Culturally Responsive Teaching Reflection

I believe I have made the most personal growth in the value and affirming
student background knowledge disposition because I have learned how important it is to
determine students background knowledge. Determining students background
knowledge is the first step to being able to affirming and valuing students background
knowledge. Affirming and valuing student background knowledge is important because,
as Sleeter (2011) mentions, mainstream curriculum is European-American centric. I have
also learned how to use students knowledge to foster student interest and help students
relate the information better.
Culturally responsive teaching will be a lot of considering science from concerns
and perspectives of other cultures. For example, the distribution of vaccines is not really
an issue in the US; however, in certain parts of Africa a lack of an effective distribution
may be what causes people to die. Culturally responsive teaching will not be just using
materials that students are supposedly supposed to relate to based on ethnicity. I will
embody cultural competence by having a general idea of most cultural traits and values
and try to share these with my students so that they can also be culturally competent.
Interpersonal awareness allows me to recognize my own biases and perspectives
and realize that other people probably have different perspectives that may be more valid
than mine. This will enable me to think from students, parents, and colleagues
perspectives when talking to them. Suspending judgment will help me consider students
as their own people rather than on quick judgments I make of them based on my prior
experiences. Asset-based thinking means believing that every person and situation has
some positive aspects. This allows teachers to determine how potentially unfavorable

situations, such as an upset parent, demonstrates some positives, such as parent

involvement. The locus of control will help me realize that I need to focus on what I am
able to do rather than things that are out of my control, such as a students home life.
Discussing controversial topics such as vaccinations can be an opportunity to be a
culturally responsive teacher because it can help students identify how different cultures
view them and why they may believe those things about vaccines. Another example of
culturally responsive teaching could be discussing the differences between Eastern and
Western medicine and how other cultures view the two types.

Reference
Sleeter, C. (2011). The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies. National
Educational Association, 1-27. Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/NBI-2010-3-value-of-ethnic-studies.pdf