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Signature Assignment Reflection Paper

Julia Barrett

Arizona State University

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Signature Assignment Reflection Paper

My Career Path

In my near future, I can see myself as a Youth Ministry Director at a nondenominational

church. My husband is studying to become a Pastor, and it is one of our dreams to work in the

same church. I have always loved working with and teaching children, as I grew up volunteering

in the Sunday school youth classes. Therefore, I see myself professionally in this career. It is

important to enter into my career with a clear vision of cultural awareness because by doing so I

will have a greater impact on my students. Having good cultural awareness is very beneficial as

an educator because it allows you to have a multicultural classroom, which will ultimately

benefit the students.

What I've Learned

Throughout this course, I have learned about the achievement gap in America. According

to the American Institutes For Research, the Achievement Gap refers to the "disparity in

academic performance between different groups of students" (2017). According to The Teacher

Educators' Journal, some causes of the Achievement Gap include "gender, racial, and ethnic

differences between teachers and students" and students living in "poverty, students living with

parents who were less educated, and students who were non-white" (2020, pg. 99-100).

For example, in the video "Supporting States to Close the Education Achievement Gap," I

learned that in Minnesota, "87% of Minnesota white high school seniors graduated… while only

52% of Native American seniors graduated" (2017). As a future educator in the church, I will

ensure students are provided equal opportunities to achieve success by providing sufficient time

and extra support for each student when needed, being sensitive to students' home cultures, and

use effective strategies to reach my diverse learners. My knowledge of being a culturally

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responsive educator through my insight on the achievement gap has developed throughout this

course because I used to not know about this concept, yet now I feel educated on it and feel as

though I can take steps to bridge the gap.

I have also learned about the importance of incorporating pop culture into the classroom

in order to help students have fun and have topics that are relatable to their life. Gustavo

Fischman uses comics to bring fun and joy into the classroom. He suggests that you can use a

familiar and fun concept of comics to then teach greater lessons to students (Fischman, 1998).

According to the TeachThought Staff, incorporating pop culture into the classroom allows

teachers to “meet students where they are.” They go on to say that “meeting students where their

interests lie allows educators to better communicate with their pupils” (2013). I will incorporate

pop culture into my classroom in order to relate to my students and to meet them where their

interests are. I can do this by making pop culture references or using pop culture graphics in our

lessons. This way, students will desire to be more engaged. My knowledge of being a culturally

responsive educator through the use of pop culture has developed through this course because at

the beginning I did not know the benefits of incorporating pop culture into the classroom, yet

now I have learned various benefits of this strategy.

Lastly, I have learned about hidden curriculum in this course. According The Glossary Of

Education Reform, Hidden Curriculum is defined as the “the unwritten, unofficial, and often

unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school” (2015). I desire to

have the hidden curriculum in my classroom to teach the children the love of Jesus and the truth

that they are created by God and so loved by him. I believe students will not want to listen unless

they feel cared for and respected, so my actions towards the students and how I treat them is a

huge part of my hidden curriculum. I have to first demonstrate the love of Jesus in order for them
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to know it. According to Merfat Ayesh Alsubaie in his article “Hidden Curriculum as One of

Current Issue of Curriculum,” hidden curriculum such as Hidden expectations, skill sets,

knowledge, and social process can help or hinder student achievement and belief systems”

(2015). I desire to have my hidden curriculum of love to be one that helps my student’s learning

experience and their beliefs. My knowledge of being a culturally responsive educator through the

use of hidden curriculum has developed throughout this course because at the beginning I did not

know what this concept was, yet now I feel confident in incorporating hidden curriculum into my

classroom.

Culturally Responsive Educational Leader

I have learned a lot in this class about what it means to be a culturally responsive

educational leader. According to Kristina Daluddung in her article “Being Culturally Responsive

In the Classroom,” she states that “culturally relevant or responsive teaching is a pedagogy

grounded in teachers’ displaying cultural competence: skill at teaching in a cross-cultural or

multicultural setting.” She also suggests that “teachers using this method encourage each student

to relate course content to his or her cultural context. In doing so, teachers enrich students’

classroom experiences and ensure student engagement” (Dalunddung, 2019). Additionally, Dr.

James A Banks has five dimensions of multicultural education. His first being content integration

which means integrating various races and cultures into the curriculum. The second is knowledge

construction which Banks states as “teachers help[ing] students to understand, investigate, and

determine the implicit cultural assumptions and frames of reference and perspectives of the

discipline they’re teaching” (Banks, 1998). The third being equity pedagogy in which “teachers

change their methods to enable kids from diverse racial groups and both genders to achieve”

(Banks, 1998).The fourth is prejudice reduction which is teachers working to reduce prejudice in
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the classroom. The fifth is empowering school culture and social structure which is defined as

“looking not just at individual classrooms, but at the total school culture to see how to make it

more equitable” (Banks, 1998). With this knowledge, I can be culturally responsive in my

classroom by using Dr. Banks five dimensions of multicultural education and implementing each

of his strategies. By integrating various cultures into the curriculum, helping students understand

a variety of cultures, working to help my diverse learners achieve, working to reduce prejudice in

the classroom, and empowering my churches culture and social structure, I can better equip my

classroom for multicultural education.

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References:

American Institutes For Research. (2017, January 17). Supporting States to Close the Education

Achievement Gap. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0baRZE-_1U

Banks, J. and Tucker, M. (1998).”Multiculturalism’s Five Dimensions.” Retrieved from:

https://learner.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/3.Multiculturalism.pdf NEA Today

Online.

Dalunddung, Kristina. April 13, 2019. “Being Culturally Responsive In the Classroom.”

Retrieved from: https://smarteld.org/being-culturally-responsive-in-the-classroom/

Fischman, G. (1998).”Rethinking the Relationships Between Popular Culture and Schooling:

Ideas from Cartoons, Teaching.” Retrieved from:

https://www-tandfonline-

com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/10476210.1998.10335495?

_ga=2.194513197.1002634045.1606748462-

195933485.1551294848&_gac=1.153629002.1603930521.Cj0KCQjwreT8BRDTARIsA

JLI0KIuBKGby4pQ6GGAKPdQjdd1Xe6V-

1W6PPsPo2TVVRwch5WeNwcWwIgaAsv8EALw_wcB 9:2, pp. 55-66.

Merfat Ayesh Alsubaie. (2015). “Hidden Curriculum as One of Current Issue of Curriculum.”

Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083566.pdf

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TeachThought Staff. March 10, 2013. “8 Tips for Integrating Pop Culture In The Classroom.”

Retrieved from: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/8-tips-for-integrating-pop-

culture-in-the-classroom/

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2015). “Hidden Curriculum.” Retrieved from:

https://www.edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum/

The Teacher Educators' Journal. (2020). "Causes of and Solutions to the Achievement Gap:

Teachers’ Perceptions." Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1095644.pdf