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In education there is a golden triangle of quantity, quality, and equity. You just can't ignore one while strengthening others.
-Sitaram Yechury
Community colleges provide a high-quality education to all students from a wide variety of backgrounds. It is important to ensure that each student receives the education they need to achieve and be successful. However, educational equity continues to be an issue in education. Gender, ethnic origin, and family background should not be obstacles to achieving a student's educational potential. Many community college students tend to come from underserved populations and do not always have the confidence needed to thrive in an academic setting. We as instructors need to break down the barriers facing our underserved students. Courses need to be intentionally designed to foster strong relationships with students. Zaretta Hammond reminds us that "In the culturally responsive classroom, we need a less authoritative relationship with students and more of a learning partnership that supports them to take ownership of their learning." Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain (2015). Equity raises the achievement of all students. It eliminates achievement gaps by providing all students high quality, individual support they need to achieve a common standard or expectation. Effective online teachers will have a positive impact on student' lives and provide a solid foundation for their future learning.
Students need to know that their instructor cares for them and is there to support them. Working with such a diverse population, the @One course, Equity and Culturally Responsive Teaching, really pointed out the importance of cultivating efficacy and ability in working with ethnically diverse students. It is also very important to provide students with valuable feedback and let them know that they are not alone as they learn. As instructors, it is our responsibility to let our students know that we are in a partnership and are committed to their learning.
Reflections
Reflections
Where I was.
Where I was.
As students enter the community college system, they are not always prepared for the commitment, rigor or expectations that they are about to tackle. Many are trying to work full-time, go to school full-time, be a parent, a care giver, a driver, whatever their other roles they may be filling besides being a student. There is not enough time in the day to fit it all in and do a good job. Given students' environmental situations, I was not sure which approach would be best to support my students online.
This made me think about "How do the students see themselves as a student?" "Do they feel valued by their classmates?" And "What are their academic goals and their underlying beliefs about their ability to reach them?" These are all real issues for students. If students don't believe in themselves, then they will not achieve to their full potential.
Another area that had to be considered more closely was culture. Whether you teach face-to-face or online, you as the instructor and the diverse group of students you have in your course bring culture with them. We as instructors need to remember that we are building relationships with out students. We need to consider all aspects of who our students are and realize that each and everyone of them bring cultural value to the course.
Where I Am Now.
Where I Am Now.
Culturally responsive teaching and learning is not a new approach, but one that made me take a step back and look at my courses. I really began to look at my equity-minded practices and thought about the content that I was delivering to such a diverse group of students.
I wanted to make sure that I identified students' unique characteristics and set a tone for mutual respect. I recognized a need to provide multiple avenues of understanding and accessing the curriculum for my student's. It challenged me to integrate more diverse work and empowered me to ask my student's more to share their thoughts. I focused more on relating content to let them showcase their values, strengths, and experiences. Reflecting more on how to help those students who were struggling to achieve and to close the achievement gap has allowed me to focus on the specific needs of my student's.
As I reflect on my current practices, I realize the importance of working together to make my student's successful. Doing that independently leaves the student without the long lasting supports they need. I am always looking at improving my course. I am trying to create authentic assignments that have learning objectives and that meet my course outcomes. I am trying to refine my eportfolio that I have my student's create as their summative assignment. I am also trying to create good formative assessments to check for understanding. In addition, I want to provide my student's more reflective assignments throughout the course to see if they are meeting their goals, and to see themselves as a better reflective student.
It is important to have students set some goals for themselves and know exactly how to achieve them. They need to stay on track and actively participate in their learning. They need to feel engaged in the course and feel that, you, as their instructor want to help them succeed. Making those connections are so very important for the students' to feel valued.
Where I'm headed.
Where I'm headed.
As an informed, equity minded educator, I believe that working toward being vested in culturally responsive teaching and equity in education as well as closing the achievement gap is incredibly important. Making sure that students are aware of their own biases and stereotypes will help them become more culturally aware. Focusing on how all students can achieve and making sure they are aware of institutional supports will provide them with a plan to further their education.
I believe that the conversations and activities that I incorporate in my course will empower students to want to learn and overcome any challenges they may have. I know that I can encourage my students to reach beyond their expectations and find the content to be more meaningful. Building confidence in my students will allow them to push past what is comfortable and give them the confidence to achieve not only in their educational endeavors, but in all aspects of their lives. My aspirations are to engage with my students and for them to see that they are capable of achieving anything they set their minds too. I believe that I can develop their skills and provide them the content necessary to be successful and inspire them to do their best. On a professional level, I will focus on successfully implementing these equitable practices to help each and every student succeed.
I believe that I can do this through having students reach their goals one step at a time. By setting realistic goals and developing an action plan, I believe students can achieve their goals. As their instructor, I want my students to set attainable goals, develop a step-by-step action plan, and understand who they are as a learner so they can reflect on the progression of their goals. I want them to set goals on how they can understand content and apply it to their fieldwork. I would like to teach them how to observe and evaluate effective teaching practices so they can apply it to their teaching. Developing best practices will help them as a future educator.
Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society. -Sonia Sotomayor
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