...Runninghead: ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE PAPER Analysis and Critique Paper Cherrise L. Whye University of Phoenix September 17, 2012 Analysis and Critique Paper Public education, while still coping with the implications of an accountability system mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), is facing yet another “unprecedented challenge” (D’Angelo & Dixey, 2001) that has far-reaching implications. The increasing diversity of the student populations served by public education systems is already having an adverse effect on overall student achievement and is forcing more and more educators to question their own beliefs and prejudices. The article focuses on the major issues in public education failing to reach our culturally and linguistically diverse student population, particularly those with and at risk for disabilities, including disproportionate academic underachievement, special education referrals, and disciplinary actions (Cartledge & Kourea, 2008). An eruption of social consciousness and moral seriousness has occurred about the “savage inequalities” faced by minorities and poor children in so many of America’s urban schools today (Kea & Utley, 1998). Even while it is clear that culturally and linguistically diverse students have the greatest need for quality instructional programs, many researchers argue that they are less likely to be taught with the most effective evidence-based instruction. Banks (2002) contends that the challenges...
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...Culturally Responsive Teaching: Bridging the Gap Michael Warren University of Texas at El Paso Culturally Responsive Teaching: Bridging the Gap The changing demographics in classrooms are not often reflected in the pedagogies, curriculum and strategies used in represented grade levels and content areas by the education professionals that drive our education system. Recent research has considered the idea that culturally responsive or culturally pedagogical teaching may be the answer to closing the achievement gap created by the absence of cultural awareness. The concept of cultural awareness may be simply defined as an understanding and awareness of the diversity in the classroom (Villegas & Lucas, 2002); however, such a simplistic definition does not recognize the many dimensions involved in the pedagogy of culturally responsive teaching, which for students includes seeing germane links between subject matter and lessons and their experiences outside the context of the classroom and how those links influence what and how they learn. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the many facets that make up the term Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) and the impact and implications implementing such a broad concept may have on the education system. While the literature discusses several topics connected to CRT, I will confine this review to the following: (1) CRT Background/Definition (2) The methods of study, the participants involved and the significance...
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...Differentiated & Culturally Relevant Instruction EDU 675 Change Leadership for Differentiated Education Environment Dr. Patricia Raney August 13, 2012 Differentiated & Culturally Relevant Instruction American classrooms are full of diverse learners. Some educational practices of the past no longer meet the needs of the ever-changing classroom demographic. As classroom demographics change, so must the perspective of educators charged with educating young people. It is the responsibility of teacher leaders everywhere to find meaningful ways to reach their students. With the growing popularity of professional learning communities on school campuses, teachers can take advantage of professional development prospects enabling them to establish differentiated instructional strategies that give all students equal access and opportunities to learn. Teacher leaders have several roles. To begin with, as lifelong learners these leaders “foster a collaborative culture to support educator development and student learning” (Teachers as leaders, 2011). In other words, teacher leaders are dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students, expanding the professional communities that they work in and creating positive culture. Positive school culture is vital to both students and staff. Roby (2011) offers that “Teacher leaders not only have the ability to shape the culture of the workplace, but if they are operating from a moral mindset...
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...century early childhood classrooms in the United States are filled with culturally diverse students. As an early childhood educator, you can help prepare this future generation of children to succeed in school. Chapter 1 of the textbook describes different strategies educators can use to support children in their classroom success. ECE 405 Week 1 ePortfolio Submission 1 Culturally Relevant Methods ePortfolio Submission 1: Culturally Relevant Methods. Throughout this course you will develop an ePortfolio that includes evidence of your cultural competence in each of the following areas: § CulturallyRelevantMethods § Anti-BiasCurriculum § DiverseFamilyStructures § MulticulturalEducation Using Chapters 1 and 2 of your text and at least one additional scholarly source, compile a list of 20 culturally competent strategies for English language learners (ELLs). At least five of your strategies should be appropriate for infants/toddlers, five strategies should be appropriate for preschool, and five strategies should be appropriate for early elementary age. You may select the age level for the five remaining strategies. ECE 405 Week 2 DQ 1 Culturally Relevant and Anti-Bias Classroom Culturally Relevant and Anti-Bias Classroom. Teachers can be genuine in their efforts to design and provide a culturally relevant and anti-bias classroom, but still fail to foster an environment where children are fully inclusive of others and free of prejudice. Our classrooms are filled with children...
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...Cultural Competency Interview Paper Elizabeth Asch is one of two teachers in a community education preschool classroom in Michigan. She works with children from different socioeconomic statuses, different cultural backgrounds, and with different abilities and disabilities. Asch (personal communication, November 6, 2014) explained her job responsibilities include leading groups, creating lessons, helping the children progress in school, and home visits occasionally. She began working at daycare centers in high school, attended college for a few years, took a few years off to raise children, and then began looking for classroom jobs. The families that have attended her classroom are from both similar and diverse cultural backgrounds. She has had students from Hispanic, African American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Caucasian families. There are rewards that accompany working with diverse families, Asch explains that she enjoys teaching the children about different cultures as well as learning about them from the children and parents. The students tell her stories about their families and their cultural practices, such as holidays, which she encourages them to tell. It is rewarding for her to be able to make connections with the students and their parents. A specific example that she always remembers is about an African American child from a lower SES who was in one of her classes who did not have the best life at home. He had problem behaviors and trust issues, but she was able...
