My understanding of cultural responsiveness

My understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy:

From the time we are born, to the present moment, we are operating and interacting within the world and society we live. We interpret the world through our cultural lens as we interact with those around us, make assumptions, and gain new experiences. Gay (2001) says that culturally responsive pedagogy is practice that uses the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives of individuals to guide effective classroom teaching. Gay (2001) also says there are five elements in which culturally responsive pedagogy can be organised:

1. knowledge about cultural diversity
2. culturally integrated content in the curriculum
3. development of the learning community
4. ability to communicate with culturally diverse students
5. culturally responsive delivery of instruction

Bishop (2012) discusses culturally responsive practices in his Edtalks, suggesting that teachers who practice cultural responsiveness, challenge the 'deficit' thinking that teachers hold all the knowledge and skills that can help their students succeed. Effective pedagogy recognises that learning can take place in all forms, including beyond the walls of the classroom and beyond the knowledge and experience of the classroom teacher. Milne (2017) suggests that schools and educators need to embrace the cultural identity of their students on a daily basis, it is not something that should only be celebrated on special occasions such as cultural weeks.

Evaluating our school wide practice in light of Unitec's Poutama framework:

Unitec's Poutama framework represents the stepping patterns of woven tukutuku that act as a metaphor for scaffolding knowledge. It shows a three-stage progression that embeds Matauranga Maori into their Living Curriculum, acknowledging each dimension of Hauora and teaching and learning elements.

In the 'Pedagogy' poutama, I believe our school sits at the first stepping pattern represented: "Learning/Teaching approaches are inclusive, reflective and responsive to student preferred pedagogy with Maori mentorship sought." The poutama identify this stage as the distribution of skills. While our teaching staff are experienced and knowledgeable, we are only just beginning to seek professional development and mentorship in te ao Maori. Our school vision is 'Growing success together today, for tomorrow', and we have recently sought mentorship and translated our vision into te reo Maori. We are branching out and making te reo Maori and tikanga Maori part of our curriculum by slowly making it a focus in our classrooms. This has been challenging yet successful so far this year. Staff have commented that there is not enough time in the day to complete everything that we would like, including physical education, inquiry, te reo maori, arts, and the like, and unfortunately literacy and numeracy continue to take precedence. However, other staff members have commented on the classroom success they've had in their student engagement and interest, as well as the continuity and focus across the school.

What I need to consider when making my next steps towards a culturally responsive practice:

When making our next steps for our school wide practice, I believe I need to consider the time frames and the expectations that I have from our staff and our students, as the Maori leader. What I aim to do next term to further develop our level of te reo Maori in the school, is provide not only resources and materials, but learning experiences and opportunities for our staff to participate in. Hopefully this will further their confidence in delivering te reo Maori.

References

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009).Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5),734–742.

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Gay,G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.

Milne, A.(2017).Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Unitec. (n.d). Learning and Teaching at Unitec Institute of Technology. Retrieved from Booklet.http://www.unitec.ac.nz/ahimura/publications/U008817%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Booklet.pdf