Chapter 8: Adapting to Diversity Through Supportive and Shared Conditions
The courses, the texts, and the experiences all are aimed at addressing some alleged pathology on the part of the students, their families, their communities, and/or their cultures. The school quickly imperializes the space of normalcy, and any students who do not conform to that space are thought to have abnormalities that emanate from outside of the school in the "dangerous, chaotic worlds" of their families and communities."
--Ladson-Billings, 2005, p.19
As I read Gloria Ladson-Billings' (2005) quote, I felt disgust that someone could perceive any child in this manner. It was hurtful to read such a quote and to know that well-meaning educators did not know any better but to genuinely believe that their students were deficient in some way or another just because they were different from the educator. I asked myself, "How could anyone think this way about their students?" I wondered, "How can we help educators we come across who think their students are culturally and language deficient, just because they come from a different cultural background and speak other languages, without showing disgust toward them for thinking so negatively about their students and their families?" The expectation has traditionally been that students should adapt to the way schools are designed and structured, however, if the student cannot see themselves reflected in the school setting, what message is that sending to the student about who they are? If we continue to expect that students adapt to mainstream school culture without including them in some way or another, that will damage their self-esteem and it will send a strong negative message that is not in the best interest of the student, nor is it in the best interest of society in general. Schools must take into consideration the needs of students and their families and allow these families to feel welcomed at the school campus by integrating these families' cultures and traditions through different activities that send the message that they are being respected and valued. At my school one of the traditional conditions in place that might exclude some students from access or engagement is the way we have been communicating and doing homework in recent years. At my school we assume EVERYONE has access to the internet because 99% of the population does. As a teacher I communicate with my students' parents via e-mail only, although every year I have at least one family who does not check their e-mail at all, even though they provide me with an e-mail address. It is just not something that they do and they often feel frustrated, out of the loop, and left out. Homework is done digitally, although every school year I have at least one student who asks me to please print out the homework for them, which I do, because for whatever reason, they cannot access it from home. To support me and my colleagues adapting to the changing community, it could be helpful to have an event before school starts where a few of the families are invited to "teach" us what they would like us to know about them so that we can understand them better rather than having us create assumptions to fill in the gaps of what we do not know about them.
As I read the guiding questions in the third column of Table 8.1 on page 102, I felt that these very inclusive questions were a good way to keep all educators accountable and on track. The questions that guide my work at the school are: "In what ways do I incorporate cultural knowledge into the classroom, irrespective of the demographic composition of the classroom, school, or district?" and "How do I/we learn about the cultures and histories of new demographic groups of students who enroll in the school?" Although we do not actively engage in ongoing discussions regarding these particular questions, at my school it is just implied that we adjust and support our students in many of the ways mentioned within these questions. I work at a language academy, so we already embrace many of these practices as part of the multi-cultural culture that we foster at our campus. I believe that the question that poses the opportunity for further learning for me and for my school is: "In what ways do I keep apprised of the changing demographics of our school, community, region, state, and country?" Our language academy is so different in so many ways from the rest of the school district that the only way I am finding out about the changing demographics occurring in the rest of the school district has been through other teachers during district-wide meetings.
Reflection:
Some beliefs that underlie the thinking of each of the learning team members might be that the AP Teacher and the CAP Teacher believe their students have no business being enrolled in technical classes because they think their students are superior to the students who traditionally enroll in those classes. In the meantime, the CTE Teacher is offended that these two other teachers feel this way about his students. When I hear my colleagues speak disapprovingly about our kids, I respond by leaving the area and not wanting anything further to do with negative people. How I would like to respond is in a caring manner that helps them understand our students and see things differently.
