CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING

MA. ELIZABETH Y. BAGANG

Culturally responsive teaching has become a central concept in the education world – and it starts with the teachers being able to “listen” to their students.

Educators should treat human experience as sources of data. In improving student outcomes, we need to triangulate the following: “satellite” data, composed of test scores, attendance rates; “map” data composed of reading inventories, teacher-created common assessments, student surveys; and “street” data, which can only be gathered through listening and close observation. The last tells the untold stories of student achievement. According to scholar-practitioner Jeff Duncan-Andrade, “the most successful educators are... first and foremost ethnographers of the communities they ser ve.”

Street data, which offers a concrete, respectful, and student-centered way to develop an ethnographic practice, builds our muscles for listening and observation. It can build relational trust with students as we value and honor their experiences.

There are ways to gather these data, foremost of which is a one-on-one interview, where educators can interview a student to understand the root causes of learning or behavioral challenges. Tell the student that your purpose is to listen and get to know him or her better so that you can be a better teacher or leader.

Next is a confidential focus group where you can convene multiple students in the same space, which can lower anxiety levels and allow young people to build off one another’s ideas.

There is also a feedback interview, similar to the focus group interview, where you can ask students to tell their stories and for specific feedback on your teaching practice.

Oral participation is also one important indicator of engagement and inclusion. Create a tracker with students’names on the left side and a column for each day of the week.

Educators should also pay attention to students who are not employing academic language, which is a gatekeeper skill.

You should look for that the student understands the structure of academic language and not just key terms. Students should be able to participate in ways that would make him or her feel confident in a classroom.

— oOo— The author is Teacher III at Sinura Elementary School