1. Define culturally relevant pedagogy and
what would it look like in Hawaii preschools?
According to the interview with Gloria the
“culturally relevant pedagogy is broken down into three things. The first being
a self-learning on student learning which she relates to a laser-like focus.
Then there is the development of the cultural competence of the students and
lastly would be socio-political consciousness. So from these three premises it
shows that the children are learning from what is around them including their
environment and their own culture as well as answering the question “why?”
towards what they are learning.
So having that in Hawaii preschools would
make the preschool really diverse if the teacher has to be able to bring it all
into the classroom but if the children are left questioning their environment
and to be able to answer the questions on the subject or the topic. So being
able to incorporate this into preschools would help with the development of the
children because they are able to learn more about their culture as well as
learning within the standards that you can relate to the culture.
2. Explain the difference between the achievement “gap” and the
achievement “debt”. Which construct is preferable and why?
The difference that is stated
between the “gap” and the “debt” is that the isolation towards one achievement.
So if you are looking at the both you begin to see that the difference of both
spoken from her perspective is that with the “gap”, it could mean that you are
behind and that you need to be able to catch up. Then when you hear debt there
is responsibility taken place in the situation its not towards a singular
person but something that everyone takes responsibility for.
Looking at the both of these you
see that one gives more of a negative aspect then the other. So to me seeing
debt sounds a little more preferable then having to be called a gap because it
is true that it does make it feel like that you are behind or that you are
above everyone just hearing the word gap. But upon hearing the word debt you
think of it as a whole. But hearing both anyways sounds negative anyways but
between the both it does sound preferable to have debt instead of gap.
I agree about incorporating cultural diversity into the classroom, and yes it will question the children but they will have a better understanding of other cultural that are around them in classroom or outside the classroom. I also agree with the "gap" that it makes children to be left behind and ECE we don't want that to happen. As teacher we should always do thing improve the gap we see as well what other see.
ReplyDeleteHi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteIt's true, the children will be using the environment to learn about their culture and that teachers should be able to understand it. Another aspect of culturally relevant pedagogy, however, is about changing your own teaching - your pedagogy - to better match the cultures of the students in your class. It not always about what you teach, but also about *how* you teach. Cassandra wrote in her blog about ‘āina-based teaching - take a look at this video and think about it.
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Aina-Based-Learning-the-21st-Ce
What do you think of this idea as a way of educating children here in Hawaii? What would we need to do, especially for those who do not work at Kamehameha Schools, to implement this type of teaching/learning in our schools?
I'm also going to share another video - this one features Christopher Emdin, a professor at Teachers College who advocates using rap-based science education in NYC schools. Take a look at this video:
http://chrisemdin.com/portfolio/christopher-emdin-at-tedxteacherscollege/
Here, he talks about being "mindful" educators. He discusses that teaching is a revolutionary act, one that requires risk-taking and imagination. He challenges us to wake up and push against the status-quo. How do you think this plays into the conversation about the achievement gap/debt debate? What will we need to do to ensure more children have access to an equitable education? Thanks!