Assignment:
Wardle (2013) summarizes the important characteristics of a culturally relevant teacher. Use this information as a guide or resource throughout this assignment to help inspire your thinking as you apply your knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy toward specific solutions to problems facing a teacher with a very diverse student population. This exercise provides excellent practice over the application of culturally relevant principles in the design of effective instructional solutions.
You will need to design such instructional solutions within the Final Project, so it is very important to practice such skills here. Specifically, for this assignment, you will view a brief video taken with a cell phone by a student in a high school social studies class. Student "Jeff Bliss" Mad at Teacher at Duncanville High (Bliss, 2013) documents a meltdown Bliss experienced during his World History course at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas.
Review the Instructor Guidance before this task. In your paper, include the following:
1. Address the items below based on your inferences and ideas after viewing the events captured in the cellphone video.
a. Describe the problem from Jeff Bliss's perspective as well as from Ms. Phung's perspective.
b. Explain what probably caused it.
c. Identify who benefits and who loses.
d. Indicate your position on this issue.
e. Discuss how a more equitable, culturally relevant approach to the class could improve the situation.
f. Express how Ms. Phung might respond differently to Jeff's concerns.
g. Describe any equity strategies you noticed or inferred being implemented in the video.
h. Suggest at least one strategy for each of the following four categories that the teacher could have utilized to help meet student needs in a more equitable fashion:
- Instruction
- Classroom Environment
- Student Grouping
- Student Recognition/leadership
i. Describe evidence of any culturally relevant pedagogy in action in the cellphone video.
j. List at least three strategies that could be used to create a more culturally relevant classroom. Such strategies might be drawn from the following areas:
- Maximizing academic success through relevant instructional experiences
- Addressing cultural competence through reinforcing students' cultural integrity
- Involving students in the construction of knowledge
- Building on students' interests and linguistic resources
- Tapping home and community resources
- Understanding students' cultural knowledge
- Using interactive and constructivist teaching strategies
- Examining the curriculum from multiple perspectives
- Promoting critical consciousness through opportunities to challenge predominant elements of the students' social norms
If you are enrolled in the MAED Program, it is imperative that you keep copies of all assignments completed in this course. You will return to them for the portfolio that you will create in your final MAED course. This portfolio is a culminating project that will demonstrate that you have met program outcomes.
Review Instructor Guidance for additional information about completing this assignment. Contact your instructor for clarifications about this or any assessment in the course before the due date using the "Ask Your Instructor" forum.