Reflection:
I describe the underlying issues in this vignette as a teacher who is super-excited to be involved in this great opportunity for common planning time and another teacher who feels he has nothing to contribute, so he doesn't even attend. Some adapting to diversity issues that I see include Owolbe not being willing to leave his class with a sub in order to learn more about how to adapt to diversity so that he may have more effective and engaging lessons that would probably even help the behavioral issues he keeps experiencing in his classroom. Now that these teachers have been provided with common planning time and professional development resources, what I see as next steps is possibly conducting learning walks in order to support each other with the implementation of their lessons. When I hear colleagues make comments like those of Owolbe, I respond by remaining quiet and not adding to the fire. How I would like to respond is by offering some suggestions that work in their classroom, but no teacher ever wants to hear that they should change, they think it is the students who should change.
Going Deeper: 3 Keys
3 Key Learnings:
*Participating in supportive and shared conditions that support us in adapting to diversity smooths out the transition through an exciting environment that allows us to be more effective educators for all students.
*Everyone needs to work together regardless of what subject or grade level you teach.
*Students benefit when their teacher participates in some sort of supportive network that allows them to learn more effective strategies and techniques.
3 Key Quotes:
* "When educators and their schools successfully adapt to diversity, a commitment is made to educate the students who are in the school, not the students who used to be there or who we might wish were there" (Lindsey et. al, p.99-101).
* "Learning about new cultural groups of students should be the core of what we do as educators" (Lindsey et. al, p.100).
* "Our heightened emphasis today is on teaching groups of students who had been rendered somewhat invisible by past assessment and accountability practices" (Lindsey et. al, p.101).
3 Key Questions:
*Why would anyone become an educator if they do not believe in helping ALL children?
*Are all states adapting to diversity or only the states in which diversity exists?
*What ignites that desire within some people to want to learn as much as possible about other cultural backgrounds while others do not care for it?
Thinking of my role as an educator, the information from this chapter causes me to think about my practice by helping me see the importance of participating in as many in-services, trainings, and staff developments as possible. I already attend as many as I possibly can, but reading this chapter helped me realize how my presence helps others and how we all enrich each other's experiences through our participation. This information causes me to think differently about my school or district by realizing that every encounter is an opportunity to help a colleague expand their thinking in a way that benefits our students. It only takes one colleague to believe in you that you can make a difference and help turn it all around. Let's believe in each other.
The courses, the texts, and the experiences all are aimed at addressing some alleged pathology on the part of the students, their families, their communities, and/or their cultures. The school quickly imperializes the space of normalcy, and any students who do not conform to that space are thought to have abnormalities that emanate from outside of the school in the "dangerous, chaotic worlds" of their families and communities."
--Ladson-Billings, 2005, p.19
As I read Gloria Ladson-Billings' (2005) quote, I felt disgust that someone could perceive any child in this manner. It was hurtful to read such a quote and to know that well-meaning educators did not know any better but to genuinely believe that their students were deficient in some way or another just because they were different from the educator. I asked myself, "How could anyone think this way about their students?" I wondered, "How can we help educators we come across who think their students are culturally and language deficient, just because they come from a different cultural background and speak other languages, without showing disgust toward them for thinking so negatively about their students and their families?" The expectation has traditionally been that students should adapt to the way schools are designed and structured, however, if the student cannot see themselves reflected in the school setting, what message is that sending to the student about who they are? If we continue to expect that students adapt to mainstream school culture without including them in some way or another, that will damage their self-esteem and it will send a strong negative message that is not in the best interest of the student, nor is it in the best interest of society in general. Schools must take into consideration the needs of students and their families and allow these families to feel welcomed at the school campus by integrating these families' cultures and traditions through different activities that send the message that they are being respected and valued. At my school one of the traditional conditions in place that might exclude some students from access or engagement is the way we have been communicating and doing homework in recent years. At my school we assume EVERYONE has access to the internet because 99% of the population does. As a teacher I communicate with my students' parents via e-mail only, although every year I have at least one family who does not check their e-mail at all, even though they provide me with an e-mail address. It is just not something that they do and they often feel frustrated, out of the loop, and left out. Homework is done digitally, although every school year I have at least one student who asks me to please print out the homework for them, which I do, because for whatever reason, they cannot access it from home. To support me and my colleagues adapting to the changing community, it could be helpful to have an event before school starts where a few of the families are invited to "teach" us what they would like us to know about them so that we can understand them better rather than having us create assumptions to fill in the gaps of what we do not know about them.
