Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY-APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION 1

The Culturally Aware and Hands-on Classroom

Ashley Speelman

Regent University

Author Note

In partial fulfillment of UED 496

DEVELOPMENTALLY-APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION 2

The Culturally Aware and Hands-on Classroom

It is crucial that students receive hands-on educational opportunities in a classroom

environment where they are comfortable and safe. Active learning strategies involve the learner

in the educational growth. Renwick (1999) hands-on activities in education increase student

learning. It is important for a teacher to realize, however, though the teacher could plan

extremely detailed and instructional hands-on demonstrations for the classroom, if a student does

not feel safe in that classroom, it will be all for nothing. It is of paramount importance that

students feel safe in the classroom. Teachers are responsible for not only contributing to the

academic needs of a student but also the social and emotional needs of that student. A prime

example of how a teacher could make a child feel safer in the classroom is celebrating diversity

and spreading cultural awareness throughout the classroom.

Artifact Rationale

My first artifact is a photograph of a hands-on math lesson. The concept I was teaching

was the inverse property, and we used balances and blocks to demonstrate. Students would take a

certain number of two different colored blocks to “add together”. The students would keep the

same numbers but flop the colors in the next cup. I explained that in addition we can switch

numbers in different orders if we choose to. Students observed the balance. I asked them if one

cup weighed more than the other because we changed the colors. They answered no, and I

explained that was because the inverse property tells us that addends can be reordered, but the

mathematician would still get the same result. The students got to personally touch and

manipulate the inverse property using blocks and a scale rather than just hearing me talking

about it or watching a funny video about it. One could also notice in this artifact that the pair of

students are two different races showing culturally diverse grouping.

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The second artifact was chosen because it too was hands-on and demonstrates cultural

awareness. This lesson was an AVID lesson on collaboration, one of the school’s WICOR

strategies. In this lesson, students demonstrated how good citizens collaborate by working in

groups to stack cups using a rubber band with strings tied to it. Though, as a class, we did discuss

citizenship in a whole group lecture type lesson on the carper, we used this activity in order for

students to make a hands-on connection. The reinforcement was good for students who did not

seem to pay as good attention in the whole group lesson. The hands-on lesson was significantly

more engaging for the students and spiked their interest more than a pair and share or Brain Pop

video would have. This artifact also displays cultural diversity in the various groups. There are

students of several races grouped together in each team.

Reflection

Howard Gardner proposed in his book, Frame of Mind: The Theory of Multiple

Intelligence (1983), that people may learn in different ways. For example, some students could

benefit from working in groups while others may be better off learning on their own. Another

example could be that some students may learn better through dance or music and some may

excel higher in mathematical practices than word. Lucille Renwek (1999) made the connection in

her article on hands-on learning that students who are visual and kinesthetic learners often

benefit the most from hands-on activities because students can see the process or manipulate the

process physically in a hands-on activity. Hands-on learning experiences allow students to use

more of their senses in the learning process. A student can learn about living and nonliving things

from a textbook, or a student can touch living and nonliving objects to compare. In a lesson, one

can talk about synonyms and antonyms, or a teacher can provide students items to sort as

synonyms or antonyms.
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“The achievement gap between children living in poverty and certain ethnic minorities

and their more affluent majority peers remains a persistent and perplexing problem”

(Underwood, 2009). As educators, we should be seeking to bridge that diversity achievement

gap. Part of bridging that gap could be a teacher being purposefully inclusive of all groups. As a

Christian, it should be our goal to be inclusive. John 3:16 reminds Christians that God loved the

world, not just a certain group. In the Gospels, the reader can see Christ constantly breaking

racial barriers to show compassion. An example could be His interactions with the woman at the

well or His parable of the Good Samaritan. Like Christ, the Christian teacher should be willing to

step outside of racial barriers in order to make meaningful connections with all students.
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Reflections

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic

Books.

Renwick, L. (2004). Hands-on learning. Instructor (1999), 113(5), 9. Retrieved from

http://eres.regent.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.regent.edu/docview/224390517?accountid=13479

Underwood, P. S. (2009). Effects of culturally -responsive teaching practices on first grade

students' reading comprehension and vocabulary gains (Order No. 3385316). Available

from Education Database. (304878599). Retrieved from

http://eres.regent.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.regent.edu/docview/304878599?accountid=13479