Caroline Hand

Cultural Responsiveness Assignment

Philosophy of Education: Spring, 2015

During my time interviewing my colleagues, I found that many outlooks on

educational philosophy and teaching practices are shared among the school faculty.

In both cases, I interviewed a kindergarten teacher. One teacher, Educator A, is a

head classroom teacher and has been teaching for more than 25 years. Educator B,

who is the second interviewee, is a kindergarten interventionist who works with

students struggling in literacy and math. Both educators revealed their expert

understanding of diversity and cultural responsiveness within the school system

and showed their adoration for their student’s academic and cultural individuality.

The demographics in Educator A’s class are fairly diverse. In a class of 21

students, 2 students are on IEPs, 6 students are ELL and receive services throughout

the day, and 4 other students speak another language at home. Though these

particular students do not have English as their home language, they do not receive

ELL services and do not qualify for the ELL program within the system. When asking

Educator A what her definition of diversity is, she responds simply by saying that it

is the different abilities shown through children and they share information and

express knowledge and traditions. This is immediately seen throughout the lesson

that I observed. This particular literacy lesson was observed in a kindergarten

classroom at Brown Elementary School in Natick, Ma on April 27, 2015. During the

literacy block, Educator A teaches students about finding the most important part of
a book through demonstration, group discussion, and partner work. While Educator

A is teaching her lesson, I looked behind her and notice several books categorized

into colored bins. This corresponds with the question I asked Educator A earlier, as I

wondered what kind of books are in the classroom that promote diversity. Educator

explained that she has many holiday books, open circle books, and grade level books

(higher and lower). These books are used in Educator A’s literacy lesson.

I notice during the literacy lesson many methods and accommodations that

Educator A uses to enhance cultural responsiveness. Specifically, curriculum

vocabulary is identified and discussed; directions were repeated when necessary,

steps were writing on the board according to the lessons directions, and seating on

the rug was assigned. Aside from these cultural responsive methods and

accommodations, Educator A later tells me she uses DRAs to develop a sense of skill

level from the students, and often uses read arounds and cut and grow methods to

enhance learning. When asking what accommodations Educator A finds useful when

dealing with diverse learners, she make it clear that she has a lot of help within the

classroom; specifically the kindergarten teacher has an interventionist for her lower

students in the room for half of the day, an ELL specialist, a reading specialist, and a

paraprofessional for about an hour a day.

The interview questions I presented to Educator A and the responses that

were given prove her understanding and empathy towards diversity, whether it be

cultural or academic. She too believes that she is successful in impacting diverse

learners since she continuously questions the students and individualizes their

assessments and activities, especially in language arts where reading levels can be
altered and simplified. She shares that in order to celebrate diversity, she invites

families to come into the classroom and teach the students about their culture.

Within this past year, a guest in the classroom has been a parent who taught

Educator A’s students about the Chinese New Year. Educator A also reveals her

biggest challenge with diversity in the classroom and surprisingly; she admits that it

is dealing with the parents. Se struggles to make them realize that students are

natural learners and that progression takes time. My closing question to Educator A

during our interview was what she has learned through the years in working in such

a diverse environment. She responds by stating that it is important to acknowledge

the diversity by allowing kids to be able to show their knowledge and equally as

important to be flexible in teaching in order to meet the student’s needs.

Educator B teaches in the classroom adjacent to Educator A. In this

kindergarten classroom, 3 students are on IEPs, 2 students receive ELL services, and

3 students speak a different language at home without receiving services from the

ELL program. Educator B reflected upon her definition of diversity in a similar way

as Educator A. She responded in a generalized statement by saying that diversity is

the combination of differences among people, whether they are academic, cultural,

or behavioral. Educator B strives to promote respect and appreciation for all

members of their classroom and any visitors throughout the day. This way, young

students learn the importance of acceptance.

The lesson that I observed took place on April 28th, 2015 during a math

period. The objectives of the math lesson are to introduce measurement by using a

stack of 10 cubes. Much like the other kindergarten class, Educator B’s classroom
has assigned seating on the rug as well as assigned partners for the activity. As

stated earlier, Educator B believes that this is an important accommodation for

diverse learners and Educator B is careful when making these decisions. Curriculum

vocabulary is clearing written in the front of the room so that students are able to

physically see the words and definitions. This too is another accommodation that

Educator B finds helpful during her lessons. Educator B does an outstanding job

modeling the directions for her kindergarten students before allowing them to

independently complete the math activity. “Modeling for my students is the most

important method when working with a diverse classroom” Educator B insists.

Educator B also values the information learned through her RETELL class taken last

year. This course, a new requirement for teacher to help adapt to ELL learners,

introduces ways to accommodate students who are learning English.

The social students unit in the kindergarten curriculum seems to promote

cultural differences among students. Educator B uses this curriculum to celebrate

and acknowledge diversity in her classroom, especially during the holiday season.

Kindergarten students study the different holidays and learn about other cultures

through this curriculum. Educator B also praises ELL testing, although she makes it

clear that she does not administer this test. Instead, students are taken out of the

room and tested on their understanding of the English language.

Throughout her years in working with children, Educator B admits that her

biggest challenge has been recognizing and challenging those students who exceed

expectations at grade levels. She acknowledges that she tends to pay closer

attention to those students struggling rather than those not being challenged by the
curriculum material. She does however believe that she is successful in impacting

diverse learners because she teaches lower grade levels. In kindergarten, she

explained, there is so much room for growth and development. I ended our

interview by asking what she has learned through her years educating in a diverse

environment. Educator B keeps her answers short by simply saying that “diversity

makes the world go ‘round.”

 Interview Questions

1. What are the demographics in your classroom?

2. What is your definition of diversity?

3. What teaching methods/assessments are used to enhance cultural

responsiveness?

4. Do you think you’re successful in impacting diverse learners? Why or why

not?

5. What accommodations do you find yourself doing with diverse

learners/culturally diverse students?

6. How do you celebrate/encourage/acknowledge diversity in the classroom?

7. What kinds of books do you have in your classroom to promote diversity?

8. What is your biggest challenge when dealing with diversity/?

9. What have you learned through the years in working in such a diverse

environment?
 Reflection

During my time observing and interviewing these two educators, I realized

that many of the their philosophies about diversity within their classrooms are

similar to my own cultural responsiveness to students. For the most part, both

educators actively responded to their diverse students. Specifically, ELL students

were given extra support during independent work time. As both lessons included

new vocabulary, Educator A and Educator B made sure to explain the meaning of

each work (for example, Educator B took the time to explain the difference between

longer and shorter while showing examples for clarification). Both educators

stressed the importance of modeling for diverse learners and proved this

importance during their lessons. One suggestion I would have for both classrooms

would be to take a look through their classroom libraries. Though I know it is

difficult to chose books for young grade levels, both educators were unsure of which

books they had that contained any sort of diversity, aside from books about

holidays.

In relation to the educational philosophes students this semester, I would

classify both educators as a happy median between existentialism, realism, and

pragmatism. Although these teachers took on the role of a facilitator, allowing

students the opportunity to play an active role in their learning, they were also role

models for the students and encouraged them to ask questions and guided

discussions.