I come from an anthropological background, where this question is a constant matter of contention. In anthropology, we must always define our interpretation of the term before we make an argument founded upon it. There are, after all, as many definitions as there are anthropologists. It is impossible to move forward with our work if we are not candid and upfront about our understanding of the term.
With this perspective in mind, I was happy to find that Davis, too, chose to began her book on culturally responsive education with her interpretation of the culture concept. Culture, to Davis, is "the lens through which we view the world" (3). It is the complicated conversation of our various perspectives. My culture combines my gender, my religion, the color of my skin, the country of my origin, my academic history, my job, my paycheck, my diet, my family structure, and a multitude of other pixels which create my self-image. It is not simply, as I was afraid Davis might argue, a matter of ethnic identity.
But culture, much more than it constitutes our personal identities, determines the groups we form. Davis reflects upon a definition of culture by Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell as "everything you do that enables you to identify with people who are like you and that distinguishes you from people who are different from you" (4). It creates groups that define themselves in opposition to what they are not. (As I sit in my living room watching Christina Aguilera belt out the national anthem as fighter jets fly over head, and big, burly players wipe tears from their eyes, I think about the SuperBowl as a moment of shared cultural consciousness. And, by the same right, I imagine: how many people look at this event and define themselves as members of a country who would not indulge in such excess. But I digress.) Walls and boundaries are a natural part of the cultural process--they help us understand where we fall in the world order. Everyone finds her place in relation to everyone else.
With this definition of culture, Davis urges us to move forward. While we may define our unique identity in opposition to cultural others, we must develop the cultural proficiency to learn from, teach, and work with diverse groups. Here, Davis suggests a number of activities through which individuals may begin to develop the self-awareness, and recognize the shapes, tones, and dimensions of their cultural lenses. With this self awareness, she argues, we can recognize "teachable moments" to share ourselves and learn from others (5). We can begin the work that culturally responsive education is all about.
These activities have helped to inform my prompts. In addition to responding to the obvious questions, "What is culture?" and "How does Davis's interpretation jive with you?", I'd like you to consider the following:
Examine this list of cultural factors. Which do you share with your students and/or colleagues? At which points do you differ?
With this perspective in mind, I was happy to find that Davis, too, chose to began her book on culturally responsive education with her interpretation of the culture concept. Culture, to Davis, is "the lens through which we view the world" (3). It is the complicated conversation of our various perspectives. My culture combines my gender, my religion, the color of my skin, the country of my origin, my academic history, my job, my paycheck, my diet, my family structure, and a multitude of other pixels which create my self-image. It is not simply, as I was afraid Davis might argue, a matter of ethnic identity.
But culture, much more than it constitutes our personal identities, determines the groups we form. Davis reflects upon a definition of culture by Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell as "everything you do that enables you to identify with people who are like you and that distinguishes you from people who are different from you" (4). It creates groups that define themselves in opposition to what they are not. (As I sit in my living room watching Christina Aguilera belt out the national anthem as fighter jets fly over head, and big, burly players wipe tears from their eyes, I think about the SuperBowl as a moment of shared cultural consciousness. And, by the same right, I imagine: how many people look at this event and define themselves as members of a country who would not indulge in such excess. But I digress.) Walls and boundaries are a natural part of the cultural process--they help us understand where we fall in the world order. Everyone finds her place in relation to everyone else.
With this definition of culture, Davis urges us to move forward. While we may define our unique identity in opposition to cultural others, we must develop the cultural proficiency to learn from, teach, and work with diverse groups. Here, Davis suggests a number of activities through which individuals may begin to develop the self-awareness, and recognize the shapes, tones, and dimensions of their cultural lenses. With this self awareness, she argues, we can recognize "teachable moments" to share ourselves and learn from others (5). We can begin the work that culturally responsive education is all about.
These activities have helped to inform my prompts. In addition to responding to the obvious questions, "What is culture?" and "How does Davis's interpretation jive with you?", I'd like you to consider the following:
Examine this list of cultural factors. Which do you share with your students and/or colleagues? At which points do you differ?
