Savage et al. (2011) make reference to the school in the film that inspired me to develop my inquiry question, Precious Knowledge. The authors believe that the program implemented for Chicano students in high schools in Tucson, Arizona, is the best documented case of a successful program where culturally responsive pedagogy leads to increased academic achievement. The aim of culturally responsive teaching is to reduce academic disparities between students of minority groups and students of the dominant culture by increasing students’ competencies in order to sustain their cultural resources (Ladson-Billings as cited in Debnam et al., 2015). Richards and Vining state how important education is for Indigenous people specifically, noting that “education represents a key pathway to ameliorating negative outcomes (as cited in Debnam et al., 2015).

Ebersole et al. (2016) note the difference between teaching about something versus teaching through something. This is the difference between creating lesson plans that either incorporate culturally responsive activities (teaching about) or with a culturally responsive perspective (teaching through). A teacher in Ebersole et al.’s study notes, “… you already teach through a culture… As teachers we all infuse culture every minute, every second during the day in our classrooms and we are not conscious of it.” (Ebersole et al., 2016, p.101). Lewthwaite et al. (2014) offer simple practices students in a Yukon First Nation setting respond well to, such as allowing more physical space and extra time for students to respond to questions. What is critical is that the teachers in Lewthwaite et al.’s study implement “low-inference behaviours” which correspond to the preferred teaching practices of their communities (2014). Rather than explicitly teaching about First Nations content, they “respond to the learning styles, pattern performances, and interests (Gay, 2000) of their students” (Lewthwaite et al., 2014, p. 19). Another First Nations principle is that learning should be holistic and lifelong (McIntosh et al. 2014).

In Curtis Rattray’s presentation, he emphasized the significance of sovereignty and personal autonomy to Indigenous Peoples. It is important that we, as teachers, show our students respect by giving them autonomy (C. Rattray, personal communication, November 23, 2016). Our students should know exactly what is expected of them, and we need to give them autonomy to fulfill these expectations without always explicitly telling them what to do. I will definitely show all of my students respect by giving them the freedom to experiment and to learn things on their own, but I may need to guide them in order for this to be most effective.

What has become clear to me now is that the best way to implement culturally responsive teaching is through the subtle practices teachers incorporate into their everyday teaching. A key element to linking my inquiry question to practice is that my implementation must be responsive to my students. My teaching practices should reflect what they need, and until I meet them at the beginning of my practicum I can only speculate as to what my teaching methods will be. My anticipated explicit implementation strategies will be:

– Incorporating First Peoples story-telling techniques of humor and repetition (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2015).

– Showing my students respect by giving them personal autonomy in our learning environment (C. Rattray, personal communication, November 23, 2016). This can be done through giving my students academic freedom to pursue their topic of choice on certain assignments, for example.

– I will include First Peoples Principles of Learning in all of my unit plans.

– Explicitly discussing connections to the land, the role of family, and the relationships between the individual and community (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2015).

This will be most successful when all stakeholders are involved in changing schools in order to implement culturally responsive teaching practices (Savage et al., 2011).

As a class, we watched the film, Precious Knowledge, in September 2016, which sparked my initial inquiry question, which was simply “how can I implement culturally responsive pedagogy?”. It wasn’t until I visited my practicum school in November and observed the school demographic that I narrowed my focus to culturally responsive teaching to Indigenous cultures.  On November 23, 2016, in the same EDST 401 class we had a guest speaker from Talhtan Nation named Curtis Rattray come in and speak to us about Indigenous issues in schools. In his presentation and in the supplemental materials he provided, he demonstrated the importance of oral story telling in First Nations cultures. His presentation was filled with personal anecdotes which made me feel a lot more invested in what he had to say, which in turn made the presentation much more memorable. His presentation style was extremely engaging, which made me realize how effective story-telling can be. This led me to inquire further into other methods of delivering material that would be culturally responsive to First Nations learners.

Personal Experience:

This question arose for me because of a documentary we watched and a guest speaker we had in my Education Studies (EDST) 401 class. The film, Precious Knowledge, features teachers in Tucson, Arizona, high schools who teach Chicano ethnic studies classes to Mexican-American students (Palos & McGinnis, 2012). The Arizona state superintendent bans the teaching of these classes on the misconstrued opinion that they are racist and anti-American. While the film has a strong theme of social justice, what it also highlighted for me was how much more engaged and successful students are in their learning when the material and teaching methods are culturally relevant to them. I aim to make a class full of students with diverse cultures, experiences, and precious knowledge feel appreciated and respected by me, and by their peers.

Significance:

In 2015 the student population at my practicum school was made up of 12.9% Aboriginal students, which is consistent with what it has been in previous years (BC Ministry of Education, n.d.). In British Columbia, only 54% of Indigenous students graduate, compared to 83% of non-Indigenous students (BC Ministry of Education, 2012). McIntosh, Moniz, Craft, Golby, and Steinwand-Deschambeault (2016) state that a reason for this (other than structural risk factors) is the disconnect between Indigenous cultures and the dominant Western culture. In the region I am teaching in, there are two dominant First Nations groups – Stó:lo First Nation and Ts’elxweyeqw Nation (City of Chilliwack, n.d.). Each group consists of multiple Bands, and is a microcosm of a wide array of diverse cultural practices. While it is not possible to teach to every culture represented in my classes, I can incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning into my lessons (FNESC, 2015). These principles of learning were created by the First Nations Education Steering Committee, and aim to encompass the values that are present in all First Nations groups, such as spirituality, story-telling techniques, and themes of colonization and sovereignty (Chrona, 2015).

Question:

How can I respectfully implement culturally responsive pedagogy in my classroom? Culturally responsive pedagogy is defined as “a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994).” Villegas and Lucas state that

Educators who are culturally responsive have an understanding of how students construct their knowledge, have an awareness about their students’ lives, are socio-culturally conscious, hold affirming views about diversity, use congruent instructional strategies, and advocate for the rights of their students. (as cited in McIntosh et al., 2014).

I will specifically develop ways to teach in a culturally responsive manor to Indigenous cultures, and will incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning into my classes because of their importance and emphasis in our new curriculum.