Culturally relevant pedagogy can offer solutions to the problems that a teacher faces when working with multicultural students. There are several important characteristics and principles of “a multicultural teacher’s” work (Wardle, 2013, p. 365). Hence, the analysis and application of the culturally relevant standards can result in the creation of effective teaching instructions.
Video Analysis
A cellphone video with Jeff Bliss demonstrates how a student got into an argument with his teacher at Duncanville High School. From Jeff’s perspective, his teacher should “take this job seriously” and “do it better” (Bliss, 2013). Jeff criticizes the methods and the attitude of the teacher. Similarly, his teacher (Ms. Phung) curses Jeff’s attitude and behavior. She asks him to “get out” and stop “wasting my time” (Bliss, 2013). Thus, from her perspective, Jeff is disturbing her and the class during the test.
Although Jeff’s attitude was emotional and he used some uncontrolled vocabulary, he made his point clearly and logically. It was not just a wrangle, it was a speech as Jeff was “making the observation” (Bliss, 2013). However, the teacher did not want to participate in the discussion. Moreover, she disrespected and disregarded her students. According to Wardle (2013), the relationship between students and teachers should include “caring, interaction, and classroom climate” (p. 370). Moreover, “the nature, relationships, authenticity, and respect between teachers and their students” play a crucial role in “promoting student learning and achievement” (Wardle, 2013, p. 370). After showing her attitude, absence of care and desire to interact, the teacher lost the respect of the class.
To avoid misunderstandings and conflicts, Ms. Phung should have created an equitable, culturally relevant environment in her classroom. Teachers should be “cultural bridges builders” and “cultural translators” for students (TeachingTolerance, 2010). Ms. Phung could have utilized equity strategies to meet her students’ needs
Equity Strategies
Commenting instructions and classroom environment, Jeff Bliss said, “If you would just get up and teach us instead of handing ’em a packet, yo. There are kids in here that don’t learn like that. … They need to learn face-to-face” (Bliss, 2013). According to Ladson-Billings (1995), culturally relevant teachers should “get students to “choose” academic excellence” (p. 160). However, Ms. Phung used ineffective but common method when “teachers demanded, reinforced, and produced academic excellence in their students” (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 160). Furthermore, to create an equitable classroom environment, teachers should not sit in a corner, fenced by bookshelves or tables, not facing the students. That was one of Jeff’s recommendation as well
Moreover, students in the class could be grouped differently. Jeff was sitting at the back of the class, so neither student nor teacher could recognize him. Stepping forward, Jeff made himself heard, at least by his peers. In small-sized classes, for example, tables can be arranged in a circle, and a teacher can take place in the circle as well. Consequently, all students and the teacher have an equal position, face each other, and can share their ideas more effectively.
Culturally Relevant Strategies
There are multiple teaching strategies to create a more culturally relevant classroom. A mixture of some strategies can also help a teacher to meet the goal, for example, by addressing cultural competence through reinforcing students’ cultural integrity and tapping home and community resources. According to Irvine (2009), teachers should learn about students’ community to better integrate (para. 16). Teachers can alter tasks to meet community needs, for example, in social studies by asking the students to “analyze and report voting patterns in their neighborhood and execute a voter education project” (Irvine, 2009, para. 21). Ladson-Billings (1995) presents an example of a teacher who involved parents in her classroom “so that students could both learn from each other’s parents and affirm cultural knowledge” (p.161). Hence, a teacher can reinforce students’ cultural integrity by making the community members share their experience and students use the gained knowledge.
Furthermore, a teacher should build on students’ interests and linguistic resources and use interactive and constructivist teaching strategies. As Jeff Bliss says, “You want kids to come to class? You want them to get excited? You gotta come in here, you gotta make ’em excited” (Bliss, 2013). In terms of linguistic, “if students’ home language is incorporated into the classroom, students are more likely to experience academic success” (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 159). Moreover, Irvine (2009) describes a teacher who overheard students talking about cars and used this information to build a class for “the classification topic” (para. 23). It can be described as an accident but “if you have a true, caring relationship with your students” then you do not need to overhear since you “will know what their interests are, what information they relate to” (Irvine, 2009, para. 23). Teachers should have a strong desire to build a relationship with their students to be able to construct interactive and meaningful classes.
Understanding students’ cultural knowledge is essential for a teacher. Culture can be divided into “tangible and nontangible categories”, and nontangible ones “including values, feelings, beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and perspectives” are the most important ones (TeachingTolerance, 2010). In the cell video Jeff says, “To change him [kid] and make him better, you gotta touch his freakin’ heart. You can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell him” (Bliss, 2013). Teachers should make the connection “between the content and their students’ existing mental schemes, prior knowledge and cultural perspectives” (Irvine, 2009, para. 21). Hence, it is a teacher’s and a school’s task to make a student want to learn and perform well.
A teacher should use the standards of culturally relevant pedagogy in multicultural classrooms. Understanding and mastering culturally relevant and equity strategies can help teachers to succeed in teaching.
References
Bliss, J. (2013). Student “Jeff Bliss” mad at teacher at Duncanville high. Web.
Irvine, J. (2009). Relevant: Beyond the basics.Teaching Tolerance. Web.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159-165. Web.
TeachingTolerance. (2010). Introduction to culturally relevant pedagogy [Video file]. Web.
Wardle, F. (2013). Human relationships and learning in a multicultural environment. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.