The scene
As a middle school teacher, my students are constantly changing. Not only are they changing physically, but who they like, what they like, what is “cool,” and what is not is also constantly changing. It can be challenging to keep up. They have their own subcultures that come and go, often that I don’t even realize are occuring. When I tell people I teach middle school, I like to say, “it’s a very special place.”
Because this is the nature of middle schoolers, I have found myself getting complacent in how I consider their differing perspectives. I teach in the town of Cochrane. It is a predominantly white community just outside of Calgary, Alberta. The visible diversity in Cochrane is fairly small. Because of this, I often assume that most of my students share the same culture that I do. After completing this course, I know that I am mistaken my assumptions, and that I have done my students a disservice with this outlook. For this final hands-on assignment, I’ve decided to focus on the cultural issues in teaching and learning as it is an area of opportunity for me. Moving forward, whether visibly diverse or not, I will be allowing for more cultural expression with my students.
Course learning
Module two was where I began to notice just how deep a hole I had dug for myself in this area. Learning from Parrish & Linder-VanBerschot as well as Gunawardena et al. in the units of module two allowed me to deepen my understanding of these topics and reflect on the ways that I can be more open-ended and culturally aware of the students in my own classroom. The reflection questions provided in these two units also provided the space to contemplate my learning, as well as my own prejudices and notions of my students. I found my classmates contributions to the discussions valuable insight in knowing that I am not alone in my quest to become more culturally aware and responsive.
One point from Parrish & Linder-VanBerschot (2010) that has stuck with me was about examining our own assumptions we have about our learners and how they might respond to the instruction being provided to them. This was an influential moment for me as I have become aware of the assumptions I have made for the learners in my classroom that don’t appear to be physically and culturally diverse. The sociocultural theory discussed by Gunawardena et al. (2019) resonated with me in meaningful way. The type of learning environment facilitated through a sociocultural lens is one I try to foster in my own classroom. “Learning and teaching happen in the context of collaboration and community” (Gundawardena et al., 2019, p. 20). This idea of being collaborative and in relationship while teaching is something I am always working towards and that I am now aware can contribute to creating a more culturally aware space for my students.
Application
Middle schoolers are highly influenced. They have a strong desire for acceptance from their peers and high social needs (National Institute of Health, 2021). This social nature often reaches towards the adults in their life, members of their cultural communities. As an adult, who is a member of their school culture, I want to make sure that within my vicinity, these middle schoolers feel safe to express their cultural needs and expectations. As open-minded and welcoming as I think my classroom to be, I hope to level-up in providing more culturally responsive learning opportunities for my students to engage with.
Moving forward, I plan to exercise different types of cultural responsiveness. Whether it’s flexibility with deadlines, planning for more open-ended projects or continuing to commit to collaborative learning, addressing the cultural needs of my students is going to be a priority. Parrish & Linder-VanBerschot (2010) convey how students are right “to demand culturally responsive learning experiences” and moving forward with the knowledge I now have, I feel more equipped to provide these types of experiences (p. 2).
Future directions
Though I have always felt it important to connect my students with different cultural experiences, this course has shed light on the importance of allowing them to connect with their own culture in their learning. Realizing that I have culture as a straight, cis-gender, white woman, has allowed me to reflect on all the cultures that are present in my classroom, even if I can’t see them. All of these cultures deserve to be acknowledged and programmed for.
Moving forward, I hope to continue investigating practical ways that my teaching can become more culturally responsive. Developing a repertoire of activities and approaches that allow for more initerculturality among my students is something I will continue to work on. I feel solid in my base of knowledge that I’ve gained throughout this semester and realize now it is about creating actionable items that center my students’ diverse cultures. I remain curious about cultures and their unique values, rituals and communication-styles and look foward to learning more from my students all the time.
References
Gunawardena, C. N., Frechette, C., & Layne, L. (2019). Extract from Chapter 2 Theoretical foundations of learning in online communities. In Culturally inclusive instructional design. A framework and guide for building online wisdom communities. (pp. 17-28). New York, USA: Routledge.
National Institute of Health (2021, September). The power of peers. Who influences your health? News In Health. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/09/power-peers#:~:text=Teens%20are%20especially%20responsive%20to,that%20causes%20feelings%20of%20pleasure.
Parrish, P. & Linder-VanBerschot, J. A. (2010). Cultural dimensions of learning: Addressing the challenges of multicultural instruction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(2), 1-19.