Understanding Culture to Help Foster a Culturally Proficient Workforce.
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Transcript of Understanding Culture to Help Foster a Culturally Proficient Workforce.
The Data
78 students dropped out of Sun Prairie Schools over the last 3 years.
49 – 63% were boys
43 – 56% were African-American
In the 2010-2011 school year, there were
306 disciplinary incidents that resulted in
out-of-school suspensions. 114 or 37% of
those students were Black.
Last year 218 students in grades 9-12took at least one Technical EducationCourse.
8 or 3% were English Language Learners12 or 9% were girls
A Black student in Sun Prairie is 5 times more likely than a White student to be referred for Special Education evaluation by Sun Prairie staff members.
A Black male student is 11 times more likely than a White male student to end up labeled Emotionally/Behaviorally Disabled.
Last year a total of 260 AdvancedPlacement (AP) exams were taken by
SunPrairie Students. Only 19 or 7% of
thoseAP exams were taken by students ofcolor.
Having a disability is the greatest barrier to
participation in 'performance music' when
students enroll for 6th grade. Greater than
language, race, or poverty.
The Vision
All students, families, school employees, and community members unified by mutual
respect and the shared purpose of seeking successful learning for
every student.
The Priority Goal District Goal #4
Develop a highly qualified, diverse, and culturally proficient district workforce
Action plan 4c Ensure that every employee receives
training in skills of cultural proficiency
Workshop Goals
To develop an understanding of my own culture and how it impacts my beliefs, values, and actions
Workshop Goals
To develop an awareness of white privilege and its influence on my belief, values, and actions
Ground Rules
Everyone has a right to express his/her point of view.
Listen respectively to others without judging.
Share “air time” with others. Limit sidebar conversations.
Culture
Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that are shared by racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups of people.
Why do I need to understand my culture?
Culture shapes the way we see the world, ourselves, and others.
It is the predominant force in shaping behaviors, values, and institutions.
The more we understand ourselves, the better able we are to understand others.
Dimensions of Culture Language Space/proximity Attitude towards
time Gender roles Family roles
Grooming and presence
Life cycles Status of age Education
Exploring the Features of Culture
Reflection Activity #2 Review/Read the following documents:
Identity Quilt Features of Culture
Complete the Features of Culture Survey.
Reflection Packet
Iceberg Activity
Reflection Activity #3
Using the features of culture list within Activity #2 in your Reflection Packet, place the number of features that you believe are observable above the surface of the water and the number of the features that are not directly observable below the surface of the iceberg.
Table Discussions
On chart paper at your table, list specific examples of how features below the surface influence your behavior.
What is my cultural identity? Reflection Activity #4
How did my cultural identity develop? Who are the people who have been influential in
shaping my beliefs, values, and actions? What experiences within my family, school,
church, and community shaped me? How did the media influence my thinking? How has my cultural identity changed over time?
Diverse Views Reflection Activity #5
Based upon your cultural biography, write down a belief or value that you hold.
Next, write down another view of that value/belief. Where may this differing viewpoint have originated? What could be an advantage to having a differing
viewpoint?
Appreciate Diverse Views
Resist the urge to make a judgment about people or behaviors, instead make a conscious effort to understand their cultural perspective.
Power and Privilege: The Invisible Feature of Culture
Whenever one group of people accumulates more power than another group, the more powerful group creates an environment that places its members at the cultural center and the other groups at the margins.
Race
Political concept
Arbitrary division of humans according to physical traits and characteristics
Connecting Power and Privilege
People in the more powerful group are accepted as the norm, so if you are in that group it can be very hard for you to see the benefits you receive.
This accounts for the reason that whites have difficulty recognizing their privileges in society.
“White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”
Peggy McIntosh
I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my
race widely represented.
When I am told about our national
heritage or about “civilization,” I am
shown that people of my color made it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular
materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket
and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a
hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on
my skin color not to work against the appearance of
financial reliability.
I do not have to educate my children to be aware of
systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters,
without having people attribute these
choices tothe bad morals, the poverty, or the
illiteracy of my race.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the “person in
charge”, I will be facing a person of my race.
If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the
IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled
out because of my race.
I can easily buy posters, post-cards,
picture books, greeting cards, dolls,
toys and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
I can go home from most meetings of organizations I
belong to feelingsomewhat tied in, rather than
isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at
a distance or feared.
My culture gives me little fear about
ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other
races.
I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing, or body odor will betaken as a
reflection on my race.
