Beyond Differences

1. Beyond Differences Building Bridges and Creating aCommunity of Learners Chapter 6

2. Overview • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice

3. Creating a community of learners • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • To create a community of learners in diverse classrooms engagement is particularly important (Cummins, 2000; McLaren, 2007) • The most important strategies for creating a community of learners is establishing positive group dynamics in the classroom (Jones and Jones, 2004; Kronowitz, 2008) • No fool proof way of establishing positive group dynamics • Method#1: Group students on the basis of mixed ability • (To help minimize isolation and labeling of students) • Method #2: Group students based on the peers that they know the least or would like to know better

4. Instructing for success • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Activity #1 (5 minutes): • In a diverse classroom, how can teachers create a sense of community when doing the following: • 1. Choosing materials • 2. Establishing rapport with students • 3. After the lesson has been taught

5. Pre-instructional activities • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Pre-instructional activities • Instructional activities • Post-instructional activities • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Includes all activities prior to instruction • In creating a community of learners, check activities for the following: • Language Bias • “us” and “them” • “these people” • Check that the language is at an appropriate level used for instruction is culturally sensitive • Material Bias • Example: If Korean students are in your class, try to include materials related to the Korean culture • Check that materials used for instruction is culturally relevant • Applying inclusive pedagogy • Try to include a variety of pedagogy • Still awake? Hang in there, we are one-third done.

6. Instructional activities • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Pre-instructional activities • Instructional activities • Post-instructional activities • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • At the beginning of a lesson • Establish rapport through small talk with students • Acknowledge students are valued participants even through nonverbal communication such as a smile • Differentiated instruction • Gives students multiple options that reinforces diversity (in learning styles) without compromising the quality of what students learn • Monitoring for comprehension • Body language instead of questions (questioning may not always be effective in a diverse classroom) • Deliberate monitoring of participation and leadership roles • Cooperative learning • Keep groups small (avoids isolation) • Jigsaw II, STAD, TGT, TAI (p161-162)

7. Post-instructional activities • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Pre-instructional activities • Instructional activities • Post-instructional activities • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Reflecting immediately after a lesson while areas of strengths and weaknesses about the lesson are still fresh

8. Assessing students • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Activity #2 (5 minutes) • Discuss the following: • Why are multiple methods of assessment more of a necessity in ethnically and culturally diverse classrooms? • In a diverse classroom setting, your assessments of choice would be… • Criterion-referenced (measuring student performance based on criteria) • Norm-referenced (measuring student performance against their peers)

9. Assessing students • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • No assessment tool will achieve the same result across all ethnic or cultural groups! • Balancethe use of different forms of assessment • Criterion-based referencing ispreferred over norm-based referencing because it is individually oriented • Use of authentic assessment (debates, experiments, making videos etc.) is advantageous in contexts of diversity because it draws on students’ experiences and focuses on students’ unique strengths that motivate them to perform • Have high but realistic expectations (stay in the zone of proximal development)

10. Classroom management • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Activity #3 (5 minutes): • Discuss the following questions: • What is the goal of classroom management? • What do we need to be aware of in order to be successful at managing a classroom of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds? • How can the physical classroom be altered to enhance our success at managing a diverse classroom?

11. Classroom management • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Goal of effective classroom management is to spend less time on distractions • Be aware of culture and language related miscues that serve as conflict triggers • Recognizing miscommunication and conflict sometimes arises through cultural differences rather than personal intentions • Dispelling a teacher’s own unfavorable perception of minority students (if any exists) • Proactive management (being well-prepared) to diffuse any issues before they begin • Manipulating seating arrangements, physical artifacts (such as posters) that are in different languages or reflectheritage are also forms of proactive management • Collaborative management (Students and teachers should share the responsibility in making the classroom a positive learning community) It is a long slide but we are more than two-thirds done!

12. Combating prejudice • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Banks (1999) provides several guidelines for reducing prejudice among students • Include positive and realistic images of ethnic and racial groups in materials in a consistent and natural manner • Students of different ethnic backgrounds involved in cooperative learning activities • Teach the consequence of prejudice in authentic ways

13. Teachable moments • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Don’t ignore them! • Use them to dispel any misconceptions!

14. Modeling behavior • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Students learn through observation • Model the kind of behavior you expect from your students! If I can stay awake, you can stay awake!

15. Teaching social justice • Creating a community of learners • Instructing for success • Assessing students in diverse contexts • Classroom management in diverse contexts • Combating prejudices and discrimination • Teachable moments • Modeling behavior • Teaching social justice • Incorporate social justice • into your classroom rules • Teach students how to respect people, appreciate people and value diversity DONE!