- Family
- Gender
- Race
- Age
- Sexual orientation
- Language
- Friends
- Religion
- School
- Geography
- Income of family/social class
- Political views
- Ethnicity
- Electronic media
- Social organizations
- Others
Chloe
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful post. I'm so interested in the definition of culture you discussed--a combination of gender, religion, the color of your skin, your country of origin, academic history, job, paycheck, diet, family structure, and many other factors. You're right, culture is SO much more than ethnicity. Why, then, do we so often limit ourselves to discussions about race and ethnicity when we consider culture?
Not only do I teach students who don't look like me, but I teach students who weren't raised in similar environments as me, in regards to wealth, class, and family structure; students who don't have the same beliefs and values as me; students who eat differently than I do; students who have different goals and ambitions as I do; etc.
My students and I may have more differences than similarities, but that doesn't mean I can't teach them. I can't wait to learn about some strategies discussed in your book.
Lydia Gray
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how you looked at culture as inherently having boundaries. I believe, when we are able to understand our own walls, we will be able to create more culturally responsive environments. The Super Bowl is a good cultural event to analyze for walls and boundaries. There are certain people who feel more included in American culture because they share in the football excitement. However, the people that do not share this attachment to American culture may see it as limiting progress. For example, in the NFL, there has been a debate about tackles. Some people are concerned for the health of the athletes and message they are sending children when they are tackling each other to the point of concussions and death. I look at my own students who daydream about being professional athletes. How can we send children good messages about pop cultural figures and athletes? How does our obsession with celebrities effect the lives of our children? I think you brought up a great example to examine. Thank you, Chloe.
Alli Breininger
When I looked at the list of critera you posted Chloe, I found that I share none of these with my students. This does not come as a surprise to me at all. My students and I have seeming nothing in common to the immediate cultural analysis or outside perspective.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as cliched as it may sound, I would argue that we have the most important thing in common: an investment in their education. My six year olds are powerfully self-motivated. They want to learn and they want to be successful. Just like most human beings, they are self-interested. They want to get the rewards of finding achievement in the classroom, whether this be in the form of learning something new or receiving positive recognition from the teacher (their favorite of which comes from a treat from the prize box). In turn, I want them to be successful. I want them to learn, to find success and most of all, to achieve.
Now, we may come from different places, look totally the same and be fifteen years apart in age. However, inside the classroom we work by the same norms. We work toward the same goals. Undoubtedly, it is essential to acknowledge and strive to understand our differences. This allows be to better understand why things aren't working or how I can change our classroom to accommodate us all. However, when creating my classroom culture, I try not to focus what separates us but rather, what brings us together. In doing so, I can create an environment that we can all find success in.
Kyla,
ReplyDeleteI think you make a really important point, and it aligns well with Davis' argument. The goal of multicultural education is not to recognize the walls that separate us and then stop there. Rather, it's to recognize those walls so that we can work (sensitively and effectively) to overcome them--so that we can begin to focus on those powerful things that bind us.
Investment in the education of our students is among the most powerful glues that connect us with the children we serve. Recognizing this is to move beyond cultural awareness, and take a step toward the "cultural competency" that Davis' book is all about.
Chloe
Chloe-
ReplyDeleteI think that we often think about how our own personal culture differs from that of our students. Yet you brought up a very interesting point when you asked us to examine which cultural factors we share with colleagues. I teach in a room with my para, who is a 65 year old black woman who grew up in Cherry Hill, the neighborhood next to Brooklyn (where we teach). She has honestly seen and experienced everything that goes on in this neighborhood. She is a great-grandmother who is divorced from her husband and currently lives alone. She has never lived outside of Baltimore and she barely knows how to use a computer. Our views about education are COMPLETELY different.
My other biggest support at my school is a fellow pre-teacher. This woman is African-American, in her thirties, a single mother to an 8 year old, and a Philadelphia native. She goes to church on a regular basis and sings in her church choir. She studied education in college and has been teaching for over 15 years. She is the one that teaches me about the culture of the families in our school. She tells me about the problems in the neighborhoods, updates me on family’s backgrounds, and so much more.
