Chapter 10

Chapter 10 focused on ways of connecting to the culture of the English learner in order for greater learning to take place. One particular quote I found very helpful said, “Teacher’s who understand students’ cultures invite students to learn by welcoming them, making them feel that they belong, and presenting learning as a task at which they can succeed” (Diaz-Rico, pg. 281). As the chapter listed there are a variety of ways in which teachers can be culturally responsive, yet when teachers are not culturally responsive with all students, especially those learning English then the student will not feel welcome in the lesson or in the classroom community. Dr. Martha Harty writes, “Perhaps the most sensitive issue in the teaching of culture is our attitude toward the differences we encounter. Human beings have a strong tendency to believe that their own beliefs and ways of doing things are superior to others—just “common sense”—leading to negative judgments of anything different, such as labeling other cultures primitive or backward, or viewing them as idyllic” (http://www.heartwoodethics.org/2-teaching/teach-culture.asp). It would be completely unacceptable to verbally marginalize any student’s culture, but we are still marginalizing their culture when we mention nothing about it at all. If we do not recognize that there are other cultures in the classroom and if we do not honor diversity, then we are not welcoming students into the lesson. The sense of community will be fragmented in the classroom; the English learner will feel like an outsider with little chance for success. Celebrating and teaching culture within the classroom could be as simple as bringing in food, learning positive history about a person’s culture, talking about beliefs and customs, and asking the student personally what their experience is like in Mexico or any other country the student is from. Every student should feel valued and unique. By celebrating and teaching culture all students will have great self worth knowing that their teacher cares about who the student is and where they are from. Teaching culture will be a great learning experience for everyone in the classroom and will motivate student success in all areas.

Amanda Wright actually celebrates culture day in her class as she wrote in her blog. I was very impressed with this idea. Once a month she aligns her lesson plan to honor the diversity of cultures in her classroom. She chooses one culture per month. This does so much in helping students of different cultures feel welcome in the classroom. It also does not hold up one culture as being superior to all others. Once again this helps students not feel as though they are outsiders. With something like a culture day, students of different cultures feel as though their way of life is valued. Michelle Greco also was quite enthusiastic about using culture as a springboard to teach content lessons. She claimed that the learner first learns culture, patterns, values and behaviors. As we read in previous chapters, prior knowledge is really the way we make sense of what is taught. Some of the greatest influences on prior knowledge are what occur in culture. If we do not connect with culture in any or our lessons, the English learner often has no reference point and thus checks out of learning. Connecting to culture in teaching will always bring great results with English learnters.