I can take a job with an affirmative action employer
without having my co-worker on the job suspect that I got it
because of my race.
If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation
whether it had racial overtones.
I can arrange my activities so that I
will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to
my race.
Partner Share
Find your 9 o’clock partner and respond to the following questions:
How did you feel as you read the slides? Of which aspects of white privilege were
you aware? Which were surprising to you?
Power and Privilege Lead to Institutional Racism
Institutional racism or systemic racism describes forms of racism which are structured into political and social institutions.
Institutional Racism
Institutional racism is the most difficult to recognize and counter, because it reflects the assumptions of the dominant group and is viewed as the norm.
The Meritocracy Myth
The myth that everyone in the United States has an equal opportunity to achieve success.
Institutional Racism in Schools
Power and privilege disparities within schools create inequitable educational opportunities and outcomes for students of color.
What does institutional racism look like in schools?
More likely to be in segregated urban, high poverty school settings
Pull out and low track programs Over representation in remedial and Special Education
programs Under representation in gifted and advanced level courses Less likely to be taught by qualified teachers Higher drop out rates than white peers Lower achievement than white peers
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005)
47% of black students, 51% or Hispanics, and 5% of white students attend high poverty schools.
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005)
Students in high poverty schools were more than twice as likely to be taught by an out-of-field teachers than low poverty schools
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005) Black students account for 17% of
the public school population, but are disproportionately represented in Special Education, accounting for 33% of students classified as CD, 27% EBD, and 18% SLD.
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005) White students with disabilities were more
likely than students of any other race/ethnicity to spend 80% or more of their day in a regular classroom.
Black students with disabilities were more likely than students of any other race/ethnicity to spend less than 40% of their day in a regular classroom, resulting in inconsistent, fragmented instruction.
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005) Proficient or Advanced on 4th
Grade Reading Achievement
18% American Indian 42% Asian 13% Black 16% Hispanic 41% White
National Statistics on U.S. Schools (2005) Proficient or Advanced on 4th
Grade Math Achievement
17% American Indian 40% Asian 13% Black 19% Hispanic 47% White
National Statistics on High School Graduation Rates(2008)
64% American Indian 91% Asian 62% Black 64% Hispanic 81% White
Students of color
Called on less frequently Praised less often and reprimanded more often Punished more severely Given answers more frequently by teachers Not encouraged to develop higher order thinking Not encouraged to elaborate on statements Rewarded for following rules and being “nice”
Gay(2000)
The Hidden Curriculum
“…..schools teach more than the knowledge and content that is explicitly stated in the formal curriculum scope and sequence. In fact, children are always learning in school, but may be learning more about their “place” in society, the expectations (often low) that others hold of them, the value, or lack of value, attributed by society to their particular cultural group, gender, or community that they learn about the core content.” Michael Haralambos
Table Discussion How did you feelings change throughout
the video clip? What are the stereotypes that
institutional racism reinforce about the character and abilities of people of color?
Using the gardener’s tale allegory, how are the levels of racism (institutional, interpersonal, and intra personal) exhibited in schools?
Why does culture matter?
Often misunderstandings about the role of culture in behavior, communication, and learning lead to assumptions about the abilities of children to be successful in school.
Why does culture matter?
An awareness and understanding of the different values and behaviors that accompany culture can remove unintentional barriers to a child’s success.
How do we remove barriers for students?
By implementing culturally responsive practices and becoming a culturally responsive workforce.
Aware
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
is constantly aware that one’s culturalidentity impacts behavior. He/sheunderstands that there are specific,sometimes differing beliefs, pastexperiences, values, and feelings thatcontribute to the way the he/she and othersact.
Appreciative
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
recognizes similarities and differences between his/her own cultural identity and that of others. He/she accepts and associates freely with individuals of differing beliefs, appearances, and/or lifestyles, even while maintaining his/her own cultural identity.
Sensitive
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
Understands the dangers of stereotyping and other biases; he/she is aware of and sensitive to issues of sexism, racism, and other prejudice. He/she is able to recognize biased messages about persons of differing cultural identities, and works to eliminate or discredit their impact whenever possible.
Knowledgeable
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
has ever increasing knowledge of differing cultural identities and groups in the school, the community, the United States and other countries in the world. He/she is able to take on and/or consider perspectives of non-majority groups at times.
Interactive
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
works positively with individuals who have other cultural identities and actively seeks out individuals and/or resources and perspectives.