I’m seeing the need for culturally responsive education more and more. Last year, my son’s patka or small turban was pulled off his head without any consequence for the “bully”. On Friday, his educational assistant grabbed him by his joora (hair knot) and decided to wiggle it in lieu of saying “good job”. Today she told me she didn’t know that was wrong. (She’s teaching in a district in which the highest demographic are Panjabis and the Sikh community is prominent). I’m wondering how many more times I have to hear excuses from people who have access to education but choose to wait for someone else to come along and fill in their gaps. What happened to being proactive and informing the instruction of a diverse population?

My son’s Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and H/H has been guiding a student teacher recently. This student is actually a qualified teacher and is completing her Masters Degree in Deaf education. Since I have finally seen some initiative from our Itinerant, this student teacher gives me hope that change may come. She has been a prime example of how culturally responsive education can be carried out really well. Last week, we met for an IEP meeting in which she suggested some resources to educate the team on the purpose of using an FM system. Several simulations of what a Deaf or H/H child “hears” with and without the equipment were shared. The results were powerful and the penny seemed to have finally dropped. The strategy was both meaningful to the current situation and responsive to the special needs of our son. It was all about learning something new and it was fabulous to see that someone had taken the time to deliver relevant information.

Here are a couple of the videos shared with us:

Culturally Responsive Education and Faith Identity

When it comes to talking about Faith identity, it becomes uncomfortable for some educators. I was recently asked to write an article about the Sikh identity for CREATE Wisconsin. It captures the need for culturally responsive education and gives educators a springboard to begin a conversation about the turban.

You can learn more about why the Sikh identity still largely remains invisible in the classroom by reading the article here. I’d love to hear your thoughts on why culturally responsive education matters to you!

Tags: CREATE Wisconsin, culturally responsive education, Deaf, Deaf Education, hard of hearing, IEP, inclusive classroom, patka, Sikhs

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2012 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Culturally Responsive Ed, Teaching Kids about Stereotypes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.