Cultural Competence

Teaching in the diverse classroom

PrefaceCultural Competence has been studied and analyzed from a postmodern perspective. Postmodernism is a lens that allows for the development of knowledge and understanding from an autobiographical perspective. Critical theory challenges established Eurocentric constructs of knowledge and engages in its deconstruction. According to Slattery, postmodernist thought provides approaches to learning that lead to what William Pinar termed “synthetical moments”. “In the synthesizing moment there is a reconstruction of the self and an experience of solidarity of the intellect, the body, the spirit, and the cosmos, as well as an intrinsic coherence of time, place, and meaning.” (Slattery, p.208)Slattery, P., (1995). Curriculum development in the Postmodern Era

Scholars of the African Diaspora

Dr. Ivan Van Sertima

Dr. Asa G. Hilliard, III Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop

Dr. John Henrik Clarke

Dr. Yosef A. A. ben-jochannan

Understanding the Concept

A Pathway to equity in education

Traditional Perspectives on Difference

• Culturally deprived• Cognitive deficit• Developmentally delayed• Linguistic deficit• At-Risk

Traditionalist Curriculum TheoristFranklin Bobbitt – Scientific curriculum movement, objectives generated from identified work in society/ Deficit modelMaria Montessori (1911-1931) – teacher as the table rasa the empiricist, constructivist, child centered, value of the environmentJohn Dewey - constructivist, student directed, inquiry learningRalph Tyler (1902-1995) Tylerian rationale, curriculum development, objective driven assessmentsJane Addams – education of immigrant children, maintain cultural heritage

Opponents of Multiculturalism• Causes division in the nation• Need for American culture• Literary portrayal American culture snynomous to Western culture.

E.D. Hirsch – Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to KnowAllan Bloom - The Closing of the American Mind

Pivotal Point in History of Education

Oliver Brown et al. vs The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas,

1954

Historical Evolution of Cultural Competence

Multicultural Education and Anti-

racist Education(1970s - 1990

Cultural Competence

(1990s – Present)

Nichols, Edwin. (2013). Cultural competence in American Schools: Leadership, Engagement and Understanding.

Diversity and the Civil Rights

Movement(1960)

Cultural MismatchTeachers

• Eurocentric Curriculum• Predominately White Euro-centric

teacher Work Force• Teacher Attitudes, Beliefs based social

conceptions of diverse learners.• Failure to recognize and develop

cultural identity.• Low Teacher Expectations • Academic Achievement Gap

Diverse StudentsCurriculum is not culturally relevantSocial organization and teaching not culturally responsiveReduced listening comprehension and attentiveness as a result of linguistic differences.Lack schema to process new knowledge and skillsLost of cultural identitymotivation and engagementDisengagement, loss of motivationRetention, Special Education, Drop out

Postmodern Curriculum Theories

Critical Theory Critical Race Critical Literacy – subjectivity of text, knowledge as a social construct

Social JusticeDeconstructionistFeminismChaos theoryMulticulturalismPost structuralism

Cultural Competence Is . . .

Cultural competence is having the disposition, knowledge, skills and pedagogy necessary to effectively teach culturally and linguistically diverse leaners. Trends in Teacher preparation for Diversity and Equity fit criteria of cultural competence. Cochran-Smith, M. (2015), Irvine, J. (2003), Ladson-Billings, G. (2009, 2nd ed.; 2001), National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, (2008)

“Teachers who are prepared to help students become culturally competent are themselves culturally competent.”Ladson-Billings, Gloria, (2001). Crossing over to Canaan: The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms, p.97

Academic Achievement Gap

National Assessment of Educational Progress1992, 2011, and 2013

Percentage of students at or above Proficient in fourth-grade NAEP reading, by selected student groups: 1992, 2011, and 2013

Percentage of students at or above Proficient in eighth-grade NAEP reading, by selected student groups: 1992, 2011, and 2013

Turn, Talk & Note• Accolades• Criticism• Alternatives

Relationship of text to engagement and motivation

• “Just as African Americans have been denied their civil rights in society generally, so they have been denied access to their history and culture in school. Not only African Americans have been denied, however. Institutional racism deforms white students as well.” (Castenell, Jr. & Pinar, p.6)

Louis Castenell, Jr.Educational Psychologist

William PinarCurriculum Theorist

Louis A. Castenell, Fr. and William F. Pinar, eds. (1993): Understanding Curriculum as Racial Text: Representations of Identity and Difference in Education

This book features a collection of essays that present arguments that the canon and other curriculum text is Eurocentric, and underrepresents or misrepresents African Americans and woman. Current curriculum was viewed as a tool of the established power structure. Section author Beverly Gordon, called for a curriculum of “counter-indoctrination” to help African American students overcome adverse psychological and sociological effects of racialized text.

