Why Culture Counts

An Asset Model for DifferentiationSandra Darling

P-16 Council RecommendationsClosing the Achievement Gaps

California’s post-secondary schools need toembed culturally responsive instruction intoboth pre-service and professional development Programs.Closing the gap over a 12 year period would add $980billion to the annual GDP inthe US.

WHY CULTURE?“All learners come to formaleducation with a range of prior knowledge, skills,beliefs, and concepts thatsignificantly influence whatthey notice about the environment and how they organize and interpret it. This is the influence of culture – the means through which we learn and develop our own set of glasses.”

Williams, 2003

“Children’s culture defines what they will focus their attention on, how they interpret the world to give it meaning, what background knowledge they bring to learning, and how they will value that learning. Educators need to learn how to differentiate curriculum, instruction, and assessment to address the differences with an asset model.”

Darling, 2008

What is Culture?“Culture is a complex system of patterns, visible and invisible, that determines how an individual will view the future, world, people, things; it is inclusive of values, norms, traditions, language, race, ethnicity, customs, knowledge, beliefs, folkways, mores, history; and becomes a normal way ofacting, feeling, and being.”

Dr. Rosilyn CarrollCenter for Excellence in Urban Teaching

Cultural ProficiencyCultural proficiency is a way of being that enables both individuals and organizations to respond effectively to people who differ from them. It is esteeming culture; knowing how to learn about individual and organizational culture. It is the policiesand practices of an organization or the values and behaviors of an individual that enable that agency or person to interact effectively in a culturally diverse environment. Cultural proficiency is reflected in the way an organization treats its employees, its clients, and its community, or in the way an individual treats his/her colleagues or person from different cultures. (Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell 2003 p.5)

The Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency 1) Culture is a predominant force 2) People are served in varying degrees by the dominant culture 3) Group identity is as important as individual identities 4) Diversity within cultures is vast and significant 5) Each group has unique cultural needs. Lindsey (2003).

Interacting with other cultural groups using the five essential elements of cultural proficiency as the standard for individual behavior and school practices; acceptance and respect for difference; ongoing assessment of one’s own and the organization’s culture; attention to the dynamics of difference; continuous expansion of cultural knowledge and resources; and the adaptation of one’s values and behaviors and the organization’s policies and practices. (Lindsey, Nuri –Robins & Terrell, 1999, 21-22)

Cultural Competence

    

Cultural pre-competence is an awareness of the limitations of one’s skills or an organization’s practices when interacting with other cultural groups. (Represented by individuals who want to provide fair and equitable treatment with appropriate cultural sensitivity; however, this desire is accompanied by the frustration of not knowing exactly what is possible or how to proceed.) (Lindsey, 1999)

Examples: •We need a Korean Vice-Principal to help us with the Korean students. •Recruiting members of under- represented groups, but not providing support for them or making any adaptation to the differences they bring to the workplace. •Dismissing as overly sensitive anyone who complains about culturally inappropriate comments.

Cultural pre-competence

Cultural IncapacityCultural incapacity is the belief in the superiority of one’s culture and behavior that takes away power from another’s culture. (Represented by individuals or organizations that show extreme bias, believe in the superiority of the dominant group, and assume a paternal posture toward so-called lesser groups.) Examples: •“I didn’t know he was gay. He doesn’t look gay to me.” •Historical examples include restrictive immigration laws targeting Asians and Pacific Islanders, such as the Oriental Exclusion Acts and  •The Jim Crow laws that denied African Americans basic human rights. 

