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GAGUINE MASTER’S PORTFOLIO

Diversity

A teacher teaches with respect for their individual and cultural characteristics.

Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the need to consider individual differences

and diverse communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that allow each learner

to meet high standards and of how providing differentiation of instruction in the areas of

content, process, product, or learning environment is in the best interests of the students.

America’s schools are more diverse now than they ever have been. Understanding that

each child comes from a different background and has a different home culture is just a fact of

being an educator today. Luckily, teachers have the skills to work with each and every student in

their classroom. The key to working with students (and their families) is to build positive

relationships. No matter what kind of diversity is in your classroom – learning differences, ethnic

and culturally diversity, socio economic status, gender – it all comes down to creating

relationships with your students and their families and holding them to the high expectations that

they are capable of. To quote my dear friend and fellow teacher, Callie Conerton, it’s all about

letting each student know that “You can do hard things.” My culminating prezi presentation from

ED 680 focuses on what culturally responsive teaching is, and how it applies to students in

Alaska.

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is about being aware of a student’s home culture.

“Culture, it turns out, is the way that every brain makes sense of the world. That is why

everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, has a culture.” (Hammond, 2015, p.22). Assuming that

a child of a certain ethnicity has a certain home culture, or value system, just because of the color

of their skin, is not what culturally responsive teaching is. It’s about learning about each child,

and the family they come from, and finding ways to connect and help encourage them to
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challenge themselves and to love learning. During my student teaching, I would eat lunch with

the children, and it was a great way to get to know the students on a personal level. Often during

class time and lessons, there isn’t the time for deep connection, and the more we know about the

students and their home lives, the better we can help them connect to the material we teach. “A

teacher’s learning about a student’s past experiences, home and community culture, and world in

and out of school helps build relationships by increasing the use of these experiences in the

context of teaching and learning.” (Krasnoff, 2016, p.2). By getting to know each child in the

room, and forming positive relationships with their families, we find more ways to connect the

child’s world to content that will help them develop into the adults they dream of becoming –

adults who can succeed in the world and help shape it into a society that accepts all people.

Unfortunately, this is not the world we currently live in, which is why teaching with everyone’s

culture in mind, and helping children understand that differences are not only okay, but a way to

make us stronger, is so important.

And as I mention in my prezi, this is just one of the reasons that culturally responsive

teaching in Alaskan schools is so necessary. Dr. Rosita Kaaháni Worl, president of Sealaska

Heritage Institute, says, “Studies have shown that Native students do better academically when

their culture is included in the class.” She continues, “It is critical that Native cultures are

incorporated into public schools and that teachers have a general understanding of the cultures

[they are teaching].” (as cited in Parry, 2017, p.76). The brain incorporates new information

much more easily when it can be absorbed into the schema of information that is already present.

This is why I start almost all of my lessons that I can connecting what the children thinking they

know and past experiences they’ve had in the classroom. Linking new knowledge to past

experiences or past information allows children a gateway to absorbing what we are asking them
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to learn. Without knowing about the child’s past experiences, or worse assuming wrongly that

everyone has the same experiences, we automatically leave a large portion of our classrooms out

in the cold, asking them to fend for themselves to make personal connections to learning.

Often these differences are seen as something that benefits minority culture. But as

Hammond (2015) points out above, every home has a culture, because everyone views the world

a little differently. I would always make it a goal to be in the hallway when parents would come

to pick up their children, because these small moments of connection can help me make more

connections about a child’s home experience. For example, knowing a funny story about Billy’s

weekend that his grandma just told me, could help me encourage him to write a short about that

experience. If we can change our perceptions to thinking of culturally responsive teaching to

being in tune with student’s home culture, we can quickly see how it can help all the students in

our classrooms.

Majority culture students have just as much to benefit from culturally responsive teaching

as minority culture children do. According to an NPR article by Anya Kamenetz (2015) about

integrated schools, “‘Diverse schools, especially when kids attend them at an early age, are

linked to cross-racial friendships," says Siegel-Hawley (as cited by Kamenetz 2015). ‘Your

willingness to stereotype declines, and that in turn is linked to a reduction in prejudice.’ …

[B]eing comfortable with difference may become a competitive necessity [in the future].”

(Kamenetz, 2015). We need to show children that the diversity of our classrooms helps them to

make real connections with people outside their own culture, which allows for a larger

worldview. I am Jewish, and I love to share my celebrations and food with my students to help

expose them to a different cultural traditions than what is considered mainstream in our town.
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But diversity in the classroom doesn’t just stop at culture, it’s also important for teachers to

understand that people learn differently as well.

Diversity also applies to the ways we deliver content, often called differentiation.

Differentiation is imperative in making sure that children are given multiple ways to connect

with material that is being taught. One approach to this differentiation is called Universal Design

for Learning (UDL). “UDL is about taking your skill, your passion, and your craft and designing

your lessons with embedded options so they are relevant, accessible, and challenging to all

students.” (Novak, 2016, p. 15). By offering multiple ways to connect with lessons and new

information, we allow more chances for every child to succeed.

In conclusion, I have learned and attempted to put into practice the importance of

forming positive and deep relationships with my students and their families. By getting to know

a child’s family and their home lives better, it allows me to connect their previous experiences

and personal schema to help peak their interests and learn more fully the subject matter. And by

making sure to learn how a child connects with information and giving them multiple ways to do

so through differentiated instruction, I also help them to integrate their new knowledge in a way

that will stick.

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References:

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain: promoting authentic
engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Krasnoff, B. (2016) Culturally responsive teaching: A guide to evidence-based practices for

teaching all students equitably. Region X equity assistance center, education NW.
Retrieved from https://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/resources/culturally-
responsive-teaching.pdf

Kamenetz, A. (October 19 2015) The evidence that white children benefit from integrated
schools. National Public Radio. Retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10 /19/446085513/the-evidence-that-white-
children-benefit-from-integrated-schools

Novak, K. (2016) UDL now: A teacher’s guide to applying universal design for learning in
today’s classrooms. Wakefield, MA: CAST publishing.

Parry, R. (2017) Cultural education in Alaska: Helping Alaska native students find the path to
success. Alaska Business Monthly. Volume 33 (Issue 9), p72-77. Retrieved from
https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/ps/i.do?ty=as&v=2.1&u=ak_sdlc_web&it=
DIourl&s=RELEVANCE&p=SUIC&qt=TI~%22Cultural%20education%20in
%20Alaska%3A%20helping%20Alaska%20native%20students%20find%20the%20path
%20to%20success%22~~AU~Perry%2C%20Richard~~IU~9~~PU~%22Alaska
%20Business%20Monthly%22~~VO~33&lm=DA~120170901&sw=w