The Culturally Responsive Teacher
For this week's module, we covered what it is to be a culturally responsive teacher. To be a culturally responsive teacher means to be educated in cultures as a teacher, or cultural competence, and to tie it into their teaching. To have representation of all cultures for their students and to have the students be able to connect their education with their own cultures. To achieve this I want to place importance on how we as teachers must be humble, patient, reflective, and courageous. Humble in that we must recognize that as much as we educate ourselves on certain topics, we will never fully comprehend what it is like to have certain experiences that cultures different than ours will experience. It would be naive to say we know everything, so when a peer or student wants to educate us we must listen and learn. Patience with educating our students and the process it takes to achieve that. Reflective in that at the end of every day we look back at what we did, and how we can be better for the next day. And courageous for our students, to stand up for them and to be their voice.
As said in the module, this is not a sunshine and rainbows topic and it does not have to be. These topics need to be covered because to avoid it is to erase people's real experiences and will hold us back from being better teachers for the next generation. Educating ourselves on these topics might look different for everyone. Some of us have gone through certain experiences so we know firsthand, and others have not and will have to take that extra step to learn. But if we want to be the best for our students it is necessary to place importance on being culturally responsive. And yes, it is easier said than done, but when has teaching ever been easy? If we want to be teachers we have to be all in, and that includes situations like these. I wrote down many words for my word it assignment but like the focus in the cloud, our focus should always be the students. We do this for them.
Hi Bella!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, great blog post! I really enjoyed reading your response. This module really had me thinking of all of the lengths I would go to to make sure my students are being treated fairly. I can totally agree with you that teachers must be humble, patient, reflective, and courageous. Just today I got to experience that when I was observing at Bonham Prekindergarten School. As it was pure chaos going on, the teacher really exemplified being patient with the way she spoke to her students. I got to see how she treated all students the same even though they all came from a wide variety of backgrounds. My question for you is what exactly do you plan on doing to be culturally responsive? Are you already thinking about this or is it something you will have to think about when you actually start teaching?
Hi Bella, I do agree that being a teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs! And it is our responsibility to protect our kids and lead them in the direction to grow. The fact that there is nothin you aren't willing to do shows me how dedicated you are. I do think that educating our students about difficult topics is very important. But as you stated, being culturally responsive is the best way to include everyone. In my word it out, my biggest words were "About" and "students" and through your blog I feel that we can relate to what is most important in our profession. I love the way you explained each part of the significant words and why they matter so much. My favorite would be the way you expressed courage. I feel that with difficult topics, many feel timid and are afraid to share their voices so being that voice for them allows for them to be heard. I enjoyed your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Bella! I do agree that growing right along with your students and being part of that positive growth is one of the best rewards of being a teacher. I think your choice of using “patient” and “reflective” was brilliant to me because often time teachers tend to forget to be patient with their students and even themselves. Also, be reflective on what can be done differently to achieve certain goals and get certain messages/life lessons across to their students. After completing this week’s module, I really took time to think of all the lengths I would take, and similar to you I strongly believe I would do whatever it takes. Because doing so will help create that sense of equity and unity within the classroom setting. I really enjoyed your blog, I thought it was great to read!
ReplyDeleteHello Madyson! Thank you so much. I truly believe the biggest skill we need as teachers, especially with the littles, is patience. But the truth is that is the bare minimum of what we must provide as teachers. Students deserve to have someone that is understanding and will give them good energy five days a week. It is easier said than done, but sometimes we might be the only good energy they will experience that day and children need everyone they can get in their corner. I am thrilled to see you relate in that you would do anything and I am so excited to see us in our future classrooms.
DeleteI loved your blog this week Bella. I think you made a really important point when you said "as much as we educate ourselves on certain topics, we will never fully comprehend what it is like to have certain experiences that cultures different than ours will experience." This is something that I think about a lot. Unless you share the same experience as someone, you will never be able to truly understand what they are going through. It is so important to learn about others' experiences in order to be empathetic, but it is also very important to acknowledge and recognize that without having those shared experiences we will never understand how they truly feel. For instance as a white person I can read and educate myself as much as I want on racism and microaggressions but at the end of the day I cannot claim to understand the full extent of how those things feel when they are directed at you, because I have not experienced them. I think this is a really important step in order to move forward and do your best to make a conducive learning environment for children of color that often gets overlooked so I'm glad you brought it up.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! And I am glad you understand. When learning about experiences that we will never experience, our only job is listening. We have the privilege of not being able to share a personal view on it. To be an educated ally is to humbly listen and stand up for what is right. I am sure there will be times in our classrooms when we have to advocate for our students of color and others which we will learn from them. For everything they teach us, we must listen and empathize to the best of our abilities and thank them for sharing and educating us on something that is never easy.
DeleteHi Bella! I absolutely love your blog this week. I feel that you expanded on all of your ideas so thoroughly. I like how you highlighted the importance of having students at the center of it all. Students should be the priority. Leaving behind the ego and focusing on the needs of students is the most effective way to teach. I think patience is a virtue that has not been exercised as much as it should in educational settings. If a student does not learn, or if they require more attention in order to succeed, many teachers will label it as an inability to learn. Patience for every student is very important. Teaching can be very rewarding, but it is in no way easy. We must come from a selfless place within so students are treated fairly and without the negativity that comes from the ego. Really great job on this blog!
ReplyDeleteHello Ashley! Thank you so much I appreciate that. And I think you worded it perfectly. When I have struggled in class with my ADHD I would see myself excelling in the classrooms with teachers that took the time to help me learn my way. They inspire me to go that extra mile for my students. And if we come from a selfless place and lose the ego, then we will be better teachers for our students.
DeleteHi Bella, I think you did a great job on your blog this week! I think you did a great job explaining the objectives that we talked about this week. For example, cultural competence and implementing it as a teacher, I believe this is really important to be cognizant of. I like how you explained that this is not a sunshine and rainbow topic because it is not teachers need to be educated on this to better help there students. Teaching is not an easy job like some make it out to be so being culturally aware and aware of all the issues talked about in this weeks lesson is very important. Thank you for blogging this week it was a great read.
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