Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Madelaine Gravatt
737 Assignment 2
Madelaine Gravatt
to
the
class
and
create
culture
that
celebrates
diversity.
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Madelaine Gravatt
skills within the class to richen the curriculum and engage students. It is also
important teachers provide multiple opportunities for discussing diversity and
model appropriate language. A powerful way of doing this is by teachers
sharing their own learning around issues of diversity and inclusion (ShevinSapon, 2008). To truly create a class culture that values and celebrates
diversity, it is essential that teachers create a safe and accepting classroom
environment where all students can participate in honest discussions about
topics that may be uncomfortable and difficult.
A key component of inclusive learning is establishing a caring, supportive and
respectful class climate. Mara Sapon-Shevin suggests that instead of being
overwhelmed by the task of responding to each students differences,
teachers should put community building and the emotional climate of the
classroom at the centre of their organising values (2008). This approach
acknowledges the crucial interdependence of social and academic factors in
raising student achievement. Teachers can foster a safe, caring and
supportive classroom environment by teaching students how to work
together and help one another. This can be done by encouraging shared
learning, whereby students help one another and explain things to their
peers. An effective means of incorporating this is through an ongoing and
consistent use of peer mentoring and cooperative learning (Shevin-Sapon,
2008). These forms of learning promote collaboration and important social
skills amongst all learners, including those with special education needs.
They help develop such abilities as motivation, perseverance, self-control,
and
empathy
(Shevin-Sapon,
2008).
Educating
students
in
inclusive
classrooms in which they work collaboratively with students that are different
form themselves is the only way to properly prepare students to be engaged,
democratic citizens in a multiethnic society.
In order to raise the achievement of Priority Learners, teachers must plan
learning so that everyone can participate and achieve. This means teachers
must be innovative and differentiate learning according to the needs and
interests of students. It is crucial that teachers plan for differentiation and
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make sure every student has access to learning from the outset, rather than
as an after-thought (Causton-Theoharis, Theoharis, & Trezek, 2008). Before
planning a unit of learning, teachers should identify barriers to students
learning and make sure these are minimised through working with the
students, their families and other teachers (Ministry of Education, 2015). In
order for every student to access learning, teachers must be able to
differentiate learning in three different ways: teachers must provide multiple
means of representation when communicating content, because students
perceive and understand information in different ways; there must be
multiple opportunities and means for students to express what they have
learned; and teachers must provide multiple means of engaging students,
depending on students interests and learning styles (Ministry of Education,
2015). This therefore asks teachers to be flexible and innovative when
planning learning, making sure that the learning is being adapted to the
student, rather than the student having to adapt in order to learn (Ministry of
Education, 2012b). A great way to engage students in their learning is to
offer students choices and listen to their preferences regarding what and how
they want to learn. This instills in students the belief that they are active and
competent learners (Smith, Salend, & Ryan, 2001). Encompassed in this
approach is viewing the role of teacher aides not as working with individual
students in lieu of the teacher, but to work with the teacher to up skill them
in effective ways of teaching all the children in their classes (McMaster,
2012).
2009).
A vital part of cultivating an inclusive classroom environment is the use of
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also
restrict
students
access
to
curriculum
content,
learning
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the
multiethnic
nature
of
New
Zealand
society
and
the
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context (Gay, 2002). Lifting this double burden is important in order to raise
the achievement of Mori and Psifik students. However as Dawn Lawrence,
a non-Mori participant of Te Kotahitanga reflected, culturally responsive
pedagogy is more than simply having some kwhaiwhai patterns around my
whiteboard, or greeting students with Kia ora (Lawrence, 2011, p. 36). It is
dependent on teachers getting to know students on a deeper level, as well as
coming to a critical understanding of their own culture (Allen et al., 2009). As
assumptions and inexplicit beliefs are realised and addressed, developing a
culturally responsive pedagogy often challenges teachers to learn, relearn
and unlearn their pedagogy (Lawrence, 2011, p. 33). It can therefore be a
challenging, ongoing and eye-opening process.