Literature to motivate and engageTatum, Alfred (2005). Teaching reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the achievement gap.Nesting Ground Framework: Culturally responsive/Culturally relevant• Gender Awareness/male oriented text• High interest to boys and honor their identity• “legitimize the male experience” p. 11• “nurture the resiliency of black males”• Topics that motivate them to write, p. 19 • Professional Development/teacher competence

Critical LiteracyCulturally competent teachers facilitates comprehension of text:• “problem solving” rather “banking pedagogy” (Freire, 1970, 1993, 2011)• Helps students critically examine text, questioning the author, identifying who is

included in the text and who is excluded• Helps students’ make connections to themselves, nation and world.

“Yet we simply cannot fully understand the power of the text, what it does ideologically and politically (or educationally, for that matter), unless we take very seriously the way students actually read texts, not only as individuals but also as

members of social groups with their own particular cultures and histories.” (Apple, 1993, p. 212)

Sociocultural TeachingMulticultural

Cultural Pluralism

Culturally Congruent Culturally Responsive CulturallyRelevant

James A. BanksFather of MulticulturalismFive Domains of Multiculturalism/1. Content Integration2. Knowledge Construction3. Prejudice Reduction4. Equity Pedagogy5. Empowering School

CultureBanks, J. & Banks, C., (2004), Handbook of research on Multicultural Education

Multicultural Teaching ScaleKnowledge

Dimension I: content Integration• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the contributions made by minority

groups in our society

• Develop materials appropriate for the multicultural classroom

• Help students see cultural groups as real people

• Show how mainstream Americans have adopted food, clothing, language, etc. from other cultures.

• Present cultural groups in our society in a manner that will build mutual respect

• Present diversity of cultures as a strong positive feature of American heritage

• Identify the similarities between Anglo-American and other cultures

• Know the history of minority groups in the United States

PraxisDimension II: Knowledge Construction Process• Identify cultural biases in commercial materials used in instruction

• Identify the social forces that influence opportunities for minority group members

• Identify how language affects performance on certain test items

• Know different patterns of child rearing practices among cultures

• Analyze instructional materials for potential stereotypical attitudes

• Know ways in which various cultures contribute to our pluralistic society

Teacher EducationNational Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education/Unacceptable and Acceptable teacher preparation programshttp://ncate.org/Standards/UnitStandards/UnitStandardsinEffect2008/tabid/476/Default.aspx#stnd4International Literacy Association/Position Statement on Teacher Preparation Programs/Standards for Teacher Preparation Programs/Creating a Literate Environmenthttp://www.reading.org/Libraries/position-statements-and-resolutions/ps1060_TeacherPreparation_web.pdf

Teacher OrganizationAmerican Education Research Association/Special Interest Group (SIG)/Critical Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender in Education SIG 27http://www.aera.net/EventsMeetings/AnnualMeeting/2015AnnualMeetingKeySessions/tabid/15823/Default.aspx

Albert BanduraSocial Cognitive

Theory

Role of Culture in Cognitive Development

• Self-Agency• Self-Efficacy• Vicarious Learning• Learned Helplessness

McCarthy, C. Multicultural Approaches to Racial Inequality in the United States

Chapter 12, (Castenell & Pinar)Cultural understanding • Focus on changing attitudes to improve race relations.

• activities that enable them to identification characteristics of different cultural groups

Cultural competence • focuses on maintaining cultural pluralism, oppose melting pot, assimilationist • Build racial identity• Respect for minority cultures• building bridges between home• “link the issue of minority underachievement in the classroom to prejudice teachers and the suppression of minority culture in

the school curriculum.” (p. 238)

cultural emancipation Focus on multicultural curriculum to motivate and improve the academic performance improvement in economic status. Professional development and pre-service programs to train teachers

Cultural competence in Alberta schools: Perceptive of ESL Families in Four Major School Boards

Survey Research Design Theoretical Framework: cultural competence and MulticulturalismSite: Alberta, Canada Participants: Parents and Student • School/Community Interactions• Competence staff• Method of teaching• Selection of text books/literature• Images/Environment• Planning Extra-curricula

National Association for the Education of the Young Children

(NAEYC)Position Statement (1995)

• The acquisition of language is essential to children’s cognitive and social development. Regardless of what language children speak, they still develop and learn.• Historically, our nation has tended to regard differences, especially language differences, as cultural handicaps rather than cultural resources (Meier & Cazden 1982). • Recognize that all children are cognitively, linguistically, and emotionally connected to the language and culture of their home.• The issue of home language and its importance to young children is also relevant for children who speak English but come from different cultural backgrounds, for example, speakers of English who have dialects, such as people from Appalachia or other regions having distinct patterns of speech, speakers of Black English, or second- and third- generation speakers of English who maintain the dominant accent of their heritage language (NAEYC,1995, pp. 1-3)• Early childhood educators need to understand and appreciate their own cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Adults’ cultural back- ground affects how they interact with and/or teach young children. The educator’s background influences how children are taught, reinforced, and disciplined• Provide early childhood educators with professional preparation and development in the areas of culture, language, and diversity.

