To review, the framework for the culturally responsive classroom includes the following (simplified from the bullet points in the previous post):
- Using what student know
- Affirming students' identities
- Presenting diverse perspectives
- Examining real-world issues
Let's briefly take a look at some ways to address the first two of these components. In a later post, we'll talk about some ideas for the second two.
Using what students know--
In order to use what they know, you must know what they know! This means you have to build relationships not only with your students but also their families and communities. You can connect to students by "intentionally and consistently including opportunities for discussion and sharing" (Powell & Rightmyer, p. 133). Give students opportunites to share about themselves (through pictures, family interviews, sharing of songs or traditions, etc) and include the information you glean into your lessons. In a later post, we'll talk about home visits as another great way to gather this kind of information.
Affirming students' identities--
Having and incorporating multicultural literature in your classroom is a great starting point. Here are some tips (from B.Y. Louie, 2006) to keep in mind when choosing such literature:
- Check the text's authenticity
- Help learners understand the characters' world
- Encourage children to see the world throught the characters' perspectives
- Identify vaules underlying the characters' conflict resolution strategies
- Relate self the the text and critique the portrayal of characters in the text and in popular media
- Use variants of the same story or collection of stories to help students build schema
- Encourage students to talk, write, and respond throughout reading the multicultural texts.
I hope these tips and ideas are a helpful starting point for you as you begin to think about your classroom as a culturally responsive one!
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