EDSS 541

Reading Reflection #1: IDENTIFY research-based instructional strategies you can use in you ITU. 

This series of articles seeks to identify specific cultural affects of specific American minority groups, and provide some insight into strategies that might be appropriate for those different groups.  As we learned in the multicultural environment of EDSS 555, differentiation based on culture or language is often just good teaching, and can easily apply to all the students in our classes.

In this response, I tried to use the reading as a basis to come up with a few specific ideas for activities that align to the general strategies discussed:

From Focus on Closing the Achievement Gap for African Americans:

In general, and applicable to all students, we should always practice unconditional neutrality, and we should practice “high help, high perfectionism” whenever we possibly can. 

This particular article bemoans the gap in reading skill, and mentions the value of having students read aloud.  What carrot, however, could be there to motivate students to follow such an instruction?  I think we could recommend a children’s book, preferably relevant to the topic at hand, and assign them to read aloud to their little brother or sister (assuming they have one) every night.  Explain to them the importance of reading to children for the child’s development and motivate them through their feelings of love and responsibility to their sibling.

From Focus on Closing the Achievement Gap for Asian/Pacific Islanders:

I hope I may be forgiven for excess judgementalism, but this article as a whole seems to me to represent racism at its most pernicious – it lumps students from southeast Asia, Pacific Islanders, students from the Pacific rim & students from other Asian countries together based on superficial similarity, with only passing reference to the vast cultural differences between the different groups.  Thus for these students, really for ALL students, active inquiry and curiosity regarding the application of their cultural affect to their current learning is important.  I would like to propose a classroom activity:  Have each student write a brief description of their family engaging in a discussion about some aspect of the ITU topic.  Who, if anyone, would lead the discussion?  Do individuals interrupt each other or not?  Does everyone have an opinion?  Things like that.  Then arrange them in groups to compare their descriptions.  After some time, have them, also in the groups, consider how their families’ style of discussion would be perceived if it took place within their classroom, i.e. “How would that go over in Mr. Wrench’s class?”  If time allows, they could also think about how those discussions would be perceived in the classrooms of some of their other teachers.  Such an exercise, I think, would tend to level the playing field; let the students realize that their way of interacting is not the only one, and let them realize that their teachers (i.e. me)  have some prejudices of their own which effect the way they (I) interact with their (my) students

From Focus on Closing the Achievement Gap for Latino/as:

Once again, these strategies are valuable for all students, but particularly very collaboration-oriented and very practical students.  First, real-world application; something we always strive to highlight.  And second, group problem-solving and peer tutoring are always valuable, but it is always very important to make sure none of the group members drift into a habitually passive role.