The Influence of Cultural Self on One’s Teaching

1. The Influence of Cultural Self on One’s Teaching Professional Development in Urban Education: Designed For Teachers, By Teachers and With Teachers Conference August 12, 2015

2. Who Are You?

3. Typical Response • My name is _(insert_name) . I am a _________ at (insert name of school). Is this “who you are” or “what you are?”

4. Does It Matter? Does it matter who you are?

5. Teacher Demographics (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013) • Caucasian (83% public school, 88% private school) • Female (76%) • Middle class • Monolingual

6. Population Demographics – Wisconsin, 2000-2010(U.S. Census Bureau, 2013) • Hispanic, +74% • Biracial or Multiracial, +56% • Asian, +46% • African American, +18% • American Indian, +15% • Caucasian, +3%

7. Population Demographics – Illinois, 2000-2010 • American Indian, +42% • Asian, +39% • Hispanic, +33% • Biracial or Multiracial, +23% • Caucasian, +1% • African American, -1%

8. Population Demographics – Iowa, 2000-2010 • Hispanic, +84% • Biracial or Multiracial, +68% • Asian, +45% • African American, +44% • American Indian, +23% • Caucasian, +1%

9. Population Demographics – Michigan, 2000-2010 • Asian, +35% • Hispanic, +35% • Biracial or Multiracial, +20% • American Indian, +6% • African American, -1% • Caucasian, -2%

10. Population Demographics – Minnesota, 2000-2010 • Hispanic, +75% • African American, +60% • Asian, +51% • Biracial or Multiracial, +51% • American Indian, +11% • Caucasian, +3%

11. National Student Demographic Projection • By 2020, 46% of school children were expected to be from racial/ethnic groups other than Caucasian (Banks & McGee-Banks, 2007)

12. Madison Student Demographic • 53% of public school children were of a race/ethnicity other than Caucasian in fall, 2010 (Madison Metropolitan School District, 2014)

13. Current National Student Demographic • 50.3% of public school children were of a race/ethnicity other than Caucasian in fall, 2014 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014)

14. Importance of Discovering Cultural Self • Teachers’ attitudes toward students comes from the teachers’ backgrounds and who they are (cultural self) • Culture determines how teachers think, believe, and behave and these affect how they teach and learn (Gay, 2010)

15. Importance of Discovering Cultural Self • To strategically approach diversity issues in the classroom, teachers must begin with an exploration of their own beliefs. (Breese, 2008) • Consciously, we teach what we know; Subconsciously, we teach who we are (Hamachek, 1994)

16. Cultural Self-Mapping • List on the bones of the fish (next slide), things that have made you into the person you are today • Examples: family, friends, colleagues, students, schools attended, where lived, jobs, interests, qualities • Add more bones to existing branches; add more branches of bones

18. Examination of Attitudes • Think about your attitudes toward human differences and responses to experiences with diversity • How has your cultural self influenced your attitudes and responses?

19. How Have Your Attitudes Influenced your Teaching? • Think about instances when your attitudes influenced your teaching • Which aspects of your cultural self have influenced your teaching?

20. Importance of Discovering Cultural Self • “Examining one’s own beliefs and assumptions is an essential skill in becoming culturally proficient. Cultural proficiency involves an inward journey in which one increasingly understands his or her own beliefs and actions and the impact that those beliefs and actions have on others.” (Lindsey, Roberts, & CampbellJones, 2005)

21. Cultural Proficiency Continuum (Cross, 1989; Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell, 1999) • Cultural Destructiveness • Deny the existence of, discredit, or purge cultures different than one’s own • Cultural Incapacity • Elevating the superiority of one’s own culture and suppressing cultures that are different

22. Cultural Proficiency Continuum • Cultural Blindness • Refusing to recognize differences among cultures; acting as if differences do not exist • Cultural Pre-competence • Recognizing that not being familiar and experienced with other cultures limits one’s ability to effectively interact with them

23. Cultural Proficiency Continuum • Cultural Competence • Interacting with other cultures in ways that recognize and value their differences, expand one’s knowledge and resources, adapt one’s relational behavior • Cultural Proficiency • Honoring differences, seeing diversity as a benefit, interacting knowledgeably and respectfully among other cultures

24. Adjusting Attitudes to Improve Teaching • On an index card, list a few attitudes you need to improve • Exchange cards • Write suggestions to improve the attitudes listed on the card you selected • Share ideas

25. Importance of Knowing Self • “I did not realize how much of who I was would impact my teaching…I soon realized that all my lessons, my posters, my props, my kids’ journals, and the bins I so meticulously arranged for my students to keep their class supplies in were all just parts of an empty shell as long as I ignored who I was and what I brought to my teaching.” (Student comment) (Merseth, Sommer, & Dickstein, 2008)

26. Culturally Responsive Teaching • Why do teachers become culturally responsive teachers? • It is the right thing to do • It is the ethical thing to do

27. Examination of Attitudes • Think about your attitudes toward ethics • How have you responded to situations involving ethical decisions? • How has your cultural self influenced your attitudes and responses regarding ethics and culturally responsive teaching?

28. Who Are You? • Your background determines who you are • Who you are influences what you think and do, and how you teach • “Our philosophy and behaviors are framed by our histories, and that can be productive or problematic” (Hoerr, 2011)

29. Thank You! • Dan Timm, Ed.D. Faculty AssociateDepartment of Kinesiology2000 Observatory DriveUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin 53706-1189608-262-7714dtimm@education.wisc.edu