Curriculum Models• John Dewey/Inquiry• Alfred Tatum/Nestling Model• Kathryn Au/Culturally Responsive, Seven Steps• Gloria Ladson-Billings/Teach for Diversity• Cultural congruence, Native Amari scholar

Research StudiesCulturally competent teaching

Asa G. Hilliard III, educator, psychologist, historian

Portland Baseline Essays, 1985• developed for the Portland Oregon's desegregation• Provided information on the history, culture and contributions of geocultural groups in the area.• Content for professional development of teachers and administrative staff.• Consult on the Cultural pluralismCurriculum writerClassical African HistoryAdvocate for Ebonics in support of the Oakland School Board Resolution, 1996

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/curriculum/5024.htm

Gloria Ladson-BillingsCritical Race theoryCulturally Relevant Pedagogy• High Achievement achievement• African American students

demonstrate cultural knowledge• Critical thinking, critiquing the

text and social structure.Teach For Diversity Teacher Education Program

Ladson-Billings’ Perceptive• The teacher understands culture and its role in education.• The teacher takes responsibility for learning about students’ culture

and community.• The teacher uses student culture as a basis for learning.• Thee teacher promotes a flexible use of students’ local and global

culture.

Ladson-Billings, (2001). Crossing over to Canaan: The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms

Kathryn AuCulturally Responsive teaching• Researcher, Curriculum Developer for KEEP/

1971-195.

• Professor and endowed chair at University of Hawaii

• Founder of INPEACE, a Native Hawaiian initiative that focused on Early Pre-school education, Workforce Development and Cultural Land Stewardship

• Co-Founder and CEO of School Rise.LLC

• Educational Consultation

• Standards Based Change

• Staircase Model

• Seven Levels of Development

• Teachers collaborate in the creation of the curriculum

• MULTICULTURAL / MULTIETHNIC EDUCATION• In an effort to provide all students with a quality education that enables them to achieve to their potential, and fosters an appreciation of and respect for

the values of a pluralistic society, the Superintendent of Schools shall develop and maintain a culture of schooling characterized by multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual features that shall include:

• 1. The incorporation of cultural pluralism as part of the underlying foundation or basic framework for the District, including subject-matter content, teaching and learning strategies, goals and objectives, classroom climates, and assessment of the performances of students and teachers.

• 2. The equal-status treatment of the life experiences, cultures, and perspectives of culturally diverse groups.• 3. The integration of principles of cultural pluralism into all decisions about curriculum and instruction.• 4. The development of alternative structures that reflect cultural, racial, social, gender, and ethnic pluralism.• 5. A program of learning opportunities that gives balanced attention to practices to celebrate cultural pluralism.• 6. District governance representation in state level textbook or other curriculum forums. • CURRICULUM / INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS• The District's curriculum shall provide a knowledge base that reflects the achievement of all cultural and ethnic groups, and provide a more accurate

base of information through the inclusion of diverse historical figures and perspectives. Materials developed shall address each instructional area—reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science/health, physical education, fine arts—in terms of program philosophy, goals, student activities, modes of learning, grouping for instruction, and assessment practices.

• Criteria for selection of instructional materials other than textbooks are set for the District in each discipline. They are provided to each campus annually.

Dallas ISD 057905 SPECIAL PROGRAMS EHBKOTHER INSTRUCTIONAL INITIATIVES (LOCAL)

Lesson ExemplarsCulturally Responsive and Culturally RelevantMotivating and engaging textIntegrate relevant cultural normsGradual ReleaseWorkshopsVaried Assessments

Jacqueline Levine“Unless we understand the complexity of the task and articulate a convincing mission in carefully crafted language, words such as care and competence easily will be reduced to being used in laudable yet shallow clichés and homelies”. p. 40

Educating Teachers for Diversity: Seeing with a cultural eye (2003)

Conclusions Cultural competence has evolved from Multiculturalism which focused on teachers’ self-awareness and Banks five dimensions of multiculturalism. It refers to teachers’ effort learn about diverse students’ lives outside of school, and how high expectation for academic achievement for all. Culturally competent teachers integrate students’ funds of knowledge in standards based instruction using culturally responsive teaching. Culturally relevant teaching is distinguished from culturally responsive teaching because students’ culture not only serves as a scaffold to learning but is used to build and maintain students’ cultural identity and to create civic consciousness.