Culturally Responsive Teaching

In Chapter 3, there is a big emphasis on diversity in the classroom. According to the text, cultural diversity is referred to "a wide variety of background, languages, customs, and environments represented within the larger society or a give classroom." Teachers should learn to respect a child's home cultural by valuing what they can bring to the classroom. Allowing students to bring in their cultural backgrounds to the classroom will make students have meaningful connection to their education. Last semester, I taught a lesson in a 5th grade classroom that I incorporated their names and community into an antonym and synonym lesson. The students were very engaged in the lesson, and were excited to see their names in the lesson. This lesson helped me understand the importance of culturally responsive instruction.

In the graphic above, the model of culturally responsive teaching can be applied to English Language Learners. In the blue part of the graphic, it says, "bringing native language into the classroom." There are many ways that a teacher can do this in the classroom. Teachers should allow for text in English, but also text in their native languages. Also, there should also have labels around the room in their native language. Teachers should also have the ELL students teach the other students in the classroom some of their native language, such as greetings. If the teacher shows that they value the students native language, students will become more engaged in the classroom. The yellow part of the graphic says, "understanding history and culture." Understanding the students culture will allow the teacher to understand their values and incorporate them into the classroom. For example, if a student comes from a culture where they cannot look at their elders in the eyes, understanding that if the student does not look at you in the eyes is a sign of respect. Not knowing this can cause ethical issues within the classroom. Furthermore, the green area says, "family involvement." Incorporating students families can allow for more educational experiences for the students. Families can be great educational tools within the classroom by allowing them to share their cultures and traditions to the class. Also, according the the text, "it is helpful to talk with parents about their child's level of familiarity with English. When a student is an ELL student, then the parents are a great resource to gadge where they are at in learning English. Also, giving materials to families to have their child practice English at home is also a great way to involve families. Finally, in the orange section, it says, "Community cultural into the classroom." This means bringing in the child's community to make more meaningful connections to the content. Like my example above, students who see themselves in the content, will be more connected to the content, therefore they are more engaged in learning. Using all the sections above create a culturally responsive teacher, and a more meaningful classroom enviroment.

In conclusion, showing interest in the students' native culture and language provides a supportive environment in which future literacy learning can flourish. Allowing students to embrace their cultural and native language will make them more confident in their educational abilities. Trying to eliminate their native language in the classroom with not only hurt there native language abilities, but ruin the experience of learning English. The goal for any ELL student is to become proficient in English, but also proficient in their native language.