Cultural Awareness Paper Week 1

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Apr 3, 2024

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1 Cultural Awareness Emma Bragdon University of Phoenix CTEL/503: Culture and Inclusion Dr. Thomas Carriveau March 11, 2024

2 Cultural Awareness Educators, no matter what part of the world they are teaching in, will experience diversity within their classrooms. It becomes our job to provide an equitable education in which all children reach their highest potential. To do that, we have to become effective multicultural educators. Practices that enhance cultural awareness among students, faculty, and the community include building meaningful relationships with students and their families, creating an inclusive, safe learning environment, reflecting on personal biases, transforming pedagogical practices to ensure they are culturally responsive, and encouraging students to reflect on their prior knowledge and experiences. When an educator knows each individual student, it can change a student’s education. It allows the child to feel like they are valued (Burnham, 2020), as well as allowing the teacher to develop strategies to address different backgrounds, whether that be a child whose parents are getting a divorce or a child who is homeless. (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Creating meaningful relationships within the classroom can include engaging in regular check-ins with students as well as breaking the ice at the beginning of the school year (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). To demonstrate cultural awareness to students, faculty need to respect cultural differences among each other. When teachers display respect for all backgrounds with other adults, it reinforces the idea that it is imperative to validate religious beliefs, language, morals, etc. that add to a person’s self-identity (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Making profound connections with the community, such as with a student’s family, has been proven to help improve a student’s grades as well as attendance (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Reaching out to families includes when something positive happens at school, not just disciplinary issues. Multicultural educators should also reach out to

3 families periodically to provide resources for support as well as check-ins for parents to ask questions. Creating meaningful relationships within the classroom, among faculty, and within the community only helps promote cultural awareness in the education system. Creating a safe, inclusive environment for all students is important for cultural awareness. Within the classroom, this could be making sure that learning is student-centered (Howe & Lisi, 2024). For teachers that have a small library in their classroom, this could include making sure all communities are represented in the books, including individuals of all races, religions, sexual orientations, etc. (Burnham, 2020). Among faculty, this could be regular professional development to ensure all educators are knowledgeable of all cultural identities. Within the community, it is important to create an inclusive environment. One way to do this is to make sure all families feel supported. This could include translators for families that are English as a second language speakers or transportation vouchers for individuals of lower socioeconomic status (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Multicultural educators should always make all students feel welcome and safe. One way educators can enhance cultural awareness is by exploring their own personal biases. Every single person in this world is brought up differently, with their own unique experiences. With those experiences, biases could take many forms, including religious, academic, or gender biases (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Within the classroom, unconscious bias could lead to unfair grading practices. It is important to reflect on all biases to ensure all students are treated fairly and equally. Not only can biases affect students, but they can also affect staff relationships. If faculty demonstrate that reflection on personal biases can lead to positive relationships, it shows students that self-reflection is a necessary practice. Within the

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4 community, families should reflect on personal biases to allow for positive engagement with teachers and other students’ families. Reflecting on personal biases allows for respect to be given to all members of a school system. An important way to promote culture is by transforming pedagogical practices based on the diversity of the students. Within the classroom, it is essential to use numerous teaching strategies to ensure all students, regardless of their learning style (Howe & Lisi, 2024). It is also important to choose content that does not reinforce stereotypes (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Among faculty, evaluation of pedagogy throughout classrooms is important to ensure all students receive an equal education regardless of background. It is also important to make sure all classrooms are promoting respect for all cultural identities (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Throughout the community, individuals with diverse backgrounds exist. Bringing in guest speakers from different backgrounds will allow students to learn in a variety of ways (Singhal & Gulati, 2021). Making sure all individuals are receiving an equal education comes down to the variety of pedagogical practices. Having students access prior knowledge and experiences is a wonderful way to promote cultural awareness. Students aren’t blank slates. All come in with different backgrounds and experiences. During lessons within the classroom, it is important to allow students to bring in ideas and experiences (Burnham, 2020). This allows different perspectives to be discussed as well as teaching students to value individuals’ ideas that are different from their own. Among faculty, it is important to think about past experiences that may have shaped colleagues into the individuals they are. This provides us with an understanding of why a person may behave the way they do and allows us to make connections based on our unique experiences. Within the

5 community, it is important to access prior knowledge and experiences to understand how individuals behave. It does not provide an excuse for behavior that is culturally inappropriate, but it allows us to start conversations to educate the public on respecting all cultural identities. This is a huge way to promote cultural awareness. Promoting cultural awareness is a huge part of being an effective multicultural educator. Techniques for promoting cultural awareness include building relationships, creating a safe environment, reflecting on personal biases, reviewing and changing pedagogical practices, and encouraging reflection on past knowledge and experiences. Combining all of these practices allows for the respect of every cultural identity.

6 References Burnham, K. (2020, July 31). Culturally responsive teaching: 5 strategies for educators . Graduate Blog. https://graduate.northeastern.edu/resources/culturally-responsive-teaching- strategies/ Howe, W. A., & Lisi, P. L. (2024). Becoming a multicultural educator: Developing awareness, gaining skills, and taking action . SAGE Publications, Inc. Singhal, M., & Gulati, S. (2021, March 25). Five essential strategies to embrace culturally responsive teaching . Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/equality-inclusion-and-diversity/five-essential- strategies-to-embrace-culturally-responsive-teaching/

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