Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 203: Teaching with Cultural Intention

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Ep 203: Teaching with Cultural Intention · New Teacher Talk

Welcome to the latest episode of New Teacher Talk,
where we discuss issues that are important to aspiring and
early career educators.
We're here to support you in your rural, suburban,
or urban school practice.
My name is Meg White.
I've been a teacher and a teacher educator for many,
many years.
I hail from the great state of New Jersey.
Go Big Blue!
In this podcast,
I'm going to talk about teaching with cultural intention.
I want to start with two questions for you to consider.
What was your favorite children's book growing up?
What does this book say about your culture?
There's a framework called Windows, Mirrors,
and Sliding Glass Doors,
originated by Emily Style in 1988 and further developed by
Rudine Sims Bishop in 1990.
There's a good chance that the book you just thought of
reflects your own culture or identity or your own lived
experiences.
That would be a mirror.
At early ages,
we read books that provide a sense of belonging with
relatable characters and characters that look like us.
If the book you thought of provides an insight into the
diverse lives of others, that would be a window.
Windows allow us to learn about others.
For some children,
this may be the first time they were exposed to differences
in culture, skin color, religion, or lifestyle.
Maybe the story you thought of is one that allows you to
walk through doors into a story and become part of that
world.
This would be a sliding glass door and results in a
reader's change in perspective.
During a professional development workshop I was
presenting, I had a group of teachers, mostly white,
two black women included.
As the teachers were sharing their favorite books,
like I just asked of you,
one of the black women said that it wasn't until she was 12
years old that she found the first book with characters
that looked like her.
The other teachers in the group found this really striking
as it was something they had never considered before.
Have you?
You see,
when children can't find themselves reflected in the books
they read or the images they see are distorted, negative,
or laughable,
they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in
society for which they are a part.
I offer these suggestions on how to create windows and
mirrors in your classroom.
You want to acknowledge that every story has a mirror and
window possibility.
Emphasize that we live in a diverse society,
that's really important for students to understand,
especially at young ages.
In your classroom you want to provide students with stories
where their backgrounds are represented in a positive light
and where their life experiences are validated.
Discuss themes with your students in stories to unpack
mirror possibilities for all children.
Read stories to them that represent positive aspects of
human spirit and where characters rally together for
collective action.
You yourself want to make sure that you're open to
discussions of inequality that you see in life and in
stories and discuss this with your students.
For example, in social studies and in history,
teachers can use diverse historical narratives to show
students their cultural contributions, which is a mirror,
and examining unfamiliar cultures and traditions,
which is a window.
In health and science,
you can create inclusive health curricula that reflect
diverse bodies, genders, sexual orientations.
That would be a mirror.
You can use case studies to explore global health,
environmental issues,
and scientific advancements from varied regions.
That would be a window.
In math,
think about using word problems in data sets that reflect
diverse cultural contexts, names,
and real-life situations to teach problem solving.
That would be a mirror.
In arts and humanities, you could examine art, music,
or literature from various cultures to challenge normal and
understand different lived experiences.
This would be a window.
In science or STEM,
teachers can highlight contributions from scientists of
various backgrounds to allow students to see themselves in
scientific fields.
That would be a window.
So beyond windows and mirrors,
another problematic curricular choice is the heroes and
holidays approach.
This is where content about ethnic and cultural groups is
limited to certain days, weeks,
or months related to ethnic events and celebrations.
This approach leans heavily on stereotyping because it
relies on superficial representations of people and culture
like foods, costumes, and dances.
Paul Gorsky tells the story of taco night,
where an elementary school holds their annual Cinco de Mayo
celebration.
Students make pinatas, parents and families wear sombreros,
they gather in the cafeteria, and they eat tacos.
Not one Mexican or Mexican-American family attends taco
night.
The families that do attend,
they leave without knowing any more about Mexican culture
than they did when they walked in.