Cultural incapacity is announcing that a new Latina has been hired to be a role model for Latinas without recognizing that all children can profit from having role models from their own and other cultural groups. (Lindsey, 1999)

Cultural Blindness

   

Cultural blindness is acting as if the cultural differences that you see do not matter or that one does not recognize that there are differences among and between cultures. (Represented by individuals who believe that color and culture make no difference and that all people are the same.) (Lindsey, 1999)

Cultural Destructiveness 

Cultural Destructiveness is the elimination of other people’s cultures. (Lindsey, 1999) Examples: • Slavery, • Japanese interment, • Genocide

• Holocaust

Achievement Gap – “Racial Gap”

Percent Proficient or Better0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

WhiteBlackHispanicAsianAm Indian

Achievement Gaps Based on Race/Poverty – North Carolina NAEP – 2007 – 4th Grade

Impact of CultureWhite 39% Proficient or Better - 61% Not at ProficiencyBlack 27 points below White - 12% Proficient or Better – 88% NotHispanic 21 points below White – 18% Proficient or Better – 82% NotAsian/Pacific Is. 2 points above White – 41% Proficient or Better – 59% NotAmerican Indian 22 points below White – 17% Proficient or Better – 83% Not

Impact of PovertyStudents in Poverty – 16% Proficient or Better – 23 points below WhiteStudents NOT in Poverty – 41% Proficient or Better – 2 points above WhiteImpact of Poverty – 25 points Discrepancy

Remediation Classes RequiredCALIFORNIA

45% of High School graduatesstill required remediationcourses in College.• 26% of White Students

require remediation courses• 63% of African American

students require remediation courses

• 61% of Latino students require remediation

(Closing the Achievement Gap, 2008)

Palomar

PALOMAR STAFF• Full Time Staff – 80%

White• Part Time Staff – 78%

White• Classified Staff – 65%

White

STUDENTS• Over ½ from Vista, Poway, and

Oceanside• Vista – 52% Hispanic; 30%

White• Poway – 14% Hispanic; 71%

White• Oceanside – 55% Hispanic;

27% White• Credit Students – 52% White –

increasing in Hispanic• Non-Credit Students – 40%

White – decreasing in Hispanic

The Challenge

• The US Education System was designed for white, middle-class kids.

• The US Education System is very successful for the students whose needs it was designed to meet.

• However, white, middle-class students are not who is sitting in our classrooms today.

BARRIERS

Skim the handout – Why is it so difficult… Identify three (3) things that you believe are barriers to closing the achievement gaps for students at Palomar. Explain why you think those barriers exist?

Be ready to share your group’s 3 barriers.

The Challenge

• Focus of improvement in education Pre-K to Post Secondary has been on improving curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

• Data consistently show that students of color, students from poverty, and English language learners are not benefitting from those improvements.

WHY?• Deficit thinking prevails• Cultural differences are not

addressed in the teaching – learning process

• Curriculum is not contextualized for culture

• Instruction isn’t modified for cultural values that impact learning

Differences: Deficit vs Asset Thinking

Background Knowledge

• Individualist vs Collectivist Value Systems (70% of the world’s population is collectivist)

• Vocabulary

• High Expectations

• Resilience

Increasing Achievement – Closing GapsWe can do BOTH

Improving Achievement

• Curriculum, Instruction,

Assessment

• Title I, Special Education,

Gifted and Talented, ELL

Programs

• After School Programs,

Tutoring

• Pacing Guides, Increased

Assessment, Posting

Standards

Closing the Achievement Gap• Focus on the LEARNER• Culture TRUMPS Poverty• Culturally responsive

teaching• Honoring collectivist

value systems• Building resilience • Differentiating context,

content/product, process and assessment with assets

NEW FRAMEWORK and MODEL

• Planning• Differentiating Context• Differentiating

Content/Product• Differentiating Process• Differentiating

Assessment• Building Resilience

Strategies for Planning

• Identifying learning expectations

• Examples of quality work

• Culturally responsive classroom

• Grouping Strategies • Pre-teaching Vocabulary

+49Aligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Pre-Teaching Vocabulary +49

Step 1 - Present students with a brief explanation or description of the new term or phrase that is contextualized for culture.

Step 2 - Present students with a nonlinguistic representation of the new term or phrase.

Step 3 - Have students generate their own explanations or descriptions of the term or phrase. Make sure to include reporting orally, musically, or in writing

Step 4 - Have students create their own nonlinguistic representation of the term or phrase.

Step 5 - Periodically have students review the accuracy of their explanations and representations.

Aligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Strategies for Differentiating Context

• Contextualize for culture - curriculum and classroom environment

• Affirmations – GRIOT• Mirror back gifts• Provide opportunities to lead

– KIVA• Voices and Choices• Verbalization +46• Movement• Cooperative Learning +28• Wait time +40Aligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

GRIOT (gree – o)African American Call and Response

Students sit at tables of four, arranged in a semicircle to face the teacher as they wait for the affirmation period. One student is the griot for the day.GRIOT: Greetings, Brothers and Sisters.CLASS: Greetings, Griot. (Group claps three times.)GRIOT: Today’s affirmation is, “I have solved problems like this before.”CLASS: (Individual students interpret what the affirmation means to

them and for the work they must do for the day. They also relate how the affirmation will help them to be successful in their respective tasks.)

GRIOT: The Griot is finished.CLASS: Thank you, Griot. (Group claps three times.)

Strategies for Differentiating Content/Product

• Scaffolding• Visual Representations

+ 49• Heuristics +38• Rubrics• Multiple Intelligences• Contracts• Differentiated

Instruction +37Aligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Process of Learning – Making Meaning Self – Metacognitive - Cognitive

• Self System –

• Metacognitive System –

• Cognitive System –

• Do I want to? Am I motivated? What’s in it for me? Do I believe I CAN do this?

• What do I already know about this? How would I do this task? What do I want to learn? How will I monitor if I’m learning it?

• What strategies will I use to make meaning of this content?

Marzano, R. (1998) Theory-based Meta-analysis of Research on Instruction. Aurora, CO: McREL

Strategies for Differentiating Process – Self System

• Teaching for Relevancy +40

• Praising Effort +29• Cooperative Learning

+28• High Expectations• Listening to

Storytelling• Mirroring AssetsAligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Strategies for Differentiating Process – Metacognitive System

• Goal Setting +39• Collaborative planning,

identifying resources, sequencing steps

• Disposition Monitoring +33

• Activating Prior Knowledge +46

• Verbalization +46• Graphic Representations

+49Aligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Strategies for Differentiating Process – Cognitive System

• Compare and Contrast +41

• Model Making +31• Manipulatives +31• Critical Thinking Skills +

41• Concept Attainment +41• Aligned Instructional

Database for moreAligned Instructional Database (Darling, 1999)

Where to begin? CULTURAL PROFILE

BEGIN WITH ME!!!

Take 2 – 3 minutes and complete the Cultural Profile.

Share your Profiles with each other and reflect on the similarities and differences you found.

BECOMING CULTURALLY AWARE IS AN “INSIDE-OUT” PROCESS.

Macro – Micro Cultures

Macro culture is the originalculture of a group of people.There are five major Macrocultures in the USA: American IndianAfrican AmericanLatinoEuropean AmericanAsian American

Micro cultures are groups within a Macro culture.

Take the Macro-Micro table and fill in your group’s knowledge of the Macro and Micro cultures served at Palomar. NOTE: Use the characteristic topics from YOUR Cultural Profile to describe them.

CONTEXTUALIZING CURRICULUM

• In your group, choose a unit of instruction from any class that is taught at Palomar.

• Discuss the content to be learned by students.

• EMBED your group’s knowledge about your students’ cultures into the unit.

• List strategies that engage diverse learners into the Treasure Chest of Strategies

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES THAT ENGAGE DIVERSE LEARNERS

• As a group (using the Instructional Needs Rubric and the Differentiation Model Rubric), choose instructional strategies for your contextualized unit/curriculum that will build resilience, help students to connect with their culture, and build vocabulary.

• Share you revised unit.

WHY CULTURE COUNTS!

As a group,Think-Pair-Share...Why do YOU thinkculture counts atPalomar College?What is onecommitment you canmake to be moreculturally responsive?

For More InformationSandra K. Darling, Ph.D.Learning Bridges®743 W Nolan WayChandler, AZ 85248480-883-0704sdarling@learningbridges.com www.learningbridges.com

• Tileston, D., Darling, S. (2008). Why Culture Counts: Teaching Children of Poverty. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree

• Tileston, D., Darling, S. (2008). Closing the Culture and Poverty Gap. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.