As I read the guiding questions in the third column of Table 8.1 on page 102, I felt that these very inclusive questions were a good way to keep all educators accountable and on track. The questions that guide my work at the school are: "In what ways do I incorporate cultural knowledge into the classroom, irrespective of the demographic composition of the classroom, school, or district?" and "How do I/we learn about the cultures and histories of new demographic groups of students who enroll in the school?" Although we do not actively engage in ongoing discussions regarding these particular questions, at my school it is just implied that we adjust and support our students in many of the ways mentioned within these questions. I work at a language academy, so we already embrace many of these practices as part of the multi-cultural culture that we foster at our campus. I believe that the question that poses the opportunity for further learning for me and for my school is: "In what ways do I keep apprised of the changing demographics of our school, community, region, state, and country?" Our language academy is so different in so many ways from the rest of the school district that the only way I am finding out about the changing demographics occurring in the rest of the school district has been through other teachers during district-wide meetings.
Reflection:
Some beliefs that underlie the thinking of each of the learning team members might be that the AP Teacher and the CAP Teacher believe their students have no business being enrolled in technical classes because they think their students are superior to the students who traditionally enroll in those classes. In the meantime, the CTE Teacher is offended that these two other teachers feel this way about his students. When I hear my colleagues speak disapprovingly about our kids, I respond by leaving the area and not wanting anything further to do with negative people. How I would like to respond is in a caring manner that helps them understand our students and see things differently.
Reflection:
I describe the underlying issues in this vignette as a teacher who is super-excited to be involved in this great opportunity for common planning time and another teacher who feels he has nothing to contribute, so he doesn't even attend. Some adapting to diversity issues that I see include Owolbe not being willing to leave his class with a sub in order to learn more about how to adapt to diversity so that he may have more effective and engaging lessons that would probably even help the behavioral issues he keeps experiencing in his classroom. Now that these teachers have been provided with common planning time and professional development resources, what I see as next steps is possibly conducting learning walks in order to support each other with the implementation of their lessons. When I hear colleagues make comments like those of Owolbe, I respond by remaining quiet and not adding to the fire. How I would like to respond is by offering some suggestions that work in their classroom, but no teacher ever wants to hear that they should change, they think it is the students who should change.
Going Deeper: 3 Keys
3 Key Learnings:
*Participating in supportive and shared conditions that support us in adapting to diversity smooths out the transition through an exciting environment that allows us to be more effective educators for all students.
*Everyone needs to work together regardless of what subject or grade level you teach.
*Students benefit when their teacher participates in some sort of supportive network that allows them to learn more effective strategies and techniques.
3 Key Quotes:
* "When educators and their schools successfully adapt to diversity, a commitment is made to educate the students who are in the school, not the students who used to be there or who we might wish were there" (Lindsey et. al, p.99-101).
* "Learning about new cultural groups of students should be the core of what we do as educators" (Lindsey et. al, p.100).
* "Our heightened emphasis today is on teaching groups of students who had been rendered somewhat invisible by past assessment and accountability practices" (Lindsey et. al, p.101).
3 Key Questions:
*Why would anyone become an educator if they do not believe in helping ALL children?
*Are all states adapting to diversity or only the states in which diversity exists?
*What ignites that desire within some people to want to learn as much as possible about other cultural backgrounds while others do not care for it?
Thinking of my role as an educator, the information from this chapter causes me to think about my practice by helping me see the importance of participating in as many in-services, trainings, and staff developments as possible. I already attend as many as I possibly can, but reading this chapter helped me realize how my presence helps others and how we all enrich each other's experiences through our participation. This information causes me to think differently about my school or district by realizing that every encounter is an opportunity to help a colleague expand their thinking in a way that benefits our students. It only takes one colleague to believe in you that you can make a difference and help turn it all around. Let's believe in each other.