To tie it all together, I never stopped to realize how different I am from my colleagues. Here I am, this brand new, white teacher from Florida who went to an all-white high school and a college in a very southern state. I could not be any more different from them in terms of my cultural background. Yet for some reason, we all work so well together. My para and I have struck a great balance in our classroom and we each have different and unique strengths. The other pre-k teacher and I are able to discuss different ways to reach the particular students in our classroom. I think though, that it helped to really sit down and think about our differences in a new light. I really believe that this awareness will allow me to approach working at my school differently. I think it goes to show that we all have a lot to learn from each other. And if we can use our different cultural backgrounds for the good of our students, then we are all doing alright.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChloe,
ReplyDeleteThe list of cultural factors you posted really sparked my thinking. Even though I spend hours each day interacting in the classroom with my students and even more hours after they have gone home reflecting on their progress and areas of improvement, too often the items on your list escape me. I am finding that most of the time, I simply view our relationship as teacher and student, and do not pay any attention to the areas of culture of where we might relate or show vast differences. This mindset has its own benefits and weaknesses. I'm pleased that I can ignore common stereotypes and existing cultural biases and am able to see my students for who they are: energetic, dramatic, creative 7th graders with an enormous potential to learn. However, I find that because I spend so much time looking at their successes or shortfalls on academic work, I am missing an entire component of their education. The manifestation of culture in the classroom, particularly our own similarities and differences, is virtually unexplored territory (Besides a few quick conversations), and I realize how much this could enhance my students’ learning…maybe even more than my data analysis helps.
Success in a 7th grade classroom is largely all about relationship buildings; the beginning of teenage years are rocky and each day I am reminded of the own challenges of middle school. On some days, I see my students irritated, frustrated, and upset with parents, best friends, other teachers, or myself, and most often they have no logical reason. These emotions create roadblocks for academic achievement and present countless behavior problems. It is in these moments, where the relationships I have with my students is everything. Your post has caused me to reflect at how much more meaningful my relationships could be if connected with cultural exploration.
I thought it was very interesting that the first item on your list was family, as it reminded me of one moment of interaction with a 7th grade boy Marquis. At my school, every teacher attends lunch every day. We eat with our children and take part in the lunchtime discussion. Marquis was talking about how excited he was to see his Mom this weekend, as he hasn’t seen her much since his parents divorced and he moved in with his father and grandmother. I casually mentioned how it can be hard and annoying to have to go back and forth between parents. My students looked at me quizzically and asked,” But your parents live together?” I told them that it was quite the opposite, and my parents have been divorced since I was ten years old. I was surprised at their quiet response when they processed this information. They seemed absolutely shocked that I knew what it was like to have parents that did not live together, and for one student, Derrick, he seemed to respect this fact about me as he sat there nodding his head.
Thinking back to this moment, it really makes me wonder what I have been missing out on with my students. Thank you for your post, Chloe. I’m anxious to reach deeper and delve away from the emphasis on just teacher and student in my classroom.
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteOut of your list of cultural factors, I was immediately drawn to religion, because it is the one about which I feel most conflicted when considering my school.
On the surface, I actually share a religion with many of my colleagues and students. My family is Protestant, my grandfather was a Baptist minister, and, theologically speaking, I practice the same religion as many teachers and students in my school. However, my ideas about where and when this religion should be practiced differ greatly from what I see every day in my school.
I grew up in a town that was about 1/3 Jewish, 1/3 Catholic, 1/3 Protestant, and 90% White. While many religious traditions were addressed in class, specifically around the winter holidays, no specific religion was emphasized. We were taught to be tolerant of and ask questions about other religions, but that religion was something to learn about in school, but to practice at home, at church, at synagogue, etc.
You can imagine my surprise, then, coming to my school in Baltimore and being welcomed to lunch at my first faculty meeting with a prayer that thanked God and the Son for our meal. My paraeducator says grace with my students each day before they eat lunch. The door she decorated for Black History Month included Bible passages. During the Black History program put on by my school, a pastor who often works as a substitute teacher at my school came onstage in his robes and led the audience in what was clearly a Christian prayer.
