Chapter 14: Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices

I've had the opportunity of teaching students from many different cultural backgrounds.  I've had students who were Mexican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.  Encountering these different backgrounds has taught me a lot about my own views and biases.  It's so important to learn about the backgrounds of your students so you can help them feel comfortable and eliminate any learning barriers in the classroom.  I've always celebrated the differences in my students and used sharing as a tool to find similarities between all cultures.  I've had students read a book in Spanish aloud to the class and then translate the story.  My Chinese student brought in his notebook from his school in China to show the class Chinese characters and he taught the students how to write their name in the characters.  By providing these opportunities, the students feel that they are a valued member of our classroom community.

One area where I feel like I could improve on his better supporting my culturally diverse students outside of the classroom.  I usually go to soccer games and dance performances of many of my students, but I rarely, if ever go to the special events for my culturally diverse students.  Part of the reason is that these students never directly ask me to attend their special events.  I need to make the effort to reach out to these students outside of the classroom.  Communication with parents is often difficult too, especially if they do not speak English.  Many times I've neglected to contact parents who do not speak English.  This is another area that needs to be addressed to insure that my students are getting the help they need.

To address these problems, I will need to seek out opportunities to support my culturally diverse students.  Asking these students about their hobbies and requesting their schedules will better allow me to give support outside the classroom.  Getting forms translated or at least making the attempt to make parental contact will also go a long way to better bridge the classroom with life at home.  I could probably find a member of the faculty who might be able to translate some Spanish to help with conferences or phone calls to parents.  Everyone can do more to help culturally diverse students become more comfortable in the classroom.