaries. Another was using examples from their student's lives like hip-hop recordings to make sense of rhythm in poetry.

Finally, the sixth piece for a culturally responsive teacher is the idea that a teacher must be an advocate for all students. They key word here is all. I agree with the argument that teachers have an ethical obligation to help all students learn.