Transcript Culturally proficient teaching

Developed by:
Ashley Smith & Lisa Lemaster
Title I PD Specialists
Presented by:
Kim Brown & Linda Yarbrough
[email protected]
[email protected]
Welcome & Introductions
 Class Meeting Overview
 Culture is an Iceberg
 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
 Cultural Jigsaw Activity
 Marzano’s Systems of Thinking
 Deficit vs. Asset Models
LUNCH (on your own)
 Surveys & Scenarios
 Case Studies
 Respect
 Inclusive Practices
 Wrap-Up & Reflections

Some parts of
culture are visible
and easily seen…
This hidden part
of the culture has
been termed
‘deep culture’…

With your table
group, you will now
create your own
culture iceberg.

Be sure to include
specific ‘indicators’
that make up the
visible and invisible
parts of the
iceberg.
language,
Making
culturally relevant
pedagogy a reality in
your classroom…
 Ethnicity
 Nationality
 Race
 National
Origin
 On
an index card,
reflect on how YOU
would define
‘cultural
proficiency’.
All children access information differently.

Self System: (key that opens) The control center
for thinking and action; getting the student to
‘buy in’ to engagement in the learning task.

Meta-cognitive System: (engine that starts) The
engine of learning; instructional techniques used
by teachers that have an impact; involves goalsetting, processing, and monitoring.

Cognitive System: (wheels that get us moving)
This system is about ‘doing the task’; the
student must figure out what they know, what
they do not know, what they need to learn how
to do, and how to do it.


Declarative- consists of information
Procedural- consists of skills and processes
When the students engage the cognitive system,
they will make their own meaning (filtered by
their culture) of content, which results in
learning.
Now, it’s your turn! 
P-I-G: develop a lesson that goes through all
three levels of Marzano’s Systems of Thinking.
Old Paradigm: Deficit ModelBased on something
missing in the child:

Deprived (deficient)

Incapable (failures)


New Paradigm: Asset ModelBased on the strength of
the child:

Culturally diverse (rich in
spirit & unique)

Capable (high achievers)

Self-motivated (engaged)

Resilient (making it,
against the odds…)
Unmotivated (off-task)
At-risk (beat due to
circumstances)
 Now,
revise your
previous definition
on cultural
proficiency to
reflect your new
learning.
 Are
you using
‘asset language’?
See you back
at 1:00! 
TIPS
1. Standard texting rates only (worst case US $0.20)
2. We have no access to your phone number
3. Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling do
TIP
Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling do
Take a moment to jot
down what your own
personal assumptions
and beliefs are. This is
for your own PERSONAL
reflection and will not
be shared…
A Day in the Life of Dorothy or Bonnie
•Read aloud your person’s autobiography
to your partner.
•After reading, discuss these questions:
-What differences did you find in their two
lives?
-What responsibilities do you have to learn
about the experiences that other cultures
confront daily?
-What are some ways that you can make
yourself accountable for including all
students?



What does respect look like in different cultures?
Read the article on respect and be prepared to
discuss. 
Respect is culturally influenced. The key is: we
should not make assumptions or be presumptuous
when it comes to respect.
Paideia Seminar Discussion:



Question 1:(round robin): Besides the word respect,
what word popped out at you while reading the article?
Question 2: How have you seen the different meanings
of respect played out in your classroom?
Question 3: What are some ways you can consider
changing existing practices in your classroom to meet
the needs of your students and families when addressing
respect?
Make a Tri-fold
I Liked …
I Learned …
Lingering
Questions …
Developed by:
Ashley Smith & Lisa Lemaster
Title I PD Specialists
Presented by:
Kim Brown and Linda Yarbrough
[email protected]
[email protected]
 Level
1: The Contributions Approach
Focuses on heroes, holidays, and discrete
cultural elements.
Example: A school has a multicultural fair one
day during the last week of school, featuring
food and games from various cultures.
Cultural elements are not integrated into the
curriculum throughout the school year.
Level 2: The Additive Approach
Content, concepts, themes, and perspectives are
added to the curriculum without changing its’
structure.

Example: A school observes Black History Month with
daily segments on the morning announcements with
little to no mention of the contributions of African
Americans in the curriculum prior to, or after,
February. This information is not included in
assessments.
*This is important to address, because students
begin to believe that the main curriculum is
‘white’ and people of color are only additions.
Level 3: The Transformation Approach
The structure of the curriculum is changed to
enable students to view concepts, issues, events,
and themes from the perspective of diverse ethnic
and cultural groups.

