Standard 9, Cultural Sensitivity asks that we show evidence that a MA. Ed. candidate demonstrates that they Establish a culturally inclusive learning climate that facilitates academic engagement and success for all students. During the conversations and assignments for my Culturally Responsive Teaching course I believe that I have shown evidence of current practices and growth for this standard. I shared with my classmates some of the ideas and activities which I already incorporate in my classroom. For example, I discussed a specific student who is very shy, but there is also a cultural barrier in our communication. I developed strategies for working with this student (encouraging her to write down her questions if it was too difficult for her to ask me straight out) and she has become more comfortable interacting with me. I am also giving my students more choices in their assessments. For example, in a summary unit that we were doing, the students were able to choose their own tale in addition to the Greek mythology story that they chose to summarize. They illustrated their summary and turned it in as a project. The final results were amazing and I could tell that they understood the concepts of summary and myth. In this course I also learned some new ideas regarding culturally responsive teaching that are especially applicable to my subject area: transformation knowledge, alternate meta-narratives, culturally sensitive assessment options, and content inclusion that would provide opportunities for students to share their personal cultural experiences. My final project for the class is a specific example of a way that I could improve my curriculum in a way that would enrich it in all of these areas. I am going to suggest to my department that we adopt a specific novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, a novel that incorporates many of the characteristics, like those mentioned above, Dr. Mvududu uses to describe culturally responsive teaching. The paper includes a discussion of some of the major principles of culturally responsive teaching and how this novel would contribute to the current curriculum.
inegration-and-action-paper-fd.docx (.pdf file)
Discussion Transcript:Discussion Record for CRT course 2010
Andrea Freeman's bPortfolio 