Activity 9

Activity 9

Cultural responsiveness in practice

First my own cultural context:  I am a first generation New Zealander, the product of an immigrant from Ireland and an immigrant from Australia. I feel a sense of place here which is different to my connection with Cork or Sydney.  This mix of deep attachment to land, a critical view of colonialism and isolation from tupuna shapes the way I see indigenous knowledge in the classroom. Early in my teaching career my cultural empathy expanded during visits to a Pacific Island nation and Nepalese classrooms both returning to normality following a period of civil war.  I had the privilege of observing the strength that culture brings to a classroom e.g before and after school Bougainville Island students hunted for turtles in a lagoon, tended the school kumara garden and made musical instruments with whatever resources were available.  Nepali students and teachers likewise used whatever resources were on-hand e.g. a newly killed goat for dinner became an impromptu science lesson on respiratory systems or adding local custom/cultural dimensions when teaching social studies.  

2015 Social Studies Teacher Training - Nepali Style (own photo)

All indigenous knowledge that finds it's way into my classroom via students or whanau is prized and subsequently stored for future use e.g. a student showed me photos of land their Tongan church leases in rural Christchurch and related how he and other church members tended the land and grew vegetables for the whole church.  On our gardening day this student was stoked to teach me how to tend the potatoes in our school garden.

Russell Bishop ([video recording] n.d.) hits the nail on the head when he explains in his Ed Talk that culturally responsive practise comes from agentic teachers who have enough confidence in culture to not be threatened by others'.  I endorse his views about deficit thinking; in my humble opinion and experience this is the biggest negative effect that teachers can have on student achievement.  His metaphor about fiscal deficit was perfect as a future explanatory note to staff when discussing the "why are Maori students priority learners? question" that invariably raises it's head.    His six points for cultural responsiveness are textbook answers for anyone wanting to make deeper connections with Maori/Pasifika students and in fact any students at all.

So how does my cultural responsiveness in teaching practice measure up? 

CORE VALUES
In the school's core value of "Excellence" I believe I do an acceptable job in caring for Maori student performance by consistent expectations of high achievement (i.e. "this is what you need to do to achieve a M or an E) and following this up by responding or reflecting on student evidence with positive and realistic feedback.    Feedback is a double positive as it not only alerts the learner to what they need to do, it also maintains a one to one learning relationship with the student.  I actively seek out opportunities to create a "learning among learners" classroom - where students want to give as much information as they receive -  what a great model for all teaching!  In junior Social Studies I have found many ways that students can teach others in the classroom as they reveal and build on their own expertise with the help of the internet in class and my own rejection of the "sage on the stage" approach.

DECISION-MAKING

This area could be improved at the school organisational level and during the transition into the new school, my feeling is that Maori student voice should be utilised far more than it is now.   Processes such as student hui, further leadership roles, one-to-one mentoring and celebration of student culture occurred sporadically in the past, however the missing link has been either sustainability or management support and many smart initiatives were subsequently overlooked or dropped due to changing personnel or lack of will.   With well-resourced efforts towards inclusion, true collaboration and utilising as many digital tools as possible , there is greater opportunity for Maori students in an Innovative Learning Environment to engage, be heard, be present and to lead change in their new school.


References:

Bishop, R. (n.d.). The Mind Lab.  CORE Ed Talks. A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations [Video file]. Retrieved from Mind Lab Media.