Affirming the cultural identities of students is paramount to developing a
culturally responsive pedagogy and raising the educational achievement of
Priority Learners. Student well-being is strongly influenced by a clear sense of
identity, which is fostered by access and exposure to their own language and
culture (Ministry of Education, 2013). Teaching that respects and affirms
cultural identity is crucial in New Zealands multiethnic schools and is
reflected as a key value in the New Zealand Curriculum. This is especially
important for Mori and Pasifika students who receive negative messages
about their intellectual ability and other racist stereotypes. This can have a
harmful impact on how they see themselves and their culture, as well as
affecting their school engagement (Webber, 2013). Melinda Webbers work
shows that the more students are able to enact their cultures at school, the
healthier their self-concepts are. A positive sense of racial-ethnic identity can
then help students to be resilient at school and prevent negative pressures
interfering with their educational engagement (Webber, 2012). This is
supported by strong evaluative evidence from Te Kotahitanga that creating
an environment where Mori students identity is valued and affirmed can
have an empowering effect on their learning (Webber, 2012). It is therefore
crucial that teachers embrace manaakitanga (caring for Mori students as
culturally located individuals) and create contexts where to be Mori is
normal, where Mori cultural identities are valued and legitimate, and where
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Mori children can be themselves (Bishop, 2012, p. 187). This means that
teachers must refute negative stereotypes about Mori potential and create
learning contexts where Mori are comfortable being themselves. Other ways
teachers can foster a positive Mori identity include incorporating examples
of Mori scholars, researchers and explorers into lesson content to let Mori
students know they come from a rich and proud heritage, as well as explicitly
incorporating Mori cultural knowledge into the curriculum so that learning is
contextualized for Mori students and mtauranga Mori is affirmed
alongside Western knowledge (Webber, 2012). While it is important to keep in
mind the importance of affirming the cultural identity of our Mori and
Pasifika students in particular, affirming cultural identity is beneficial for all
students, especially in such a diverse society as New Zealands.
One of the most important strategies a teacher has to raise the achievement
of Priority Learners, is taking the time to know their individual students. In
order to engage students, teachers must know what interests them and how
they most effectively learn. Teachers must then use this knowledge to plan
teaching and learning that is interesting and challenging. To make content
interesting, teachers must make it relevant to the lives of their students.
When designing lessons, teachers should consciously choose content that is
relevant to cultural contexts familiar to the students and make sure the
relevance is made clear to students (Alton-Lee, 2003). As highlighted in Ka
Hikitia: Students do better in education when what and how they learn
reflects and positively reinforces where they come from, what they value and
what they already know (Ministry of Education, 2013, p. 16). It is also
reflected in the aim of the Pasifika Education Plan 20132017 to achieve
optimum learning by promoting closer alignment and compatibility between
the learners educational environment, and their home and/or cultural
environment (Ministry of Education, 2012a). Teachers should also utilise
students lived experiences as a bridge between new content and prior
knowledge. Teachers therefore need to develop a knowledge base about the
different cultures in their classrooms and create a rich repertoire of content
examples from those cultures. Too many teachers think their subjects are
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their
values,
traditions,
communications,
learning
styles
and
and
facilitate
the
learning
process.
This
philosophy
is
encapsulated in the Samoan saying: The culture of the child cannot enter the
classroom until it has first entered the consciousness of the teacher (Allen et
al., 2009, p. 49). However it is important not to make generalisations and
recognise that each student is an individual with their own understanding of
what it means to be Mori or Pasifika (Dreaver, Chiaroni, & Ministry of
Education, 2009). To achieve this teachers must practice ako, whereby they
are in a reciprocal learning relationship with their students. With ako,
teachers learn from the students about how best to teach them in a way that
is deliberative and reflective (Ministry of Education, 2013). This encompasses
the importance of teacher-student relationships for creating engagement and
achievement for all students, especially Priority Learners.
Key to developing both an inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogies is
an inquiring and reflective mindset. In order to be an effective teacher, it is
imperative to inquire into the impact of your teaching by looking at data for
evidence to inform decisions and problem-solve (Ministry of Education, 2007).
It is also crucial that teachers come to understand their underlying beliefs
and assumptions that shape their teaching. Regular reflection is an important
tool for this, because tacit beliefs can become explicit when teachers have
the opportunity to reflect on them and to discuss them, and to be challenged
by feedback from colleagues and peers (Jordan et al., 2009, p. 541). In order
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References
Allen, P., Taleni, L., & Robertson, J. (2009). 'In Order to Teach You, I Must Know
You.' The Pasifika Initiative: A Professional Development Project for
Teachers. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 44(2), 47-62.
Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best
Evidence Synthesis. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.
Bishop, R. (2012). A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations. In D. Fraser,
& C. McGee (Eds.), The Professional Practice of Teaching (4th ed., pp.
185-205). Albany, New Zealand: Cengage Learning.
Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2009). The Te Kotahitanga Effective Teaching
Profile. 2, 27-33.
Causton-Theoharis, J., Theoharis, G., & Trezek, B. (2008). Teaching pre-service
teachers to design inclusive instruction: a lesson planning template.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12(4), 381-399.
Dreaver, K., Chiaroni, S., & Ministry of Education. (2009). Teachers as
Learners: Improving Outcomes for Mori and Pasifika Students through
Inquiry. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in
New Zealand Schools. Wellington, New Zealand: Education Review Office.
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Journal of
Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.
Jordan, A., Schwartz, E., & McGhie-Richmond, D. (2009). Preparing teachers
for inclusive classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(4), 535-542.
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