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...travel or communicate with other cultures via the internet, Skype, Facebook, etc. Some kids are extremely diverse but their education in diversity is not a result of their schooling, it is a result of their travels, exposure and friendships to people of other countries and regions. In our school district we do have foreign exchange students who offer some insight into the lives of other cultures, genders, etc. We also have “distant learning” classes available at our school for students who want to take them. I feel that our local communities are very close-minded in terms of other cultures and the ways in which diversity can benefit us. Due to my own lack of cultural education I am going to write about the history of and importance of multicultural education in the school systems, citizen education programs and cultural enrichment activities.. Multicultural education has slowly evolved since its origins in the 1950’s civil rights movement to become part of the cultural mainstream. The desire to recognize the diversity of cultures rather than privileging one dominant one is the motivation of multiculturalism. A rapidly changing demographic profile in the United States is beginning to be reflected in the student population of the nation’s schools. The increase in racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity in American schools is reflected in many classrooms. These classrooms are also receiving increased numbers of children with...
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...learning and success. Taylor and Fox (1996), assert that all learners bring a variety of linguistic and cognitive strengths from past experiences into the classroom and these strengths should be valued and utilized as learning tools. However teachers, according to Weinstein, Curran & Tomlinson-Clarke (2003), interpret and respond to their students behaviors from their own homogeneous cultural perspective. Although teachers may be unaware, they in fact may be acting in ways that are discriminatory. Discrimination occurs when teachers do not recognize when student behavior is related to culture. For example, in speaking with a former coworker, she was upset by the actions of one of her student who would not move his feet out of the aisle. She accidently tripped over his feet on multiple occasions and the student became visible upset, quickly checking his shoes for blemishes. She could not understand why he refused to move his feet. What the teacher did not know was that the student was offering his shoes for resale online. This is a common practice amongst socio-economically disadvantaged teens, however; this teacher was unaware of this cultural practice that was so very different from her own. Cultural responsive classroom acknowledge the value of a diverse population. According to Montgomery (2001), in order for diverse populations to succeed, students must be allowed to find connects amongst themselves and the content and the tasks teachers require them to perform. Teachers...
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...middle- school classroom. Journal of Teacher Education, 55, 256-268. I. Statement of the Problem a. Ressearch Topic The topic is how to discipline students. The authors state, “student responses to teachers’ disciplinary techniques can be unpredictable and require quick reactions on the part of the teacher.” This sets the context for the more specific research problem. b. Research Problem As the title of the article suggests, cultural synchronization between the teacher and the students can be influential in discipline. This is illustrated in the authors’ transcription of an interaction among students and the teacher along with commentary. More specifically, the authors note that Ms. Simpson (the teacher) has shifted her language to include dialect that is non-standard English but is closer to the students’ own language. The authors state “Ms. Simpson’s comments, undoubtedly, have altered her professional image from one of “effective educator” to “unprofessional teacher” in the eyes of many teacher educators.” They go on to note “conventional wisdom fails to account for the importance of cultural context when analyzing teacher behaviors.” c. Research Questions/Hypotheses No specific research question or hypothesis is noted, but the authors do address the overall context for their qualitative study. They state that “we argue that researchers and teacher educators must carefully consider the salience of culture as related to effective classroom management techniques...
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...learners. Issues of assessment, motivation, and cultural as well as linguistic diversity will also be addressed. Offered online. EDU 669 Week 1 Assignment Culturally Responsive Instruction Culturally Responsive Instruction. You have been learning about issues of cultural and linguistic diversity and their impact on student achievement. In this assignment you are asked to use your own personal and professional experiences to write a paper analyzing and defending the use of culturally responsive teaching to support effective literacy instruction. In your analysis: Produce a research-based rationale for the use of culturally responsive teaching in literacy instruction. You must include at least Describe at least threeone scholarly source in this section; research-based techniques that educators can use to support this pedagogy. You must back your assertions with at least one scholarly source in this section; Discuss the instructional implications of this pedagogical approach. Your paper must be three-to five-pages not including the title or reference pages. It must be written in APA format per the Ashford Writing Center Guidelines with at least two scholarly resources, in addition to the course text. EDU 669 Week 2 Assignment Constructing Meaning Research Analysis Constructing Meaning: Research Analysis. As you have been learning, one key to success in literacy instruction is the use of appropriate strategies to support student learning. Select one strategy...
