Personal Vignette on Cultural Pedagogical Practice

I have a student named Tally, for the purposes of this assignment, and she would refuse
to do her part in group projects. The situation of the classroom was to have all students play
handbells, a handheld musical instrument. Each student is assigned a set of handbells to play
in order to play a full song. This student would constantly ask her friends to get her bells for her.
The students that would help her are Chinese and dont hold themselves confidently. I noticed
that Tally would take advantage of their social status in school to ask them to do her tasks. I
kept record of this and mentioned it to her. She said that she gets her own bells all the time.
We had a back and forth and she refused to see why it was important to be apart of the class
and learn where her bells are. Since her bells were already brought to her, I stated that she
would get these bells from now on and that its important for her as a student and musician.
I began to treat the situation and my classroom differently. I decided to makes sure that
every student should treat each other like they would like to be treated. Everyone must respect
themselves and others. Everyone must present their ideas and opinions respectfully. Everyone
must care about the ensemble as a whole and focus on the positive momentum of the group. I
also changed our repertoire in order to reflect the culture in the classroom.
The class and I went over the rules and we all agreed that we all want the best for
themselves and the ensemble. The student, Tally, started retrieving her own bells for the sake
of the group. These rules also allowed the strengths of the other students thrive. Many of the
students are from China and I began selecting music for them to play based from Chinese folk
songs. The Chinese students began to perk up and behave more engaged in class. I would
then ask them about the sing allowing them to feel like their contributions matter in the
classroom.