The article “Culturally Responsive Teaching: The Harlem
Renaissance in an Urban English Class” by Andrea Stairs is a well-written and
informative piece of literature highlighting teaching strategies used in
schools where minorities are the majority and where lessons must become
personal. Immediately upon reading this article I was blown away at the
successes of two student teachers, Cara and Laura, while teaching in an urban
Boston classroom. Stairs documents their unique approach to teaching culturally
sensitive material in an urban classroom in a very inspiring and informational
manner. The article is definitely one I will be hanging on to.
Stairs’
article was immediately appealing to me for several reasons. The most
interesting part of the article to me was the fact that these two inexperienced
student teachers were able to formulate effective pedagogy in an environment
many Education majors would be very afraid of. Cara and Laura recognized the
fact that “diversity is an asset that enriches the learning of all students”
and directly played off their environment (38). Their use of rap music, jazz
music, and poetry appealed to the students in their urban classroom because
they were familiar to their cultures. For the student to be truly at the center
of instruction, teachers must appeal to what the students already know and
identify with. Also, Cara and Laura adopted tactics that ultimately gained them
respect from the students. Their students were engaged by their approach, and
the classroom became a true learning environment despite anything going on
outside of it.
The most
important idea I took away from this article was that “Cara and Laura believe
that the success of the lesson hinged on their relationship with their
students" (40). Often forgotten, it is the relationship between teacher and a student
that is responsible for engaging discussion and the comfort that enables true
learning to occur. I praise Cara and Laura for their bravery and for their
creativity. If you are teaching in an urban classroom, Andrea Stairs’ article
on culturally responsive teaching is a must read.
Let me play devil's advocate for a minute: if the teacher-student relationship is most critical and key, would these two teachers have been equally successful if they had used classical music and Shakespeare -- given that they would have shaped these materials in a way to help students identify with these texts?
ReplyDeleteThat is, were the culturally relevant texts that critical? Would the culturally relevant texts succeed if used by a teacher who didn't respect or relate to the students?
I agree with Professor Ruzich. In my personal experience, there are children at my place of work that I have absolutely nothing in common with but due to them and I having a respectfull relationship, they are able to learn something from me and are more willing to step out of their comfort zones. Personally, I think all students should be shown various world texts so "culturally relevant" is embedded into the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI do not think these two teachers would have been as successful if they used classical music and Shakespeare. Those two genres usually do not appeal to many students, but you would always have an exception. I am confident I could find a way to relate classical music or Shakespeare to students in an urban environment. There are a lot of themes in Shakespeare's works that could be easily adapted for urban classrooms.
ReplyDeleteRespect is absolutely necessary. A teacher must respect and relate to their students in order to be successful. Teaching in urban environments can sometimes be more difficult because of the lack of respect teachers have. It is important for teachers to quickly show they are reliable, respectful, and quick on their feet, or else the students will eat them alive (probably not a good pun right now).