What is culturally responsive pedagogy?
It is about responding to both the tangible and the
intangible culture, i.e. not just pronouncing students names correctly
(although this is important) and participating in Kapahaka, but more
importantly valuing the perspectives of all my students by recognising everyday
their lived experiences. I can do this
by asking my students what they already know so connections are made between
their prior cultural knowledge and what they need to know today and for the
future. I agree with Jacqueline Jordan Irvine’s view it
is about cultural bridge building or being ‘cultural translators’ (Introduction
to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, 2010).
Moreover, as Bishop emphasises, ‘relationship-centred education
is paramount’. This is a relationship between the teacher and student in which
there is both caring and learning.
From my reading,
I have discovered that I need to improve in all areas. I have chosen ‘Planning
and assessment’ and ‘Learning activities’ because changes in my practice in them
will have the greatest immediate impact
for my learners.
So what? Evaluation of my practice
using Milne’s action continuum
Planning and
assessment
After
reflecting on what I have read and viewed, I believe I am currently somewhere between
the ‘some language and cultural content’ purple stage of Milne’s ‘Action continuum – eliminating White spaces’.
In my roles as an English and junior French teacher, I do some planning of
short stories with content from Maori and other cultures and in French, we make
comparisons between vowel pronunciation and also la bise/hongi and have used
the mihi structure for introductions in French. In French, at this beginner
level, many of the formative and summative tasks are oral and performed with
peers or groups. However, in my planning and assessment of English, I realise I
have not included enough opportunities, especially at the junior level, for
students to work collaboratively and have the option to present their work
orally or visually (there is currently less flexibility to do this in English
at NCEA level). Something else to plan for are opportunities for the students
to be the teachers (either within the class or with more junior students). I
certainly acknowledge that I can and have learnt from my students but I have a
lot more colouring in to do in this area. I need to plan from my Maori students’
point of view; this quotation from Russell Bishop gave me pause for thought:
Despite many teachers
saying that they do care for Maori students, their actions that express this
need to be in ways that Maori students understand’ Te Kotahitanga Effective
Teaching Profile 2009 p.30)
Learning
activities – This is directly related to the planning area. I am clear about
where the activities are leading and why we are doing them. I need to provide
more opportunities within the class for collaboration, for opportunities to ‘think
and compare’. This year we have become a 1:1 device school and I realise to
some extent I have neglected the collaborative speaking opportunities.
What next? So where to from here? How do I colour in the
white spaces and see Maori ‘As Maori’?
I need to
become an ‘agentic thinker’ (Bishop.) I absolutely believe that all students
are educable and have high expectations of everyone but this not sufficient. As
yet, I do not have all the cultural knowledge to help all students. I need to sign
up for a He Tikanga Whaakaro course, see my classroom as a place of reciprocity
of learning and feel able to embrace Te Ao Maori at every opportunity at my
school. To this end, I will need my school to support me by going beyond the timetabling
of culture to embracing and sustaining culture (Milne, 2017).
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