LauraDouglas

EPS512 Cohort009
CulturallyResponsiveArticle:
Montgomery,W.(2001).CreatingCulturallyResponsive,InclusiveClassrooms.Teaching
ExceptionalChildren,33(4),4.

Thearticlebeginswithadefinitionofaculturallyresponsiveclassroom,Culturally
responsiveclassroomsspecificallyacknowledgethepresenceofculturallydiversestudentsand
theneedforthesestudentstofindrelevantconnectionsamongthemselvesandwiththetasks
teachersaskthemtoperform.Tostresstheimportanceofthedefinitionitisrepeatedtwice.
Montgomerycreatedthisarticletoaddresstheneedofculturallyresponsiveclassroomsand
mostimportantlyhowtocreatetheminyourownclassroom.
Montgomerystatesthatthefirststeptocreatingaculturallyresponsiveclassroomisfor
theteachertomakeadiversityselfassessment.Thisassessmentevaluatestheteachers
relationshipandknowledgeoftheirstudents.Inaddition,itismeanttorevealanyassumptions
andbiasestheteachermayhaveabouttheirstudents.Thisisanimportantstepfortheteacher
toreflectonandlearnaboutanyissuestheymayneedtoaddress.
Itisnecessaryforteacherstobeawareofanybiasestheymayhavebecauseoften
culturallyandlinguisticallydiversestudentsareoverrepresentedinspecialeducation.This
overrepresentationofdiversestudentsinlowleveltrackscanbepartiallyaccountedforteachers
notusingculturallyresponsiveinstructionalpractices.Thesepracticesneedtobeinplaceto
maximizestudentachievement.Tomakemattersworse,ithasbeenshownthatthese
misrepresentedstudentsaremorelikelytobeplacedinrestrictivesettingsthancaucasian
specialneedsstudents.Thesetracksoftenencounterlowerexpectationsfromtheteacheranda
waterdownedcurriculum.Unfortunately,oncediversestudentsareplacedinthistrack,they
usuallydonotreentergeneraleducationplacement.
Montgomerydescribesavarietyofculturallysensitiveinstructionalmethods.These
include:thinkaloud,reciprocalquestioning,interdisciplinaryunits,instructionalscaffoldingand
journalwriting.Iparticularlylikedthesuggestionofjournalwritingbecauseitallowsthestudentto
reflectontheirownindividualexperiences.Inaddition,journalscanbesharedinsmallgroupsor
cangivetheteacherinsightontheirstudents.AnothersuggestionIlikewastoofferopenended
projectstostudentsthisallowsstudentstheopportunitytochooseaprojectsuitedtotheirown
strengths.Ifinditinterestingthatmostofthesesuggestionsseemlikegoodteachingpractices
ingeneral,notjustforaculturallydiverseclassroom.
Next,Montgomerydescribesmethodsoffosteringaculturallyrespectfulandaware
classroom.TheauthorstatesthatTeacherscanenhancestudentsselfesteemwhenthey
constructlearningenvironmentsthatreflecttheculturalmembershipintheclass.Itisimportant
tonotethatthisstrategyisnotlimitedtodecorationsintheclassroom.Abookcornerwith
culturallydiverseliteratureissuggestedforclassrooms.Theteachermusttakeinto
considerationthatculturallydiversecharactersarerepresentedinapositivelightinthereadings.
Withalibraryofthisnature,teacherscanintroducecrossculturalliteraturediscussionsinto
theirlessons.Agoodwayofsupplementingculturallydiverseliteratureistoinviteclassspeakers
intotheclassroom,includingfamilymembersandcommunityleaders.Myfavoritesuggestion,
fromthissection,wastheuseofacurrentandculturallyrelevantbulletinboardintheclassroom.
Ithinkthiswouldbeagoodprojecttodowithstudentsatthebeginningofeachquarter.
Theneedforclassroomstobeaninteractivelearningenvironmentisalsostressedby
theauthor.Thiscanbeaccomplishedthroughcooperativelearninggroupsandguided/informal
groupdiscussions.Thesetechniquesalsoallowstudentstolearnfromeachother's
experiences.AresourceIhadneverheardbeforewasalsointroduced,calledkeypals.Keypals
istheonlineequivalentofpenpals.Thiscanprovidestudentswiththeopportunityto
communicatewithotherstudentsfromacrosstheworld.Secondlanguagelearnerscan
particularlybenefitfromkeypalsbecausetheycancommunicatewithotherstudentsintheir
nativelanguage.
Montgomeryconcludeshispaperwiththeneedforteacherstocontinuallyevaluate
themselvesandtheirstudents.Thiswillensurethatteachersknowwhatandhowtoteach.Itis
stressedthatstudentsbeinvolvedintheirassessment.Agoodwaytoachievethisisby
compilingstudentportfolios.Theteachercansharethesewiththestudentsfamilyandusethem
duringstudentteacherconferencestopromoteselfreflection.
Ibelievethatallofthestrategiessuggestedbytheauthorareonesthatcanandshould
beincorporatedintoanyclassroom.Ifthesemethodsareutilized,allstudentswillbecomeawell
integratedpartoftheclassroom.Iplantokeepthisarticleonhandtoreferenceandreflectonmy
ownmethodsofteachinginthefuture.