If they did,
they might've learned that Cinco de Mayo is a minor
celebration in Mexico,
but a major holiday in the United States.
What lessons do we learn from taco night?
Mexican culture is synonymous with tacos.
Mexican and Guatemalan are the same, and by extension,
all Spanish-speaking people are the same,
therefore synonymous with tacos, sombreros,
and dancing cucarachas.
White people love tacos,
especially with the hard-corn shells,
which apparently nobody eats in Mexico.
The problem with taco night is that it marginalized Spanish
-speaking cultures to one night,
and it enforces all of those stereotypes.
The heroes and holidays approach is criticized because it
isolates lessons to specific days or month rather than
integrating them year-round.
This includes Black History Month, Women's History Month,
or Indigenous Peoples Month.
If we limit the study of well-known leaders like Rosa
Parks, Sojourner Truth,
or George Washington Carver without incorporating their
broader historical context into the regular curriculum,
or having students dig deeper beyond the most common names
represented, it's also a criticism of heroes and holidays.
Consider, for example,
how we teach about Christopher Columbus as a hero without
mentioning the Native American genocide,
or teaching Hop Finn, but not beloved.
Students consider the struggles of these non-dominant
groups as extra information instead of important knowledge
in their overall understandings of the world.
In your classroom,
do you acknowledge Bullying Awareness Month in October,
or Women's History Month in March?
Because by celebrating these individual months,
teachers reinforce the idea that non-dominant groups only
exist outside of curriculum and on special days, weeks,
or months.
Here's an idea.
Why not ask students to research a famous person that you
haven't heard of,
or you don't know of their accomplishments?
Then ask students to present their person in what's called
a shiitaka.
Students dress in character.
They deliver a speech from this person discussing their
lives and accomplishments.
And this is followed by a question and answer session with
the student answering in character.
The benefits of this,
students engage in lively conversation with people from the
past and practice their public speaking skills.
I've done this with fifth graders and they loved it.
If you want more information on shiitakas,
you can find it on the Colorado Humanities site.
You don't just want to teach about heroes and holidays and
call it culturally responsive.
When the day or month is over,
it's like the teacher saying, now, where were we?
You're reinforcing the idea that the study is limited,
separate, and once it's over,
not spoken of again till next year.
Here's an example in children's literature.
The story of Cinderella, perhaps the best known fairy tale,
is told or read to children of very young ages.
The traditional story of Cinderella widely perpetuates the
heroes and holidays approach because it focuses on
isolated,
idealized figures or heroes rather than the deeper everyday
realities of a culture.
Here's a question for you.
How many variations do you think exist of the beloved story
of Cinderella?
100, 400, 700?
That number is close to 900 with at least 500 variations
found in Europe alone.
Almost every culture has its own version of Cinderella.
The story's prevalence across cultures is largely due to
its universal themes of justice, kindness,
and rags to riches success.
Some of the more popular variations you may have heard of.
In China, it's called Yeh Shin,
and it's a book about a magical fish companion.
This is considered by many to be the oldest version of
Cinderella.
In Zimbabwe, the story is Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters.
A Native American version is the rough-faced girl,
and that features a girl with scars from a fire.
From Mexico comes the story of Adelita, and in India,
there is anklet for a princess.
Ask yourself this question,
do I continue to teach the same stories that have been
passed on for generations,
or do I challenge the curriculum by integrating more
diverse narratives?
Teaching different variations of Cinderella can foster
cultural awareness, critical thinking,
and empathy in children.
Because children begin to understand that while core themes
of kindness and justice are universal,
cultural values and traditions differ around the world.
In your classroom,
you might read the Disney version of Cinderella to students
and provide different variations for students to read and
compare them.
You can ask students what elements of culture are seen in
the stories, have them find a persecuted hero or heroine,
mean relatives, magic help, beautiful clothing,
a party or festival,
and then have them note the cultural differences.
Students can draw a scene from one or both stories,
but other students can find the location of the story on a
map.
