Double Journal Entry # 5

What does research say about the impact of negative teacher attitudes about students’ ethnicity and language variations on student learning?

Studies show that the attitudes that a teacher has toward students from different ethnicities and students whose are “linguistically diverse”, whether intentional or not, is not only conveyed to his/her students but it also affects the way the teacher teaches and assesses the students and performance of the students themselves. That is to say, a positive and open attitude can lead to positive outcomes and performances from the students. Negative attitudes on the other hand, can lead to lack of interest/enthusiasm for learning and poor attitudes from the students.

What are some assessment pitfalls?

First of all, teacher stereotypes affect how they choose to assess their students. This means that attitudes toward students can affect how assessments are prepared, how they are carried out, what the teacher may or may not expect of the students etc. Also, teachers may lack the confidence that he or she is capable of preparing adequate assessments. Ultimately, this becomes quite a problem for the students.

What 3 approaches can be used to transform students’ dialectal diversity into an asset (funds of knowledge) rather than a liability (cultural deficit)?

1. The Awareness Approach: This approach attempt to study dialects and their origin and encouraging expression in areas such as music composition. Also, this dialect is examined in comparison to “standard English”.

2. Critical Pedagogy: This approach asserts that language is tightly intertwined with the culture of the student. Therefore, the focus is on changing the social order instead of expecting the student to make changes that will allow them to blend in to the current social order.

3. The Critical Awareness Approach: This approach is a combination of the first two approaches. While students are taught “standard English”, they are also taught to celebrate their non-standard dialect as a reflection of their culture and are given the opportunity to find constructive ways to play on the strengths of that dialect.

How prepared do you feel to teach in a culturally diverse classroom?

I feel like I keep telling myself that this will not be as much of an issue in this particular area. I realize, however, that cultural diversity in the classroom is on the rise. Though I may not feel like I have ALL of the training that I need in this area, I am planning on treating every one of my students the same, not labeling or stereotyping them but attempting to teach each and every one of them in a way that is best to help them learn. In other words, I want every child to succeed and I am open to trying whatever it takes to make that happen