Abstract:

In this paper I will describe my inquiry journey thus far. My inquiry question explores how to teach in a way which is culturally responsive to BC Indigenous students. The new BC curricula has incorporated some First Nations content into every subject in kindergarten through to grade 12. Teaching First Nations content is an example of teaching about something, whereas teaching through a culturally responsive perspective looks much different in practice (Ebersole et al. 2016). On my practicum, I will teach in a culturally responsive manor by incorporating story-telling techniques such as humor and repetition, as well as giving my students autonomy by allowing them choices. In the future, I would like to explore ways to generate school-wide initiatives which support culturally responsive teaching for Indigenous students.

References

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2012). Aboriginal report 2006/07-2010/11: How are we doing? Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Author.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Public School Reports. Retrieved November 16 2016, from https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/school.php?report-school-district=ChilliwackSD#033&report-school=03333043&report-school-name=GW Graham Middle Secondary

City of Chilliwack. (n.d.). First Nations. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.chilliwack.ca/main/page.cfm?id=2184

Chrona, J. L. (2015). Authentic Resources and Appropriation. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/authentic-resources/

Debnam, K. J., Pas, E. T., Bottiani, J., Cash, A. H., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2015). An examination of the association     between observed and self‐reported culturally proficient teaching practices. Psychology in the Schools, 52(6), 533-548. doi:10.1002/pits.21845

Ebersole, M., Kanahele-Mossman, H., & Kawakami, A. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching: examining teacher’s understandings and perspectives. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(2), 97-104.

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (2015). First Peoples Principles of Learning. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.fnesc.ca/wordpress/image-lfp-poster-principles-of-learning-first-peoples-poster-11×17

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teaching for African-American

students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 17–18.

Lewthwaite, B., Doiron, A., Renaud, R., & McMillan, B. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching in yukon first nation settings: What does it look like and what is its influence? Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, (155), 1.

McIntosh, K., Moniz, C., Craft, C. B., Golby, R., & Steinwand-Deschambeault, T. (2014). Implementing school-wide positive behavioural interventions and supports to better meet the needs of indigenous students. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 29(3), 236-257.

Palos, A. L., & McGinnis, E. I. (Directors). (2012, May 17). Precious Knowledge [Video file]. In PBS Independent Films. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/ independent lens/films/precious-knowledge/

Rattray, C. (n.d.). Welcome to my website. Retrieved November 24, 2016, from http://www.curtisrattray.com/

Savage, C., Hindle, R., Meyer, L. H., Hynds, A., Penetito, W., & Sleeter, C. E. (2011). Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: Indigenous student experiences across the curriculum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183-198. doi:10.1080/1359866X.2011.588311

Debnam, K. J., Pas, E. T., Bottiani, J., Cash, A. H., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2015). An examination of the association between observed and self‐reported culturally proficient teaching practices. Psychology in the Schools, 52(6), 533-548. doi:10.1002/pits.21845

“[Culturally responsive teaching] teaches to and through the strengths of these students . . . it builds bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experiences as well as between academic abstractions and lived sociocultural realities; it uses a wide variety of instructional strategies that are connected to different learning styles; it incorporates multicultural information, resources, and materials in all the subjects and skills routinely taught in schools.” (Debnam et al., 2015). This study addresses the lack of adequate measurements available to measure the effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching. Self-reporting is a commonly used measure, but it is subject to social desirability bias. The study concludes that more efforts are required to measure how equipped teachers are to work with culturally diverse students.

Ebersole, M., Kanahele-Mossman, H., & Kawakami, A. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching: examining teacher’s understandings and perspectives. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(2), 97-104.

“Sometimes people don’t realize that my point is you already teach through a culture: Do you realize that you do already infuse so many values, language, terms, emotions, all kinds of things through a culture or typically many cultures? As teachers we all infuse culture every minute, every second during the day in our classrooms and we are not conscious of it and we don’t use it to the best of our teaching ability” (Ebersole et al., 2016). This study examines 18 teachers enrolled in a course on ethnicity and education as part of a Master’s degree program. The teachers had to develop a teaching plan for the course which they could bring into their own classrooms and incorporated culturally responsive pedagogy. The researchers note that the teachers created their plans either incorporating culturally responsive activities or with a culturally responsive perspective, which is the difference between teaching about something versus teaching through something. Many teachers found culturally responsive teaching challenging, and most attempts at it involved only the mere inclusion of a culture in their curriculum. The authors conclude that teacher perception on what culturally responsive pedagogy constitutes varies widely, and teachers would benefit from having opportunities to critically discuss methods of implementation.     

Lewthwaite, B., Doiron, A., Renaud, R., & McMillan, B. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching in yukon first nation settings: What does it look like and what is its influence? Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, (155), 1. 

