Professional Development: Culturally Responsive Teaching Essay

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Updated: Jun 8th, 2024

Creating the environment in which learners will be encouraged to develop the necessary abilities and skills is a crucial step toward improving the academic performance of learners and increasing their motivation levels. Therefore, the introduction of essential principles of culturally responsive teaching as the means of determining the unique needs of learners must be viewed as a necessity.

For this purpose, the tools for enhancing the process of multicultural communication should be introduced into the school design. Furthermore, the reconsideration of the leadership strategy and the ethical values on which the decision-making in the context of the institution is made must be viewed as a necessity since it will allow for more active promotion of the suggested improvements. Also, the resistance toward change, which some of the educators may develop, will be handled successfully by introducing powerful tools of boosting the teachers’ motivation levels.

As a result, culturally responsive teaching can be encouraged among educators with the help of the specified tools. Therefore, the lack of cross-cultural communication and understanding of the needs of the ethnic and racial minorities can be managed by redesigning the current approach toward the cross-cultural communication process and transformative leadership (Freeman, 2006).

The identified approach will ostensibly lead to a range of positive outcomes. First and most obvious, the opportunities for meeting the needs of the target population will be created. As a result, the environment in which the learners belonging to other cultures will be able to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills will be built successfully. For instance, the language-related needs of multicultural learners and ESL students will be addressed accordingly. Furthermore, the threat of cross-cultural conflicts and similar confrontations between learners will be reduced to a minimum (New York University, 2008).

Culturally Responsive Teaching: Agenda

The First Session
Time	Event	Objectives	Activities	Expected Outcomes
9 a.m. – 9.30 a.m.	Introduction	The goals are set.	Themes and objectives (cultural diversity and the needs of the diverse population) are identified.	The participants are engaged in the learning process.
9.30 a.m. -10.00 a.m.	Slide show and presentation	The essential information is delivered.	The essential aspects of diversity in the context of education are explained.	The participants develop a basic understanding of diverse learners’ needs.
10.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m.	Lecture	The participants will learn about the importance of cooperating with parents as the means of meeting the cultural needs of the learners; The importance of adopting a student-centered approach toward teaching will be explained. The participants will be provided with the tools for designing culturally mediated instructions.	The philosophy of leadership, diversity, and multiculturalism is explained.	The crucial information about the essential diversity-related values is conveyed. The participants are capable of navigating among the available student-focused approaches. The participants will have learned about the importance of involving family members in the process of helping the learners adapt to the school environment. The members of the group will learn to adopt the approach based on peer support among learners as the means of encouraging cooperation in class and, therefore, creating a more favorable environment for culturally diverse students.
10.30 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.	Discussion	The issue is discussed.	The participants talk about the presentation.	The participants recognize the necessity for change.
Lunch Break and the Second Session
Time	Event	Objectives	Activities	Expected Outcomes
12.00 a.m. – 1.30 a.m.	Knowledge check	The participants’ understanding of the material is checked.	The people take part in role-plays and take quizzes.	The participants show a basic understanding of why cross-cultural communication is essential.
1.30 a.m. – 2.30 p.m.	Lecture	Essential tools for promoting diversity in the target environment are explained to the participants. The attendants of the lecture must realize that negative attitudes toward learners from diverse backgrounds are developed in the campus area and often fostered by the rest of the students. Therefore, the appropriate techniques for encouraging cultural awareness development in all students must be viewed as a necessity (Davis, 1999).	The participants will engage in active listening with the further opportunity for asking questions related to the lecture.	The target audience will learn about the essential leadership strategies allowing active promotion of cultural diversity and the relevant principles among the staff members, as well as the strategies for managing the resistance toward change. The importance of adopting differentiated instructions based on the principles of cultural sensitivity as the foundation for sustaining motivation rates among the students is rendered accordingly (New York University, 2008).
2.30 p.m. – 3.30 p.m.	Training activity	The participants will develop new communication skills for managing cross-cultural conflicts. The significance of mutual accountability as the foundational tool for managing the needs of diverse learners will be conveyed successfully.	The members of the discussion will be provided with specific scenarios that they will have to address in small groups.	The key strategies for managing culture-related confrontations in the context of an educational institution will be used successfully by the participants. The importance of identifying the zone of the students’ cultural development is mentioned (Kima, Turner, & Mason, 2015). The participants of the discussion pay close attention to the enhancement of mutual accountability levels among the learners as the means of encouraging them to cooperate and support each other, thus, preventing possible instances of cross-cultural conflicts or the instances of discrimination against the diverse learners (National Center on Time and Learning, 2010).
3.30 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.	Review	The participants will show that they have learned crucial information about promoting diversity in the classroom environment.	The members of the class will have to answer a series of questions for the lecturer. The focus on promoting cultural sensitivity as the foundation for the teacher’s decision-making in class will be maintained.	The participants will provide accurate and correct answers to the questions, therefore, indicating that they have recognized the significance of cultural awareness, transformational leadership, and negotiation based on collaboration and compromise. If incorrect answers are provided, the rest of the participants will be invited to assist their peers.
Coffee Break and the Third Session
Time	Event	Objectives	Activities	Expected Outcomes
4.30 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.	Review	The participants will review the essential information obtained during the previous session. Thus, a more profound understanding of the subject matter will be developed. Particularly, the tools for using culturally responsive learning as the means of addressing cross-cultural conflicts will be considered.	Engaging in a simulation compelling each of the participants to select the most efficient course of action from the array of options provided to them (a specific digital simulation tool will be used for this purpose).	It is assumed that the simulation tool will help the participants practice their newly acquired skills. Particularly, the participants are expected to pass the simulation with at least 90% of the correct choices. Thus, a profound understanding of the significance of culturally responsive teaching will be built (King. Artiles, & Kozleski, 2009).
5.00 p.m. – 5.45 p.m.	Training: a review of the previous lectures and discussions	The participants will be able to engage in the active acquisition of the required cultural knowledge and communication skills when having to meet the needs of diverse students.	The participants will be suggested to resolve a set of scenarios related to the management of diverse learners’ needs while using the principle of coupled systems implying cooperation between different participants (see Figure 1). An especially strong emphasis will be placed on addressing the needs of students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The participants will be allowed to use the available resources to design the approaches that will help promote improved communication, reach an agreement, and promote knowledge acquisition using the existing learning styles.	Apart from cultural sensitivity, the participants will develop the propensity toward lifelong learning, i.e., consistent acquisition of new information about different cultures, diverse learners, and the means of catering to the target audience’s needs.
5.45 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.	Ending	A detailed summary of the information acquired in the course of the session will be carried out. The participants will be provided with guidelines concerning meeting the needs of diverse learners. The importance of integrity as one of the foundational values within any academic institution is mentioned and conveyed to the target audience (Freeman, 2006).	The participants will be suggested to engage in brainstorming and provide a list of student-centered approaches toward teaching in a multicultural environment.	The participants will show initiative and be proactive in the course of the discussion. The significance of using the transformational leadership framework as the means of promoting the essential values to the teachers and learners will be mentioned in the process of the discussion. Furthermore, it is expected that the participants of the discussion will reinforce the concept of fostering the development of the required values among educators.

