Running head: CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Cultural Sensitivities in Learning

Improving Social Learning Skills Through Cultural Pluralism and Cultural Capital
Group 4
Robert Campbell
Lisa Horn
Fatima Rodriguez
Royins Solano
California State University Monterey Bay
IST522 Instructional Design
Professor: Jeanne Farrington

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Cultural Sensitivities in Learning

Improving Social Learning Skills Through Cultural Pluralism and Cultural Capital
Culture is comprised of each individuals unique experiences including influences such as
family, religion, and geographic region. Teachers are challenged in identifying and leveraging a
classroom filled with diverse culture. The range of cultural characteristics can include learning
capabilities which influences individual cultural capital, as well as social behaviors. It is
important for all elementary school academic instructors to be aware of the need for cultural
pluralism and the value this brings to the classroom.
The primary intention is to influence awareness that cultural pluralism is the acceptance
of each students unique values and practices, and that breaking down cultural barriers enhances
the classroom dynamics and increases student learning. Ultimately, expected outcomes are that
teachers bring into the classroom new strategies aligning with cultural pluralism that will
improve positive social behavior and improved learning that builds upon each students existing
cultural capital.
After completing this training, learners should have a have a clear understanding of the
concepts of cultural pluralism, cultural capital, social reproduction, and stratification. Cultural
pluralism is when minority groups maintain their cultural identity in a larger society. Cultural
capitalism is a theory developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. It refers to the set of
skills and attitudes an individual possesses that allow them access to services and opportunities
(Gottlob, 25). Social reproduction is a concept suggesting that Broadly speaking, social
reproduction refers to the perpetuation of social systems and the social order; how societies are
maintained and reproduced (Meuller, 26). Social stratification is a concept that looks at

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inequalities between individuals or groups that are generally accepted, confirmed, and solidified
within a culture (Johnson, 156).
The role of the teacher in the process of developing cultural capital is central to
developing the cultural capital of their students. How the instructional leader recognizes and
responds to students who are not learning has a powerful impact on how those students respond
to further efforts in learning. The teacher is responsible for recognizing and navigating the
influences of cultural capitalism, social reproduction, and stratification in a way that expresses
ones philosophy and values on cultural pluralism and sensitivity.
Cultural pluralism and cultural capital are concepts that can be applied in everyday use,
including with teachers in an elementary classroom environment. Currently, in the San Jose
Unified School District (SJUSD) teachers are required to obtain Cross-cultural, Language, and
Academic Development (CLAD) Certificate that authorizes them to instruct English Learners.
This training includes testing on the subject of culture and inclusion. Even though the SJUSD
incorporates training for their teachers on culture, the learnings of this training may be applied
very differently from classroom to classroom. Additionally, every school district, county, and
state differs in the types of teacher training that is offered. Basically, not all teachers everywhere
are offered cultural awareness and sensitivity training.
Bringing greater awareness to cultural pluralism and cultural capital has value for anyone
interested in adopting these concepts, including our peers. Our peer audience is very diverse in
terms of culture and areas of expertise. Something we all have in common is a bachelor's degree
and some type of expertise related to instructional technology. The great majority of our peer
audience work full time and some of them are teachers at the elementary school level. Those that
are educators within the SJUSD would have received cultural training as a district requirement.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Although some of our peers may have had training in the area of cultural sensitivity we cannot
assume what percentage, therefore we are preparing this training to cover the cultural pluralism
and cultural capital concepts as if this is the first time they are receiving information about them.
Discussing culture can insight negative feelings based on an individuals own cultural
experiences. To lessen the potential risk of offending training participants, consideration will be
given to the sensitivity of this topic when designing training materials and activities. It may not
be possible to completely prevent offending participants based on unknown risks since culture is
so unique to each individual, but if a situation should occur during training it would provide for a
real-time exercise in resolving a cultural difference. Immersing training participants in real-time
challenges of cultural difference can instill the expected outcome of staying open minded to all
culture and embracing cultural pluralism.
For the purposes of this assignment, Moodle will be leveraged for the training
presentation. Agenda for this learning program is as follows:
1. Forum - provide the definition of cultural pluralism and then request participants
to write about a personal experience where they were culturally offended in a social
situation. Peer comments in this forum will be welcome, but not required.
2. A link to an article that discusses cultural capital and several components that
influence this concept such as social reproduction and stratification.
3. A link to several sites that provide demographic data at the global and local levels,
including demographic data for teachers and students in California.
4. Quiz - reinforce the definition of terms: cultural pluralism, cultural capital,
stratification, and cultural reproduction
5. Provide a set of tools that can be used to assist in identifying cultural sensitivities
within ones self and of a group

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

6. Forum (300-600 words) - Share one actionable idea that you plan on
implementing in your life that aligns with the intent of cultural pluralism. Further explain
how you understand cultural pluralism aligning with cultural capital and its influences.
7. Peer Feedback within forum
Take into consideration the protocols/methods that teachers have to follow when it comes
to the application of culture in their educational setting. Cultural sensitive as an educator and
student is important. Being culturally sensitive can bring about a more positive experience for
everyone, it enables us to understand the needs of those who we are working with and therefore
we are able to understand their needs and communicate better.
The topics that are going to be included into the training are as follows. Having a clear
understanding of cultural differences in a school setting. Knowing the cultural differences in a
school setting will make it easier for educators to know with what students they will have to
work with. Our peers will have an understanding of how important it is to understand cultural
differences in a school setting. Even if they are not teachers it important for them to be aware
that there are differences among each other. Being aware of cultural differences will enable one
to become familiarized with differences and be accepting of others.
Cultural pluralism is when minority groups maintain their cultural identity in a larger
society, which is also important and relative to cultural capital. In an educational setting it is
important to become aware that cultural pluralism is a concept that needs to be applied in our
everyday lives whether it is in a classroom or a work environment. Cultural pluralism allows us
to maintain who we are as individuals while accepting the differences of others.
Cultural capital in the classroom is important. The more engaged the students are in a
classroom the better their educational outcome will be. Cultural capital can be built upon what
students learn in the classroom. Understanding the concept of what is being taught and actually