Examples: A group of educators pull together a unit
entitled “Peacemakers”, which utilizes a variety of
resources, incorporates individuals and organizations
that are representative of a variety of racially ethnic
groups, who have worked for peace.
*Emphasis is on the dynamics of the relationships and
divergent meanings of the topic to diverse groups.
Views are presented that conclude all Macro
culture groups contributed to the building of the
U.S.
Level 4: The Social Action Approach
Students make decisions on important social
issues and take actions to help solve them.

Examples: An elementary music teacher teaches
students about the civil rights movement, then
guides them in enacting the scene of activists
entering a train singing the song “Get on Board”
from the book Freedom Songs. The current
status of civil rights in the United States is also
examined and students make recommendations
for change.
*Students take the information and skills and
apply them to a current situation.
Small-Group Activity
 Read and discuss the instructional examples.
 Evaluate
them on the Scale of Multicultural
Inclusiveness and justify your placement.
 Now,
you will have the opportunity to plan a
lesson using the Social Action Approach to
multicultural inclusiveness.
 You
can use a unit of study
you have already taught, if
you choose, and adjust/modify
the lesson plan to fit the
Social Action Approach.
 Once
again, revisit
your index card.
After all we have
learned and
discussed today,
is there anything
you want to add
or change about
your views on
cultural proficiency?

1. The learning community must be inviting.

2. The leader of the learning community must send
personally inviting messages.

3. An inviting classroom has firm, consistent, and loving
control.

4. An inviting learning community provides students with a
sense that they can accomplish the tasks being asked of
them. It enhances and fosters good academic self-concept.

5. An inviting learning community stresses collectivism
rather than individualism.
~Foundations of Culturally Proficient Teaching, Learning Bridges Course

Class meetings (review & discuss)
Numbered Heads Together.
1. You will each be assigned a number
1,2,3,4 or 5.
 2. Brainstorm ways that YOU create a
positive learning environment.
 3. Make sure everyone in your group
knows multiple ways to create a
positive learning environment, as
the instructor will be calling a number
and the person with the corresponding
number has to answer the question.

 Complete
the cultural survey.
 Find your partner and compare results.
 Create a Venn Diagram.
Listen to the case study on Anamaria.
 Make a group chart about practices you
currently use (or strategies you can
employ in the future) to engage students
of differing views in the classroom.
 In what ways do you address
individualism in the classroom? In what
ways do you address collectivism in the
classroom?

Role playing: speaking harshly to someone with kind
words, and speaking in a kind tone but with harsh
words. Are there other ways we might be doing this,
inadvertently, to our students?
Cultural behavior - People from different cultures do
things in
different ways…
 It is important to increase our awareness of and
sensitivity to culturally different modes of behavior. We
need to recognize different cultural patterns at work in
the behavior of people from other countries and
cultures.
 It is also useful to be aware of how our own cultural
background influences our behavior, and begin to
develop tolerance for behavior patterns different from
our own.
See you back
at 1:00! 
Some useful areas to look at are:
Silence
Time
Distance & personal space
Touching Body language
Posture & movement
Eye contact
CultureCrossing.net


It is often difficult for speakers of other languages to understand “what is
meant” by “what is said”. It is also difficult for mono-lingual speakers to
understand that this is a problem.
People from different cultures use language to do things in different ways.
Oftentimes, politeness as a linguistic phenomenon and the student could be
making a linguistic error rather than being rude.
Think about instances where language could be misconstrued:
Complimenting , apologizing, requesting, inviting, offering, responding