The plan described above is bound to help improve the learning outcomes among multicultural students extensively. With a tight focus on culturally responsive teaching, the promotion of diversity-oriented values, and the enhancement of knowledge and skills acquisition by educators, one is likely to build the basis for further progress. The suggested framework will ostensibly help educators develop the responsible attitudes that will help them transform the learners’ perspective of the academic process and cross-cultural communication.

Managing Diverse learners’ Needs — Figure 1: Managing Diverse Learners’ Needs

As a result, a rapid drop in the number of conflicts between English learners and the representatives of the ESL population, as well as other groups of learners, including students from different ethnic backgrounds, special education learners, etc. will be reduced significantly. Furthermore, the ideas of assistance, collaboration, and cooperation will be promoted among students successfully, therefore, creating the premise for the further adoption of peer mentoring strategies guided by the teacher. As a result, an improvement in student outcomes can be expected.

References

Davis, B. G. (1999). Tools for teaching. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Freeman, R. E. (2006). Developing ethical leadership. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kima, Y., Turner, J. D., & Mason, P. A. (2015). Getting into the zone: Cases of student-centered multicultural literacy teacher education. Action in Teacher Education, 37(2), 102-119. Web.

King. K. A., Artiles, A. G., & Kozleski, E. B. (2009). Professional learning for culturally responsive teaching. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University.

Knight, M. H. (2013). Generational learning style preferences based on computer-based healthcare training. Irvine, CA: Brandman University Press.

New York University. (2008). Culturally responsive differentiated instructional strategies. Web.

South Eastern Regional College. (2010). A role-playing approach to coupled complex natural and human systems. Web.

National Center on Time and Learning. (2010). Use of high time expectations to build a school and mutual culture accountability. Web.

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