Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice
After reading the article from Savage et al (2011), I found that in being a culturally responsive teacher you need to be able to teach though and about that students, with a close focus on who the students are and their backgrounds and who they are as a student and what they can bring to your class. Teachers need to be aware of students backgrounds and cultural practices. Being able to embrace and celebrate students for who they are and where they come from helps to build students who have a strong and proud understanding of who they are.
I found that the Tes Teach Culturally Responsive teaching tool was really important to use and understand. It talks about how all areas are important in supporting a student in your classroom. Coming from the same back ground as my students I feel that I can understand them a bit better and relate to who they are. Because of how I went through school, predominantly white middle class, I felt out of place with who I was and how important my culture was to me. Once a year we would have a cultural performance and it was token for you to be classed in the Pacific group if you were brown. I feel that I can relate to my students with who they are and where they are coming from.
I found that the Tes Teach Culturally Responsive teaching tool was really important to use and understand. It talks about how all areas are important in supporting a student in your classroom. Coming from the same back ground as my students I feel that I can understand them a bit better and relate to who they are. Because of how I went through school, predominantly white middle class, I felt out of place with who I was and how important my culture was to me. Once a year we would have a cultural performance and it was token for you to be classed in the Pacific group if you were brown. I feel that I can relate to my students with who they are and where they are coming from.
The adapted “Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement” tool:
(Adapted from from Te Toi Tupu’s (n.d.) resource, “Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement tool”)
(Adapted from from Te Toi Tupu’s (n.d.) resource, “Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement tool”)
- How do you plan activities and lessons to support diverse cultural backgrounds and languages?
My school is very driven from the community. We have whanau groups during terms 2 and 3 and the focus is on language (term 2) and arts (term 3). Through these we have whanau members come in and help support the teachers with teaching this. This is all driven by the community and what needs we have in it.
Within my own teaching I usually have my class give me ideas about what they would like their math problems to be about or if there are things going on in the community we try and focus on using these as teaching lessons in the classroom. An example of this is, we are having the new airport motorway being built right next to our school. Lots of our learning has been around how this has impacted us and the community. We also have a lot to do with our local iwi.
Our school also has a range of teachers who come from many different backgrounds so they are able to relate to the students on this level as well.
My maths lessons I feel are the most relevant to my students, at the beginning of each term I ask them what they want to have their math problems be about - this links to them and makes them feel like they are important and have a say in their learning. We always embrace the cultural language weeks and I always find it good to use the students in my class to help me learn new words or say new things in a different language.
I do feel that as a school we could do more with the language and culture. Teachers need to be more open to taking part in wanting to learn for themselves to benefit their students. For myself, found that I don't speak my own language (Samaon) and can see how this would be a huge advantage for me know this to support my students. I have been learning Te Reo Maori and feel the need for all teachers and students to learn this teaching in New Zealand.
My maths lessons I feel are the most relevant to my students, at the beginning of each term I ask them what they want to have their math problems be about - this links to them and makes them feel like they are important and have a say in their learning. We always embrace the cultural language weeks and I always find it good to use the students in my class to help me learn new words or say new things in a different language.
I do feel that as a school we could do more with the language and culture. Teachers need to be more open to taking part in wanting to learn for themselves to benefit their students. For myself, found that I don't speak my own language (Samaon) and can see how this would be a huge advantage for me know this to support my students. I have been learning Te Reo Maori and feel the need for all teachers and students to learn this teaching in New Zealand.
- How does the school ensure its vision, mission and core values reflect cultural responsiveness?
My school is always seeking feedback from the community, our board is made of many different backgrounds that help reflect our school.
With our school vision we are looking at; 'Empowering our Learners to Take Flight'. This means that we look at our students to be able to take flight in their learning, to try new things, to begin their learning journey.
- How do the school curriculum and resources reflect content from a variety of cultures and ethnic groups?
My school is well resourced we have many different resources, like books, people (teachers, students and whanau members), the community around us and how the internet has made learning new languages easily available to all online.
We also take part in VLN (Virtual Learning Network) where our students are offered the opportunity to learn more of their own language or to learn a new language online. This is a great way for our students to maintain their language in a digital world.
- How does the school use achievement information and involve families in planning, and monitoring progress and achievement?
My school is classed as a decile 1, low income and poor upbringing school in Mangere (South Auckland), but although we fit the typical stereotype of a school in South Auckland, we have high expectations for our students. Each year we set the goal of having 100% achieving at or above in all areas of learning, although we don't always achieve it we get very close to our goal, usually int the 70-80% range.
We have many teachers who are able to translate our expectations and reports to our families and we have an open door where parents are welcome to come in and ask questions if they need to. We hold our 3-way conferences where students lead these and are empowered to talk about their learning and be proud of who they are.
References:
Savage,C, Hindleb, R., Meyerc,L., Hyndsa,A., Penetitob, W. & Sleeterd, C.(2011) Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum .Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183–198
Te Toi Tupu. (n.d.). Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement tool. Retrieved from http://www.tetoitupu.org/pasifika-participation-engagement-achievement-tool
No comments:
Post a Comment