Culturally Sustaining/ Relevant Pedagogy

Plan to adapt:

In order to use this strategy in the future classroom it is important to understand the differences between these terms. Understanding the terms stands as a solid starting ground to the following steps. In the classroom I should then plan on teaching lessons based on different views of the same topic. Doing so should hopefully promote pluralism and anti-colonialism. It will also be important to allow students the freedom to practice whatever culture they wish in the classroom.

https://www.idra.org/resource-center/what-the-term-culturally-sustaining-practices-means-for-education-in-todays-classrooms/

"Culturally Sustaining Practices" meaning

Several terms to describe work with ethnically and racially minoritized children.
Used culturally responsive, culturally relevant, and culturally sustaining interchangeably
Used to respect and honor a wide range of students cultures
Terms are not synonymous
- Culturally Responsive- Teaching that demonstrates understanding and appreciation of students culture through using a students cultural knowledge and prior knowledge
- Culturally Relevant- cultivates cultural competence through affirming cultural identities and critical consciousness
- Culturally Sustaining- Maintains heritage, values, cultural and linguistic pluralism with goal of sustaining multilingualism and multiculturalism
Practices should promote pluralism rather than one "American" culture
Should see the need of anti-colonial practices
Reject efforts to divorce students between home and school cultures

Plan to adapt:

To use this strategy it is important to acknowledge other cultures besides your own. It will be important to first look into yourself and find out about your own culture. Then it would be important to study on a multitude of other cultures. Even after doing this it will be important to always doing more research and be ready to gain more information. Finally one should make sure to integrate your own knowledge into lessons and share these cultures with others.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0040059920945644

Cultural Competence

Ability to teach student of culture other than their own
Gained through three step process
- Cultural self study
- Acquire cultural knowledge
- Put knowledge to practice
Helps facilitate the needed changes in individual spaces
Also helps with ability to recognize and advocate for appropriate practices
Demonstrates value of diversity, self awareness and knowledge regarding cultural interactions

Plan to adapt:

To achieve this method it is important to plan ahead of each lesson. As a history teacher it will always be important to keep up with current events and continue to do research of past events. As a result if there is a culture that directly plays into an event it would be important to teach about that. For example when teaching the American Civil War teaching about both Whites and African Americans would be crucial but it would also be beneficial to look into the impact that the Irish had on this event as well. In doing this you are keeping other cultures in mind while still teaching the content needed.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.5323/blachistbull.81.2.0024.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ad12022b3b85544cf2f343926a257fed4&ab_segments=&origin=

Teaching new Majority in social studies

Expand beyond class text
Utilize Primary sources and other subject matter to support content
Reconstruct historical events
- Using other sources such as music can give an event a new look
- Viewing same event through the eyes of another race
Deconstruct these extra sources and angles
More lessons based on events directly about other cultures/races
Can be used to bring lesson to life

Plan to adapt:

To practice the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy it will be important to create a system based on the specific classroom needs. Every class will be different so it will be important to work with your students about what is important to them. While these needs are the most important thing for the class it is also important to have a basic foundation of how you plan to accomplish this through types of materials and the grounds from which you stand on. These two combined should help form a healthy classroom experience that is about learning and being culturally relevant.

https://www.teachforamerica.org/stories/how-to-engage-culturally-relevant-pedagogy

Practicing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Misconception is that successful teaching is about what to do.
In reality it is about what we think.
- Students
- Community
- Broader social contexts
  - Curriculum
  - Institution
  - Role as teachers
Belief drives our actions
Foundations of every aspect of instructional practice
Specific to set of students

Plan to adapt:

One the first day of school it would be important to make your stand about what your intentions are. For me I will try to make it as clear as possible that I will try to be culturally relevant. I can try to teach this by having class content available to see on a website or through a syllabus. I can also achieve this by covering the walls in posters and other materials that relate to culturally relevant ideas.

https://ncte.org/blog/2018/08/first-day-actions-for-a-culturally-sustaining-classroom-environment/

First day actions

It is important to leave a good first impression
Can be achieved through
- Books
- Reading journal
- Intentions
- Space
- Walls/Art
- Sounds
- Curriculum

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