And these can all be displayed and shared in your
classroom.
For younger grades, you could do the same thing,
you might just ask four questions.
Who's the main character?
What is their problem?
How's the problem solved?
And what was the reward at the end?
In her very popular Ted Talk, The Danger of a Single Story,
Chima Manda Ngozi Adiche warns viewers that reducing people
or cultures to one, often stereotypical narrative,
creates incomplete biased views.
It highlights how power defines and repeats these
narratives, and that leads to distorted,
harmful and dehumanizing perceptions.
If you've not seen her talk, I highly recommend it.
You also want to consider your own bias.
Your own personal,
cultural and community provide a lens through which you
view the world and interpret your everyday experiences.
Your worldview has been shaped by events from your
childhood, school years, religious life, race, ethnicity,
class, family background.
Consider how your values influence your attitudes towards
children.
Do you relate difference to deficiency?
In your classroom,
you want to make sure every child who enters feels that
they can be successful.
Look around your classroom and ask yourself whether all of
your students can find relatable visuals and props from a
variety of backgrounds.
Think about ethnicity, language, ability, gender identity,
and socioeconomic experiences.
You want to stay away from materials that perpetuate those
stereotypes or negative depictions of diverse communities.
In creating a culturally responsive classroom,
you build strong relationships with students and their
families.
Make sure you learn how to say students' names.
Consider the funds of knowledge students bring to your
classroom, their language, culture.
Try to incorporate diverse representative literature and
materials so that you can leverage students' cultural
capital in lessons.
Let students identify their strengths and interests,
maybe with a questionnaire or posters that can be hung
around your classroom.
Some other activities that encourage culturally responsive
teaching.
Family history mapping.
Students interview family members about their origins and
lineage.
Musical literary analysis.
Use popular songs to analyze literary techniques, themes,
and social commentary.
You can use dual language storybooks.
You can have students and their families write their own
stories in both English and in their home language.
Have the students share these with the rest of the class.
An activity for middle and upper grades is a gallery walk.
In your classroom first,
you will identify a social inequity.
Immigration, healthcare, gay rights, criminal justice,
public education, or income inequality.
Students consider the following questions.
Who is negatively impacted by this inequity in society or
in your community?
What groups of students may be negatively impacted by this
inequity in your classroom?
Who may be potentially unable to see this as a problem?
What possible actions can you take to address this
injustice?
And what would you hope to be the result of those actions?
Students create posters and display them around the
classroom.
You can have students walk around in pairs or small groups
and visit each poster,
taking notes or leaving sticky notes with comments as they
go along.
Students present their posters and notes at the end of
class.
Some other guidelines for teaching in upper grades.
Enlarge and diversify the list of people you suggest for
student research.
Personalize the assignment.
Encourage the use of varied and primary sources.
Examine how the person changed over time.
How could this person's work have been strengthened?
In your classroom,
acknowledge and respect different cultural heritages.
Teach students to understand and appreciate their own and
others' cultural heritages.
Recognize the strengths and contributions of individuals
from historically underrepresented groups.
You can use a wide variety of instructional techniques,
role-playing exercises, multimedia projects,
current events, discussions, storytelling,
social media campaigns that align with the way in which
student is taught in his or her own culture.
Expand the traditional curriculum to ensure that diverse
perspectives are embedded into your classes,
your knowledge, your resources,
your materials in all of your subjects.
In closing, every student should see their own heritage,
language and lived experiences reflected in your
classroom.
Students need to understand the lives of others to disrupt
those single-story stereotypes.
Ultimately, this is not just about representation,
it's about creating a learning environment where every
student feels valued and empowered to succeed.
In doing so,
teachers create an environment where every student feels
seen and can meet with academic success.
Alan Alda once said,
your assumptions are your windows on the world,
scrub them off every once in a while or the light won't
come in.
If you challenge your own,
you won't be so quick to accept the unchallenged
assumptions of others.
Thanks for listening.
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