Culturally Competent Teaching: Literature & Language Essay

Culturally Competent Teaching
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Culturally Competent Teaching
Culturally responsive teaching considers the importance of including cultural preferences and identities in learning. Teachers must recognize that their contributions towards building classroom culture are of great significance, and hugely impacts students (Darling-Hammond & Cook-Harvey, 2018). However, it is also notable that each student brings a specific cultural identity that is unique to each one of them. In my engagements, I realized two elements of culture that are external and internal. External elements of culture are influencers that are imported into the classroom by both the teachers and students (Darling-Hammond & Cook-Harvey, 2018). The internal elements are influencers from within the classroom, and they are mainly developed based on the external influencers. Internal influencers act as adaptability traits towards the adoption of external cultural elements. I also realized the need to convert to a culturally conscious curriculum apart from just understanding cultural diversity. Understanding it is the first step towards embracing cultural diversity.
I realized that the external elements manifest more readily than the internal elements. I also realized that they are responsible for the various stereotypes that people form. The most common external elements in my situation included what the children brought with them, such as food, clothing, and their stories about their experiences outside school. There were, also, other elements that were not easy for other children to pick. They included their responses and eye contact that determined how each child was brought up that comprised the internal elements. The internal elements are less concrete in the interactions of a child with other children. However, they played a critical role in determining how each child was brought up. Teachers can use the internal elements to predict how to efficiently deal with a child in different scenarios and know what to expect from the parents or guardians.
Enhancing Cultural Positivity in the School
There is a need to embrace strategies that appreciate cultural diversity in schools. Some of the intervention strategies can be summarized by the school management’s understanding the school’s culture. To achieve this, the team may appoint a committee in charge of this program. The team will observe the attitudes and responses of the teaching staff towards the children (Darling-Hammond & Cook-Harvey, 2018). The team may also strive to understand the feelings of the children towards their teachers. The next step is to identify the toxic and positive aspects of the school’s culture. The team may then develop a list of the aspects that are responsible for creating a positive atmosphere in the school and those that negatively influence behavior. The team may then deliberate on the plans and conduct eliminations as needed. Finally, the appointed team may present the proposed changes according to their benefits. It would be the management team's duty to ensure that the most positive attitudes are reinforced and promoted within both the student and teaching fraternity.
Improvement Strategies
Enhanc...