Creating Culturally Responsive Schools

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Creating Culturally Responsive Schools

• Principals Meeting
• May 9, 2007

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Enrollment by Ethnicity in District 5
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Reasons to Increase Cultural Responsiveness in
Classrooms and Schools

• Disproportionate representation of African
  American students in special education programs

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Reasons to Increase Cultural Responsiveness in
Classrooms and Schools

• High percentage of African American students
  whose educational experience is negatively
  impacted by disciplinary actions.

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Suspensions in Local District 5
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Reasons to Increase Cultural Responsiveness in
Classrooms and Schools

• Low representation of minority students in
  Gifted and Talented programs

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Goal

• To facilitate conversations that surface our
  beliefs and values that tend to influence our
  practice as educators.

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What is Culture Anyway?

• The integrated pattern of human behavior that
  includes thought, communications, actions,
  customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a
  racial, ethnic, religious, or social group.

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Cultural Influence Activity

• Objective
• To understand the influence of culture and to
  understand that all of us participate in more
  than one culture.

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Directions for Cultural Influence Activity

• 1. Check the term in each category on your
  handout that best describes you.
• 2. Consider the terms you have checked and
  circle the one term that you feel has had the
  strongest influence on your identity.
• 3. Find a partner, not from your table, who has
  circled the same term and find three experiences,
  traditions, or values you have in common because
  of the term you have circled.

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• A Girl Like Me

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Our Cultural and Educational Experiences

• Topics such as culture and educational
  experiences are complex and sometimes difficult
  to talk about. Today we will try to explore these
  issues in a nonthreatening way.

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Ground Rules for Discussion

• Listen attentively and respond thoughtfully
• Show mutual respect
• Accept each others experiences as true and valid
  and not to be debated
• Grant each person the right to pass
• Preserve confidentiality

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Partner Discussion
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Table Discussion
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Table Discussion - Activity

• After discussing the two questions, decide as a
  group one big idea that you think we all need to
  know about our students to create a rigorous and
  meaningful environment for them
• Select one member of your group to write your
  tables big idea on the chart paper taped on the
  wall during the break.

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Reading

• The Case for Culturally Proficient Educators
• From
• It Takes A School
• Closing the Achievement Gaps Through Culturally
  Responsive Schools
• Marian Keyes, Rebecca Burns , Patricia Kusimo

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FINAL WORD
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• Every school day, these dimensions of culture
  consciously and subconsciously influence how
  individuals within the school interact with one
  another, and help determine whether these
  interactions create conflicts or build
  understanding.
• What implications does this have on our Charge
  to fundamentally improve the interaction between
  the teacher and the student to create critical
  thinkers prepared to participate in a diverse and
  complex society?

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Cultural Proficiency

• Cultural proficiency has been defined as
  knowing how to learn and teach about different
  groups in ways that acknowledge and honor all
  people and the groups they represent (Lindsey,
  Roberts, Campbell-Jones, 2005,p74)

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Cultural Proficiency Continuum

• Objective
• To recognize a range of behaviors from
  destructiveness to proficiency.

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Cultural Proficiency ContinuumActivity

• Individually read the Rolling Meadows Middle
  School (Handout A)
• Write the number from the continuum that you feel
  fits each remark in the vignette
• When you are finished, discuss your scoring with
  your group. (You may not all agree.)
• Using post-its, each table group will place the
  letter of each remark where it best fits on the
  continuum poster.

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Reflection

• After todays discussion, what action(s) will you
  take or recommend at your school site?
• Please respond on your evaluation.