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Case: Food and Holidays My school principal told all the teachers at my school at the beginning of the school year that because of the recent changes in the demographics of the school, we had to develop and implement lessons that were Culturally Responsive. I had heard of the term "Culturally Responsive", but I am not the most knowledgeable person about it. So, I did lessons on holidays and traditions in different cultures. I had some lessons on food favored by different cultures. When appropriate, I brought guest speakers to my classroom. The other day I was having a casual conversation with the school principal and she asked me about how the culturally responsive teaching was going. I told her about the things I have done. She said I got it all wrong. I was shocked and hurt by her comment. How am I going to develop and implement culturally responsive lessons? I really do not know. What is wrong with my holidays, traditions, and foods? I thought I was doing a great job. By the way, I teach 4th grade and I have mostly Black and Hispanic children. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) It sounds like you have put a lot of effort into teaching holidays, traditions, and foods. If your principal is unhappy, I would request a meeting with her. I would ask her to explain what she means by "Culturally Responsive" lessons and see if she has any ideas on how you could better implement this into your classroom. I would also talk to other teachers and share ideas. Maybe she means that she wants you to implement Culturally responsive material into your usual lessons. I would try to make connections from your current curriculum to the cultures in your school. For example, if you are doing a lesson on American Folktales, you could incorporate folktales from other cultures and discuss the similarities and differences with your students. You can discuss how different folktales helped to shape different cultures. I think it would help to focus on the cultures represented in your school but I wouldn't only relate material to those specific cultures. I think it is important for students to learn about a variety of cultures even if they aren't necessarily represented in their immediate environment. |
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