“(Some)
teachers know the secret - and it won’t win any Oscars” (Tovey, 2013).
Fine
(1986) and Fordham (1988) (cited in Ladson-Billings, 1995) have discovered
after a research project they conducted in America with African-American
students, “the students' academic success came at the expense of their cultural
and psychosocial well-being.” Some of these students’ capabilities were unable
to be discovered as teachers would sometimes associate them according to the
generalized negative characteristics and connotations arising from their
cultural heritage. This caused a dilemma amongst school communities, thus
calling for this “culturally relevant pedagogy” (Ladson-Billings, 1995) where
teachers had to acquire the necessary teaching methods to “provide a way for
students to maintain their cultural integrity while succeeding academically”
(Ladson-Billings, 1995). Through this
crucial technique, teachers were able to unveil the hidden, sometimes abused
talents and skills the students actually had. It was a way in which teachers
were building bridges to their students; where this bond was created and
teachers were able to change the lives of these children.
An
example of the portrayal of cultural competency is evident reiterated in
Ladson-Billings (1995) journal where one of the teachers used the lyrics of rap
songs as a way to teach elements of poetry and from these rap lyrics she was
able to allow them to take on more conventional poetry. She encouraged students
who were more skilled at creating and improvising raps, spending time and
effort to work on their talent. This is the teacher demonstrating a sense of
compassion for learning and teaching, acknowledging the concept of recycling,
constructing and sharing knowledge with the student, ‘mining’ knowledge rather
than simply passively dictating knowledge to the students. The teacher is
examining the underpinnings of what needs to be taught, enforcing a sense of
creativity, analysis and facilitation of knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 1995).
There
is evidence of teachers whom embody these skills to integrate cultural
circumstances within their teaching styles and passion for teaching and
learning.
One
example is Ms.
Dunning, an English teacher from Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High
School in Sydney's western suburbs. She has literally dedicated not only school
hours, but free-time to aid her students with upcoming HSC examinations. She
has demonstrated a real passion and care in relation to her students learning,
“making herself available on the online education networking tool Edmodo”,
reaching out to them through technological means they would find convenient,
enjoy and understand. (Tovey, 2013)
Another recent
article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Tovey cunningly and appropriately
mentions: “In the movies, the best teachers are usually those who transform a
class almost overnight by leaping atop a desk or delivering a rousing speech.
In reality, it is sustained hard work, sometimes using data and evidence of
what works to drive incremental improvements in their students' abilities and
achievements, that distinguishes many of the best educators” (Tovey, 2013).
Mr. Elletson,
another enthusiastic, culturally competent teacher “showed other teachers how
to identify strengths and weaknesses among students, set targets of
achievement, gather and analyse data and celebrate successes, as well as modeling
pedagogical techniques in classrooms for other teachers to observe” (Tovey,
2013).
I am glad to see
and hear of these great teaching initiatives and skills being demonstrated by
teachers for their students. I aspire one day be like these great, hard-working
individuals. I
believe the most important feature and skill that a teacher could have is the
ability to be culturally competent. I find it crucial for a teacher to
accommodate for the perceptions, values, skills and personality of themselves
and others. This is known as being ‘culturally competent’ as the teacher
becomes capable of truly comprehending the needs and talents of their students.
References:
Fine,
M. (1986). Why urban adolescents drop
into and out of high school. Teachers College Record, 87, 393-409.
Fordham,
S. (1988). Racelessness as a factor in
Black student's school success: Pragmatic strategy or pyrrhic victory?
Harvard Educational Review, 58, 54-84.
Ladson-Billings, G.
(1995). Toward a Theory of
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, American Educational Research Journal,
1995 32: 465.
Tovey, J. October 4,
2013, Teachers offer lessons in
dedication for keen HSC students, http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/teachers-offer-lessons-in-dedication-for-keen-hsc-students-20131003-2uxhd.html
This idea of culturally competent teachers has also striked me as an interesting topic, as I have always believed teachers would have been successfully trained in their university degrees in order to ensure "cultural competence". While you have with great research identified that there are teachers who embody these skills to integrate cultural circumstances within their teaching styles such as your example of Ms Dunning, there are however teachers who have not learned cultural competence.
ReplyDeleteIn order to solve such an issue I would propose that universities implement more subjects that relate to culture and cultural sensitivity and associate these subjects with the same mandatory nature that they do for subjects such as "Special Education" and "Gifted and Talented". By ensuring such subjects are mandatory teachers will not only realise that cultural competency and sensitivity is clearly a highly important issue, however will also ensure that ALL teachers learn the skills associated with such competency.
Indeed through your post it is clear that you have found teaching initiatives and skills that advocate for cultural competence and adhering to each individual's personal and cultural needs. Despite this however, I believe that further training can be implemented from a tertiary standpoint in order to ensure that our teachers are trained from the very beginning, and not just taught as they go while working.