A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations from EDtalks on Vimeo.
So what is culture? A long time ago I learned that we all have our own culture (I have also heard of it being called discourse) that becomes our own identity. It is what is within us, not always explicit to us (we see it from one lens), in fact, it is innate, but it impacts on our experiences of the world through our interactions, our responses, and our interpretations of situations and experiences.
So what does this mean for education? What are the impacts of culture within the education system, or down to the very grassroots.... my kura and my classroom?
Our akonga, all akonga, have the right to an education that acknowledges and embraces the rich culture and vast experiences that our akonga bring to our classrooms. From this starting point relationships can florish and as The Ministry of Education (2013) clearly points out that through the development of learning relationships that affirm individual identity, language, and culture empowers akonga to achieve education success. This is afterall what we are in this profession for.
I agree that the agentic positioning of the teacher is vital to inclusive practice and this fits with the message of Carol Dweck (2014), who argues that growth mindset is paramount for effective learning. What has been my experience is the lack of understanding of deficit theorising. We have Kotahitanga in our school and is referred to as "Building on success", being part of this journey has been somewhat interesting. Make a negative statement, you are deficit theorising.. Are you really? Is it not important to understand the positioning of the akonga as a starting point? I believe all students can learn and achieve their potential. As a classsroom practitioner it is my role to take them from where they start to a position that demonstrates growth. Therefore, I think having an understanding of the holistic child is important. This isn't deficit theorising. From this starting point, relationships can be built and from this student agency can be increased.
The most interesting expereince I have had is one student who struggled with the fact that I cared about his education, that his learning was important. I stood strong on my agentic positioning. One day he made a connection to my Aunty who lives in the same area as him. His attitude changed instantly, his words "I understood where he was coming from". What I found really interesting about this, was I never changed my position about him and his learning. He changed his persepctive about me and therefore was more receptive. Oh the joys of teaching... But this experience does remind me that it is about connections, it is about culture, it is about relationships and from this agentic positioning of both the teacher and student can create wonderful learning opportuntities where all akonga can achieve success for who they are.
So what does this mean for education? What are the impacts of culture within the education system, or down to the very grassroots.... my kura and my classroom?
Our akonga, all akonga, have the right to an education that acknowledges and embraces the rich culture and vast experiences that our akonga bring to our classrooms. From this starting point relationships can florish and as The Ministry of Education (2013) clearly points out that through the development of learning relationships that affirm individual identity, language, and culture empowers akonga to achieve education success. This is afterall what we are in this profession for.
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| http://www.wellbeingatschool.org.nz/inclusive-practices-next-step-links#extra-curric |
The most interesting expereince I have had is one student who struggled with the fact that I cared about his education, that his learning was important. I stood strong on my agentic positioning. One day he made a connection to my Aunty who lives in the same area as him. His attitude changed instantly, his words "I understood where he was coming from". What I found really interesting about this, was I never changed my position about him and his learning. He changed his persepctive about me and therefore was more receptive. Oh the joys of teaching... But this experience does remind me that it is about connections, it is about culture, it is about relationships and from this agentic positioning of both the teacher and student can create wonderful learning opportuntities where all akonga can achieve success for who they are.
Alton-lee, A. (2012). KA HIKITIA a demonstration report Effectiveness of Te Kotahitanga Phase 5 2010-2012. wellington.
Bishop, R. (2012). Pretty difficult: Implementing kaupapa Maori theory in English-medium secondary schools. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47(2), 38–50. Retrieved from http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84873669809&partnerID=40&md5=82b3e99bd5909939a7bcbe5460bde93a
Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2009). The Te Kotahitanga effective teaching profile. SET Research Information for Teachers, 27–33. Retrieved from http://ptc.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/set2009_2_027.pdf
Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Tiakiwai, S.-J., & Richardson, C. (2003). Te Kōtahitanga Phase 1: The experiences of Year 9 and 10 Māori students in mainstream classrooms. Retrieved from http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/content/download/275/1284/file/te-kotahitanga+(phase+1).pdf
Dweck, C. (2014). Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve | Talk Video | TED.com. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en
Gutschlag, A. (2007). Some Implications of the Te Kotahitanga Model of Teacher Positioning. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 4(1), 3–10.
Ministry of Education. (2013). Effective governance: Supporting education success as Maori. Retrieved from http://www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/Boards/EffectiveGovernance/SupportingEducationSuccessAsMaori.pdf
Hey Kersty, some great thoughts. I have just completed a blog on this too and I am quite interested in the perceptions around deficit theory and the implications. I think it negates the impact of historical events and 'blames' a culture for being subject to colonisation - I would like to see us celebrating the things that Maori did well hundreds of years ago (like farming, navigation, community etc.). I believe that deficit thinking is actually quite harmful and I am glad you are not shying away from the contention this causes. We definitely need to be real. I notice one thing seems to be missing from all of the literature I have so far accessed around culture, that there are a growing number of students who are very detached from their cultural community, either through generational disconnection, or through isolation/transience etc. I think a school setting can do that, and I like your example of the student who didn't 'buy in' until he realised you knew 'here he came from.' Like you said, your practice and attitude didn't change, but his belief in it did - he suddenly realised that which he had previously mistrusted, that he had value to you. It's moments like that that make the workload worthwhile!
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