What to Look for in a Classroom by: Alfie Kohn & Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy by: Learning for Justice
After reading What to Look for in a Classroom by Alfie Kohn and watching Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy by Learning for Justice I was able to expand my knowledge of what a culturally responsive classroom would look like. As a result I can use this new knowledge when I go to my placement on Monday to see how they have set up their classroom and how their classroom is operated to see if it is culturally responsive. Even little things such as how the furniture is set up or what is on the walls has a huge impact on the students' learning. As explained in the video, having every student's culture should be encouraged in the classroom so that it can be built on and learned from. Some ways that this could be done is having students bring in an item that represents their culture into the classroom and having them present it so the other students can learn about that item and that student's culture. These items can then be left around the classroom throughout the school year so that every student has something that represents who they are. As a result of having their culture represented in the classroom the student is more likely to succeed in school and enjoy coming to school everyday. Whereas if the teacher just had posters of the typical white, ablebodied, students not as many students are going to feel represented and welcomed in their classroom. As we discussed in class these types of classrooms are typically only representing the dominant culture (SCWAAMP). Instead of having a window of knowledge for the students to learn about, it is only a mirror to those with the SCWAAMP characteristics.
*I asked Chat GPT to make two posters one culturally responsive and one not*
Hi Talia, I liked how the posters really pointed the stark differences between a non culturally responsive classroom and one that is. It is important that students learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteI really love the images you chose to include, in particular the "Our classroom represents the world" and i think it demonstrates what a unique enviorment classrooms can be if we are ensuring that everyones cultures are represented!
ReplyDeletePosters are a cool addition here!!
ReplyDeleteHi! I totally agree with using your knowledge in your new placements!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that you came up with about putting their items around for them to look at throughout the year!
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