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...1. For this analysis of a research article, I chose Hammill Institute on Disabilities’s article titled Toward a Conceptual Integration of Cultural Responsiveness and Schoolwide Positive Behavior Suppor from March 2011. Vincent, C., Randall, C., Cartledge, G., Tobin, T., & Swain-Bradway, J. (2011). Toward a Conceptual Integration of Cultural Responsiveness and Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 219-229. 2. There are widely documented cases across the United States of racially and culturally disproportionate discipline outcomes, whether through higher suspensions and expulsions of African American students, as well as higher students being referred to Special Education. 3. The purpose for this study is to outline that Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) is not enough and there must be an...
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...Specifically, the study explored teacher’s perceptions and expectations of minority students. In this work, the teachers acted as the unit of analysis as they provided the primary data. The study focused on six school teachers, coming from various backgrounds, and years of experience. There were four high school teachers and two middle school teachers. In addition, three African American, one Philipino and two White teachers interviews were used for this study. This research was significant because it adds to the research being done on teacher expectations and...
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...messages transmitted between members of two or more different societies Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Technology especially the internet has increased the probability that whatever is documented online will be read by someone from another culture. Intercultural communication is of importance in any career field thus the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a work place skill that is emphasized. This is a conceptual paper whose purpose is two fold. First the paper gives a synopsis of the importance of efficient and competent intercultural communication in various career fields; namely, education, business, medicine and in counseling. Secondly, the paper presents studies and perspectives that various authors have on intercultural communication. INTRODUCTION Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Hence, the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a work place skill that is emphasized. Various authors have studied about intercultural communication; however their studies have diverse perspectives and emphasis. The various views give a balanced approach to intercultural communication. This paper outlines the various facets that authors have on importance of...
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...An Investigation of How Culture Shapes Curriculum in Early Care and Education Programs on a Native American Indian Reservation ‘‘The drum is considered the heartbeat of the community’’ Jennifer L. Gilliard1,3 and Rita A. Moore2 This article investigates how culture shapes instruction in three early care and education programs on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Interviews with eight early childhood teachers as well as classroom observations were conducted. The investigation is framed by the following research question: How does the culture of the family and community shape curriculum? Data analysis suggested that ongoing communication with parents and community about teaching within a culturally relevant context, building a sense of belongingness and community through ritual, and respecting children, families, and community were essential to defining the Native American Indian culture within these early learning programs. KEY WORDS: culture; in; tribal; early; education; programs. INTRODUCTION Instruction informed by children’s home and community culture is critical to supporting a sense of belongingness that ultimately impacts academic achievement (Banks, 2002; Osterman, 2000). American school populations are increasingly diversified with immigrants and English language learners; but American teachers are over 90% European American (Nieto, 2000). Educators who are from different cultural perspectives than those present in the families and communities of the children they...
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...2 Understanding Diversity in the Classroom CHAPTER LEARNING GOALS After you study this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Explain the importance of understanding classroom diversity. 2. Explain the different group and individual sources of diversity. 3. Describe approaches to teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. 4. Explain the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 5. Explain the characteristics of students with exceptionalities. 6. Describe the role of the teacher in the inclusive classroom. Imagine You Are the Teacher It Is The First Teaching year at Lincoln Elementary School for Ms. Branson. She has 30 fifth-graders of whom 13 are girls and 17 are boys, 12 participate in the free and reduced lunch program, 5 are English language learners, and 4 have individualized education programs (IEPs). As she plans her lesson on paragraph writing, she is trying to keep the special needs of each of her students in mind. Because Jessica has a hearing impairment, Ms. Branson decides to make a written outline that includes the important parts of a paragraph and examples of good and bad paragraphs. She also decides to go over the outline several times because Fred and Alex have a reading disability. In her plan, there is also a note to herself to find a bigger pencil and wide-lined paper for Suzy, who requires these modifications according to her IEP. Based on past writing experiences, she expects Monica to finish writing her paragraph...
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...Multicultural Literature Analysis Paper Multicultural Literature In this paper I will discuss and analyze multicultural literature. I will define what multicultural literature is and what forces produce multicultural literature. I will determine what makes a work multicultural or not and finally how the quality of multicultural literature should be judged. Literature, a major carrier of content, can be used as a powerful way to understanding the world (Tway, 1989). Experts in multicultural education frequently emphasize the importance of using literature to increase cultural awareness (Tway, 1989). The literature used should accurately portray the history, customs, values, and language of a particular cultural group (Cutter, 2005). Through sharing literature that reflects the multitude of cultural groups, students can learn to understand and to appreciate a literary heritage that comes from many diverse backgrounds. For example in the story “Good Girls Are Bad News” by Subhadra Sen Gupta Bineeta is caught smoking in public, this starts a feud with the parents who try to make her think that smoking will affect her grades in some way and are very disappointed in her. In the Asian culture it looked down upon for a woman to smoke cigarettes with a very low number that actually do. Bineeta proved to everyone that smoking did not have any effect oh her grades and that her main point was to prove that the decisions she makes will always be what is best for...
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