I guess, then, what surprised me about this particular cultural difference is that on the surface, it might seem like something that my colleagues and I share, as opposed to many of the other cultural factors you listed. When you look at race, age, political views, ethnicity, social class, and other factors, it is easy to see where I might differ from my students or colleagues. However, the issue of religion is a unique one for me, because of the difference between the nominal status of our religion and the ways in which it is practiced. The way that religion fits into the culture in which I was raised is so different from the way that it functions in my school.
Has anyone else found a cultural factor like this one in their own experiences?
Millie -
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really interesting point. At my school growing up, the majority of the students were Jewish. Despite the majority being able to connect through religion, my school rarely discussed Judaism, other than in a comparative religion course in which we learned about all religions. The difference in my private school was that holidays were given for each important Jewish holiday - Passover, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, etc. I never felt like religion, be it Judaism, Christianity or others, were thrust upon me. Rather, all holidays were mentioned, discussed and remembered.
In my current school, Bay Brook, the majority of the students are Christian. Though we have Easter and Christmas off, we did not have Hanukkah, Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah off. It is pure coincidence that Passover falls during spring break. I do not believe that this religious faux pas is solely my school's fault. In fact, I think that the fault lies with the school district. Because most people aren't Jewish, the district does not suggest days off. They nearly ignore the holidays. The lack of understanding on the school district's part, in turn, makes it uncomfortable for teachers to ask for days off, even though we know we should. In fact, my school's back-to-school night was on Rosh Hashanah so I didn't dare ask to take the day.
Overall, I think that schools and the district both need to acknowledge that people are unique in their religious beliefs. Culture goes beyond skin color, socioeconomic status and gender. I do not believe that schools should begin teaching religion (or as your school seems - to be preaching it). Instead, schools should be sensitive to the religious beliefs of all.
Katie Packer
I don't share many similarities with my students. However, I am glad for it. It's great when my students ask me to teach them words in Chinese, when they have questions about college, California, and about my background. I greatly enjoy being invited into their homes, talking to their parents, hearing about their weekends, and learning about their families. Yes, there are definitely aspects of their lives and backgrounds that I still do not quite understand. Perhaps at best, I can be empathetic. However, teaching is a two-way process, and I am fully aware that I learn just as much, if not more from my students than they do from me. Judging from my test scores, that might actually be the case. Still, having so many differences helps, I feel, because the relationships we develop become proof that we can all get along, respect each other, and learn from each other. I feel like that is the kind of community we are all working toward in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent definition of culture. So often we are limited by focusing on race and ethnicity, but there are so many more factors.
ReplyDeleteI love that you even included your diet in the equation. I certainly do not share my students' affinity for sunflower seeds, hot cheetos and hugs! My students know that I'm from an incredibly rural setting. No matter how many times I explain that where I'm from there are no street lights and there is no cell reception in my town, they can't grasp it. I love when during a class discussion one of them will ask the question "do they have that in the woods?" (I always refer to my hometown as "the woods.")
Like Jeff mentioned, we are teaching each other. I'm getting my masters in urban education, but I'm getting a minor in fifth grade.
Chloe,
ReplyDeleteOnly a few days ago we were studying immigration in the US from 2000 to present, and throughout my lesson I kept using the word "culture." While it was not a key aspect of the lesson, I realized that I never defined the word for my students. Instead, I simply assumed they had a general sense of the word, and when I realized I hadn't taught them the word, I asked for their thoughts on what the word meant.
Wow, were their definitions all over the place. Some argued that our culture has to do with our race, some argued that culture is defined by our religion (and because all but one student in our class identified as "christian," this student said they all have pretty much the same culture except for that one student), and some thought that your culture is determined by where you are from (because this student is from DC, she argued that she has a very different culture).
I said they were all on the right track, but we need to combine all their beliefs together, and that is what culture is. Honestly, on the spot, I couldn't come up with succinct definition of explanation of culture. I appreciate both the author's definition and your explanation of the word.
Now, when I go back to my class, I'm going to start all over and give a new and improved definition. Thanks!