As a culturally responsive educator, it is my responsibility to first reflect on my own cultural lens and the perspective that I bring to our community of learners. I am a bicultural, bilingual woman of Hispanic heritage who values diversity in the classroom and in the greater world. I hope to establish relationships with the students and their families which will help me to cultivate a culturally responsive environment in the classroom; this begins with phone calls home to each student’s family before the school year begins and also home visits, if possible. I intend to hold high standards of each student in the class, regardless of their background. I will conduct interest inventories of students at the start of the school year, as I did during my student teaching placement.
Scaffolding and differentiation of instruction is essential for diverse learners so that they can be successful academically, emotionally, and socially. As I foresee myself working at a school with a high population of English Language Learners whose first language is Spanish, I want to incorporate Spanish words into routines every day and utilize read alouds that are translated into Spanish, as well. Students who are learning English as a Second Language will be free to speak with their peers in their first language and to speak with me in Spanish. In the same vein, these students will be challenged and supported to learn English, as well. I will introduce activities that task students with asking their family members questions about their culture and heritage so that they can learn more, and so they can share that information with their peers. We will analyze social injustices in our classroom through a global focus that emphasizes exploration of various cultures, as well as our own. As we are a community of learners that contribute different gifts, my students’ funds of knowledge will inspire and shape my curriculum and instruction. This goes beyond a classroom library with diverse texts that represent a plethora of life experiences- it involves truly developing relationships with students and using that knowledge to inform my practices and curriculum.
In my culturally responsive classroom, families and community members will be valued as a source of knowledge, both about their own child and about their culture, heritage, and life experiences. I will invite parents into the classroom to share their expertise in a field or subject. I acknowledge that all parents-- no matter their race, socioeconomic status, job title, religion, language-- can and should contribute to the classroom community of learners and explorers. As an educator, I am of the mindset that I have much to learn from my students and their families.
During the first week of my student teaching placement, we unexpectedly needed a way to pass fifteen minutes of time, so I picked out a book from the classroom library to read aloud. I picked a book off the shelf titled Dear Primo and began reading. The story celebrated Latin American culture, and contained a page in English followed by a page in Spanish throughout. As we were reading, the Latino students in the class were shouting out, “My mom makes empanadas!” and “I go to the square to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, also!” in response to the book. The students were truly captivated by the book. This read-aloud demonstrated to me firsthand just how critical culturally responsive teaching is so that all students can see themselves and their experiences in the curriculum and engage with academic material.