Students from other cultures may:
be unfamiliar with idiomatic or technical English
be unfamiliar with jargon/acronyms
not be used to hearing English - speed of delivery is a problem
not be used to the pronunciation of some words
not be familiar with complex language
have trouble understanding contractions - wouldn't, I’ve, …sometimes we
even combine words to make new slang language:
would not have = wouldn’t’ve
How can we better communicate?
Lectures
Make your organization clear
Support with writing/visuals/handouts
Provide a core word list
Be careful with handwriting on the board
Provide reading before the lecture
Assignments
Set written coursework early in order to
identify problems
Give clear instructions for coursework
Provide clear feedback in written work but be
careful with handwriting
Speaking
Don’ t keep changing the subject; make one point at a time
Summarize often & repeat if necessary
Be careful of background knowledge assumed
Be careful of speed or provide clear pauses
Use clear pronunciation
Do not talk while eating or with your back to the audience: face the class
Be careful of background noise
Organize questions - ask students to write them down or prepare in groups
Be explicit
General
Provide a simplified brochure
Offer student tutoring
Don’ t try & answer grammar questions - give a model of good English
Leave grammatical explanations to the experts
Assume different expectations , so be specific
 Read
the article: ‘Florida
Passes Plan for RaciallyBased Academic Goals’
 Discuss
with your table…
There are six points along the
cultural proficiency continuum
that indicate unique ways of
perceiving and responding to
differences.
Cultural
Cultural
Cultural
Cultural
Cultural
Destructiveness
Incapacity
Blindness
Pre-Competence
Competence
*Cultural Proficiency*
Cultural Proficiency Continuum
Downward Spiral Conversation
Incapacity
Destructiveness
Pre-Competence
Blindness
Proficiency
Competence
Upward Spiral Conversation
Cultural Destructiveness
“See
the difference; stomp it out.”
Using one’s power to eliminate the culture of another.
Examples
• Genocide or Ethnocide
• Exclusion Laws
• Shun/Avoid certain curriculum topics
“When we redistrict we can get rid of THAT neighborhood?!”
“Why are those kids speaking Chinese at lunch?”
“There are so many problems coming from Lakeside.”
“If we could get rid of the special-needs students, our scores
would improve.”
Cultural Incapacity
“See the difference; make it wrong.”
Believing in the superiority of one’s own culture and behaving in ways that
disempower another’s culture.
Examples
• Disproportionate allocation of resources to certain groups
• Lowered expectations
• Expecting “others” to change: My way or the highway.
“Another generation to never leave the trailer park.”
“His mom admitted she was special education when she went to school, so we
can’t expect him to do well”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Lack of an equal representation of staff/administrators that reflect diversity in our
district.
Cultural Blindness
“See the difference; act like you don’t.”
Acting as if cultural differences do not matter or as if there are
not differences among/between cultures.
Examples
• Discomfort in noting difference
• Beliefs/actions that assume world is fair and achievement is based on
merit
“Our school does not need to focus on multicultural educationwe have no diversity.”
“Everyone learns the same.”
“Just don’t recognize their religion. We don’t want to offend.”
“I’m not prejudiced. I don’t see color in my students.”
Cultural Pre-Competence
“See the difference; respond to it inappropriately.”
Recognizing the limitations of one’s skills or an organization's
practices when interacting with other cultural groups.
Examples
• Delegate diversity work to others, to a committee
• Quick fix, packaged short-term programs
• Unclear rules, expectations for all diversity programs for staff
“Diversity is covered through our Language Arts curriculum.”
Cultural programs should be lead by those of that background.
“I’ll do my best to make the Special Education student feel part of the Honors
course.”
“Make sure you do an activity for Black History month.”
Cultural Competence
“See the difference; understand the
difference that difference makes.”
Interacting with others using the five essential elements of cultural
proficiency as the standard for behavior and practice.
Examples
• Advocacy
• On-going education of self and others
• Support, modeling, and risk-taking behaviors
“You are you. I am me. But together, we are we.”
Plan goals for all students.
“I think it is interesting to look at another’s perspective through another lens.”
Our county mission statement capitalizes ALL.
Cultural Proficiency
“See the difference; respond positively.
Engage and adapt.”
Esteem culture; knowing how to learn about organizational culture;
interacting effectively in a variety of cultural groups.
Examples
• Interdependence
• Personal change and transformation
• Alliance for groups other than one’s own
Differentiate to the needs of all learners.
My boys aren’t doing well in reading. I need to start integrating more non-fiction.
“With the addition of _____, our classroom experience has become richer. The
other students are learning from him also.
“Thank you for calling the parents and explaining in Spanish about our field trip.”
Cultural Proficiency… in our schools!
Using the sticky notes provided at your table…
1.
Record one example per sticky note of a situation, quote, scenario, or
something you have heard that represents each of the six parts of the
continuum.
1.
When you are finished, place the sticky notes on the corresponding
chart paper.
• What did you notice as you read the comments?
• Did anything surprise you?
• What does this make you feel, think, or wonder?
• What does this say about our school, district, and
community?
Now, we are going to watch a
video that demonstrates some
classroom organization ideas,
along with teaching strategies,
that will help us reach our
culturally diverse learners…
More strategies are included in
your packet.
Who are “turnaround
teachers”, and how can we
each become one?
Leaders have certain
characteristics. At your table,
brainstorm characteristics of
what a ‘turnaround teacher’
looks like, based on each of
the six components of a
turnaround teacher. Make a
poster on chart paper to share
out. 
Now, you will begin to develop
your own action plan using a
planning sheet.
 Speaking
the plan into
action
 Share
one of the goals
from your own action
plan…
 Wrap-up
&
Evaluation
We hope you will find these additional
courses and resources helpful.
 Complete
the paper reflection. Your name is
optional.
 Complete the Urban Experience Survey.
Follow the instructions on the last page of
your packet.