Reflecting on organizations in which you have been employed, describe
an organizational policy or practice that illustrates cultural proficiency.
Describe a behavior or value of yours or of someone you know that
illustrates cultural proficiency.
According to Robbins (2006), cultural proficiency includes the ability to support, assist, and interact with diverse students and to work successfully with colleagues from diverse cultures. Teachers who possess these qualities in their teaching can impact student’s success because they make allowances for students to work in a welcoming and respectful environment.
There is one particular colleague who illustrates cultural proficiency throughout all aspects of learning. She is my 4th grade team leader. She has a keen ability to recognize the importance of including students of diverse cultures. My team leader and I teach in a dominant culture of African American and Haitian populace. From working with her for seven years, I have gained a great deal of insight as to how to support and interact with students of diverse backgrounds. On many occasions I have witnessed her restructure her lessons to accommodate her Haitian students. She would develop activities outside the basal textbooks, and have students create research projects related to their culture. During her writing block, instead of assigning her students to write to a prompt, she would have her students write about different aspects of their culture, real-life experiences. I would also mention that her interaction with her students is mind-blowing. She set high expectations for her students and her concerns for the students seem to be so genuine. When she communicates to her students, she expresses a sense of sympathy over failure. She constantly praises them for the simplest tasks. I like that none of her students appear isolated from the others. When I go in to observe her class, I get a sense of unity from her students. They are always working and collaborating among each other in groups. They all seem so happy. One would never know that a diverse cultural of students exist in her class. These characteristics of cultural proficiency that she displays in her classroom, I have adopted and implemented in my very own teaching practices.
There is one particular colleague who illustrates cultural proficiency throughout all aspects of learning. She is my 4th grade team leader. She has a keen ability to recognize the importance of including students of diverse cultures. My team leader and I teach in a dominant culture of African American and Haitian populace. From working with her for seven years, I have gained a great deal of insight as to how to support and interact with students of diverse backgrounds. On many occasions I have witnessed her restructure her lessons to accommodate her Haitian students. She would develop activities outside the basal textbooks, and have students create research projects related to their culture. During her writing block, instead of assigning her students to write to a prompt, she would have her students write about different aspects of their culture, real-life experiences. I would also mention that her interaction with her students is mind-blowing. She set high expectations for her students and her concerns for the students seem to be so genuine. When she communicates to her students, she expresses a sense of sympathy over failure. She constantly praises them for the simplest tasks. I like that none of her students appear isolated from the others. When I go in to observe her class, I get a sense of unity from her students. They are always working and collaborating among each other in groups. They all seem so happy. One would never know that a diverse cultural of students exist in her class. These characteristics of cultural proficiency that she displays in her classroom, I have adopted and implemented in my very own teaching practices.
Reference:
Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc
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