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

learning from it the individual is building their own cultural capital. If a student does not ask
questions the teacher will not know what the student needs help on, and will not be able to help
the student improve. So how can one build cultural capital? According to Raskoff, engaging in
activities that help our knowledge, education, and skills. These can all help one build cultural
capital.
Culture, in its purest sense, is unique to each individual and is constantly changing. A
foreseeable and unintended side effect of implementing a program that can bring about
awareness of cultural pluralism, breaking down cultural barriers, and developing cultural capital
in the classroom is the constant change of the student-classroom-teacher association itself. In the
elementary grade levels, a student is in an assigned classroom for one year with an assigned
teacher. In that year, a teacher can implement a program that can have a profound and positive
effect on any number of students. In the following year, the student is in a new classroom with a
new teacher. That teacher may not be interested in applying any of the strategies that were
discussed and outlined in the workshops, thus possibly negating any positive impact from the
previous year. Or, the teacher can implement a different approach that can cause confusion for
students of elementary grade level age.
The goal of this training is that students within the MIST program will be able to have an
increased awareness of cultural pluralism and cultural capital, and how to apply these concepts in
their everyday lives. These concepts can also be utilized in the classroom to improve positive
social behavior and improved learning that builds upon each students existing cultural capital.
The following sub-objectives have been identified as key to this learning session.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Having shared their understanding of the concepts in the forum, MIST students will be
able to differentiate between the cultural pluralism and cultural capital concepts and clearly
communicate this to their peers.
Given a quiz on term definitions, MIST students will be able to classify the concepts of
cultural pluralism, cultural capital, stratification, and cultural reproduction with complete
accuracy.
Given access to an online forum, MIST students will be able to write a 300 to 600-word
essay sharing at least one actionable idea that they can implement in their life that aligns with
the intent of cultural pluralism.
This training will be delivered on November 22, 2016 using Moodle as the delivery
interface. Our training will be an hour long and our peers will be able to access this training and
complete it at any time between the day the training is opened and closed.
The purpose of this training is to introduce the topic of cultural sensitivities in learning
and the concepts that we have included that are important to be aware of. The audience that we
are presenting this training to is MIST cohort 12. The cohort consists of a diverse group of
student that come from different cultural backgrounds and careers. The topics that will be
covered in this training are in the order that follows. We will first introduce the topic. Then we
will state the goal of the training and what we want our peers to get out of this training. We will
deliver a brief summary of the topics to be discussed and identify and describe definitions for the
concepts being included in the training: cultural pluralism, cultural capital, social reproduction,
and stratification. Each topic will take approximately 6 minutes to go over. Students will be able
to read articles relating to the topic being trained on and they will also have access to a forum to
discuss with other peers and take a short quiz to identify comprehension of the topic discussed.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Training will be comprised of several media formats including reading an academic

paper, researching demographic statistics on an academic database website, sharing a personal
story in a forum, taking a quiz, and writing a brief essay and providing peer feedback in a forum.
The training will begin by presenting a definition of cultural pluralism and then asking each
student to share a personal experience within a forum. The personal experience needs to include
how a social situation left them feeling offended based on their cultural perspective. This
exercise is intended to connect the student to the need for cultural pluralism based on a real-life
experience. Subsequent learning is to provide an understanding of how cultural capital is tied to
learning and ultimately cultural sensitivity through the concept of cultural pluralism. A quiz will
be provided to reinforce the definitions of the primary terms used throughout the presentation.
Finally, the student will be required to write a brief essay in their own words that will hopefully
re-emphasis the unique concepts, the connection between the concepts, and how they can be
applied in everyday life.

References

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES IN LEARNING

Baptiste, P. H., Baptiste, M. L., & Baptiste, H. P. (1979). Developing the multicultural process in
classroom instruction: Competencies for teachers. Washington, D.C.: University Press of
America.
Calarco, J. M. (2011). I need help! Social class and childrens help-seeking in elementary
school. American Sociological Review, 76(6), 862882. doi:10.1177/0003122411427177
Gottlob, J. E. (2009). Building on Cultural Capital of Low-income Hispanic Parents and Families
in Elementary School (dissertation).
Johnson, L. (2013). Social Stratification. Biblical Theology Journal, 43(3), 155168.
doi:10.1177/0146107913493565
Miller, C. M. (2014). Facilitating Social Capital in Elementary School Settings.
Mueller, J. C. (2013). THE SOCIAL REPRODUCTION OF SYSTEMIC RACIAL
INEQUALITY. Dissertation
Raskoff, S. (2014) Everyday sociology Blog: Social and cultural capital at school. Available at:
http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2014/11/social-and-cultural-capital-atschool.html (Accessed: 23 October 2016).
Riddle, R. (2014). Cultural Mismatch and Silenced Voices: Experiences of Historically
Marginalized Elementary Students Within School-wide Positive Behavior Supports
(Doctoral Dissertation).
Strambler, M. J., & Weinstein, R. S. (2010). Psychological disengagement in elementary school
among ethnic minority students. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(2),
155165. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2009.11.006

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Sullivan, J. (2008). Variations in Students School- and Teacher-Related Attitudes Across Gender,
Ethnicity, and Age. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 35(3), 296305.