 “Culture in all its expression, provides a foundation for learning and growth, and that [Yukon Education] should support individuals, organizations, and communities to promote, preserve, and enhance Indigenous culture” (Yukon First Nation Education Advisory Committee, as cited in Lewthwaite et al., 2014). This study provides a guide for implementing culturally responsive pedagogy in First Nations communities. It also demonstrates the positive impacts that such teaching practices have on students in the areas of effort, self-image, and contribution. The teachers in this study also reflected on their own practices and noted where they needed to adjust their practices in response to student needs, such as allowing students more space and time to think before engaging in discussions.

McIntosh, K., Moniz, C., Craft, C. B., Golby, R., & Steinwand-Deschambeault, T. (2014). Implementing school-wide positive behavioural interventions and supports to better meet the needs of indigenous students. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 29(3), 236-257.

“A commonly noted reason for this discrepancy in educational outcomes, besides structural risk factors such as poverty (Sirin, 2005), is the dissonance between Indigenous cultures and the dominant Western culture.” (McIntosh et al., 2014). In this article, the authors describe approaches to behavioral interventions which are culturally responsive to Indigenous students. Such approaches include the concepts of lifelong learning, which is holistic and experiential. Students are encouraged to connect with Elders and their communities as a way of experiencing communal learning. From this article I have been given a framework from which to develop culturally responsive, supportive measures for my students.

 Savage, C., Hindle, R., Meyer, L. H., Hynds, A., Penetito, W., & Sleeter, C. E. (2011). Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: Indigenous student experiences across the curriculum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183-198. doi:10.1080 /1359866X.2011.588311

“The classroom is, of course, the daily lived experience of students; thus validation of students’ cultural identities and valuing of the cultural knowledge students bring with them to school have the potential to make a difference” (Savage et al., 2011). Researchers in this article examined 33 schools in New Zealand which had a Te Kotahitanga professional development program, which is culturally responsive to Maori students. They observed classrooms in the schools for evidence of implementation of the program, and subsequently measured the level of implementation. The researchers observed that schools who highly implemented Te Kotahitanga were associated with culturally responsive teaching strategies for Maori students, and concluded that the program is effective in establishing the desired outcomes of culturally responsive pedagogy. Students that were interviewed said that they appreciated the use of Maori language and knowledge in the classroom, and saw the use of Maori phrases to greet or instruct the students as embracing the culture. Students also reported a positive change in the school climate as a result of improved student-teacher relationships. The program will be most successful when all stakeholders are involved in changing schools in order to implement culturally responsive teaching practices.

Further Questions:

            To expand my inquiry journey, I would like to know how to generate school-wide initiatives which support culturally responsive teaching, and how to convince other teachers that this is something worthwhile.

Future Directions:

In the future I would like to make sure that I take advantage of times reserved for educators to discuss culturally responsive teaching, perhaps during a professional development day. Ebersole et al. (2016) state that teacher perception on what culturally responsive pedagogy constitutes varies widely, and teachers would benefit from having opportunities to critically discuss methods of implementation. I will continue to pursue academic research in this area, and I will implement practices that these studies suggest in my lesson plans. I will also collaborate with other teacher candidates, teachers at my practicum school, district, province, and country to share resources and ideas. Twitter is a fantastic, quick and simple way for teachers around the world to connect over specific topics – they are just a hashtag away. It’s important for me to stay up to date with strategies teachers in my area are implementing. Most teachers using innovative practices are willing to share this information with other teachers on websites like Twitter, Facebook groups, blogs, TeachBC, etc. I will frequently browse these websites in search of teachers who are also pursuing this area of new curriculum implementation.

Implications:

My inquiry implementation may have the unintended consequence of excluding students of other cultures, or causing some students to be uncomfortable with the teaching methods I am trying to practice. Some students may not learn well through stories or being given too much freedom of choice. As always, I will have to determine this about my particular students and make adaptations where necessary, as well as delivering a variety of teaching methods throughout my lessons. On the other hand, as a result of my inquiry I will be trying out many different teaching practices, some of which I may not have tried otherwise. I may find that some practices work really well with certain groups of students, which is something that I will carry with me throughout my career.

Limitations:

Currently, most teachers have little practice when it comes to implementing First Peoples Principles of Learning and culturally responsive pedagogy. It is tempting to lean towards stereotypical activities such as making bannock in food studies, because it is easy and an obvious connection. While a literal interpretation is not necessary, it is often the default. As teachers, we want to stay away from tokenism as much as possible. Finding authentic ways to incorporate these perspectives does take critical thought and extra time, but also provides opportunities for students and teachers to get involved with key First Nations stakeholders in their community.

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.