The Influence of Cultural Self on One’s TeachingProfessional Development in Urban Education: Designed For Teachers, By Teachers and With Teachers ConferenceAugust 12, 2015

Who Are You?

Typical Response My name is _(insert_name) . I am

a

_________ at (insert name of school).

Is this “who you are” or “what you are?”

Does It Matter?Does it matter who you are?

Teacher Demographics (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013)

Caucasian (83% public school, 88% private school)

Female (76%) Middle class Monolingual

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%

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

Population Demographics – Iowa, 2000-2010

Hispanic, +84% Biracial or Multiracial, +68% Asian, +45% African American, +44% American Indian, +23% Caucasian, +1%

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

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

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)

Madison Student Demographic 53% of public school children

were of a race/ethnicity other than Caucasian in fall, 2010 (Madison Metropolitan School District, 2014)

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)

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)

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)

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

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?

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?

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)

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

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

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

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

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)

Culturally Responsive Teaching Why do teachers become

culturally responsive teachers?

It is the right thing to do

It is the ethical thing to do

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?

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)

Thank You! Dan Timm, Ed.D.

Faculty AssociateDepartment of Kinesiology2000 Observatory DriveUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin 53706-1189608-262-7714dtimm@education.wisc.edu