Culturally competent teaching is
necessary in order to reach every student in a meaningful and effective way. Until
recently, I equated the word “culture” with race, but I’ve since learned it
also encompasses personal experiences, religion, and social groups such as
those defined by socio-economic class, geographic locales, language, and
special needs. With so many different cultures represented in our country and
in each classroom, I need to approach every class as culturally diverse regardless
of the predominant race represented, because race alone does not define
culture.
Elizabeth B. Kozleski’s (2010)
article “Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters!” identifies culturally
competent teaching as: “…connect[ing] students’ cultural knowledge, prior
experiences, and performance styles to academic knowledge and intellectual
tools in ways that legitimize what students already know,” and that teachers
must “…transcend their own cultural biases and preferences…” (p. 1). The Frames
of Reference activity we did in our Introduction to Teaching class helped me
identify some of my cultural biases. This activity requires ranking the following
in order of childhood influence: race/ethnicity, religion, socio-economic
status, gender, and education. Not only did this help me realize that culture
extends beyond race, but it brought to light the potential challenges I would
face entering a classroom with a strong education bias and trying to teach
students shaped primarily by any one of the other four influences.
To grow and develop professionally
in the area of cultural competence, I must continue to explore my own cultural
biases and how they affect my worldview while learning about my students’
cultural backgrounds. One way to do this would be to conduct the Frames of
Reference activity during the first week of school as we are getting to know
each other. Small group discussions could be conducted among those who each
ranked a different influence as their number one to share their experiences and
hopefully recognize that there is no right or wrong with any of these influences.
We could also work together to set the classroom expectations, policies, and
consequences. I was struck by Kozleski’s example that teachers try to “catch
students being good” (p. 3) when cultural differences can lead to confusion
about what is “good.” My fear is that I could behave in a culturally unclear or
insensitive way and not even realize it. By working together to set clear
guidelines for what behavior is expected in the classroom, some of these
instances can be avoided.
I like Kozleski’s phrasing of
culturally competent teaching as “legitimizing” what the student already knows.
Acknowledging and building on the students’ cultures creates a stronger
foundation of knowledge and empowers them by respecting and valuing who they
are and where they come from. Instead of trying to fit them into an existing
culture, this gives them their own legitimate place in the classroom.
Kozleski,
E. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters! Equity
Alliance. Retrieved from http://ea.niusileadscape.org/lc/Record/67?search_query=Culturally%20responsive%20teaching%20matters
