Week 28 Reflective Post: Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness
I believe I practice a culturally responsive pedagogy as I value and develop learning activities that use cultural characteristics, opinions and experiences as the basis for practice (Gay, 2001). Having taught across many different cultures in one class, it is about being inclusive and I operate with a Universal Design for Learning approach. I believe that what can be useful for one students' opinion, culture, experience or ability can be a positive for another, no matter the difference.
As I have spent much of my teaching career in a multicultural classroom with as many as 15 ethnicities in one space, I involve as many different world views as I can, and give students the time and space to explore different ideas as equal but different. If we are to be culturally responsive, we must acknowledge the experiences, cultural viewpoint and ideals that all students, not just Māori enter our classroom with. Russell Bishop discussed cultural responsiveness with regard to Māori indigenous achievement, and I believe that students differing in culture to that of their classroom and teacher are to be accepted and focused on.
In this respect, when comparing practice at my school to the Effective Teaching Profile, I found that I personally care for students and their cultures, their performance and develop a secure learning environment for them to learn in and be a central part of. I also engage in teaching interactions with all students in respect to whatever culture they are and use teaching strategies to develop relationships with my learners and between learners. I am also a reflective practitioner who monitors the achievement academically and develops new learning activities based around the progress of my students and reacts to their needs and interests.
In terms of planning and assessment, we are responsive to all students needs and focus on personalising education for these perceived needs. We have many high needs learning and behavioural students and cater to their individual needs, some of which are their cultural identity, some are their special characteristics as individuals. We also communicate with families and invite them into school as often as possible, we use digital methods through Seesaw, email, Twitter, Facebook and face to face where possible. We also use the Mutukaroa reporting system to discuss achievement with families on each achievement anniversary.
I feel that we could do more to support cultural responsiveness in our resources - I feel that we could use resources that show a more multicultural stand - there are many Māori and Pasifika resources in the NZ market, but for a multicultural nation we need to develop those in other cultures, such as the Asian and Indian demographics. I think that my school could continue to develop our own resources but share these with other schools and fill the gaps in the cultural market!
Reference:
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.
http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/About/The-Development-of-Te-Kotahitanga/Effective-Teaching-Profile
As I have spent much of my teaching career in a multicultural classroom with as many as 15 ethnicities in one space, I involve as many different world views as I can, and give students the time and space to explore different ideas as equal but different. If we are to be culturally responsive, we must acknowledge the experiences, cultural viewpoint and ideals that all students, not just Māori enter our classroom with. Russell Bishop discussed cultural responsiveness with regard to Māori indigenous achievement, and I believe that students differing in culture to that of their classroom and teacher are to be accepted and focused on.
In this respect, when comparing practice at my school to the Effective Teaching Profile, I found that I personally care for students and their cultures, their performance and develop a secure learning environment for them to learn in and be a central part of. I also engage in teaching interactions with all students in respect to whatever culture they are and use teaching strategies to develop relationships with my learners and between learners. I am also a reflective practitioner who monitors the achievement academically and develops new learning activities based around the progress of my students and reacts to their needs and interests.
In terms of planning and assessment, we are responsive to all students needs and focus on personalising education for these perceived needs. We have many high needs learning and behavioural students and cater to their individual needs, some of which are their cultural identity, some are their special characteristics as individuals. We also communicate with families and invite them into school as often as possible, we use digital methods through Seesaw, email, Twitter, Facebook and face to face where possible. We also use the Mutukaroa reporting system to discuss achievement with families on each achievement anniversary.
I feel that we could do more to support cultural responsiveness in our resources - I feel that we could use resources that show a more multicultural stand - there are many Māori and Pasifika resources in the NZ market, but for a multicultural nation we need to develop those in other cultures, such as the Asian and Indian demographics. I think that my school could continue to develop our own resources but share these with other schools and fill the gaps in the cultural market!
Reference:
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.
http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/About/The-Development-of-Te-Kotahitanga/Effective-Teaching-Profile
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