Week Seven: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Place Based Learning

1) What will culturally relevant pedagogy look like, sound like, feel like, in your future classroom?

In my future classroom, I am aiming to provide a very welcoming approach to education by the different ways that I will teach and provide knowledge within the class, as well as make it a very open and accepting location. Every student will be treated will equal opportunities, all while allowing extra support and assistance for students who may be struggling on a topic or being excluded within the classroom. This social representation is best explained in the following statement: “it is imperative that teachers engage in teaching approaches that are effective in educating today’s diverse student population” (Lopez 2011). Every individual has the right to receive an education, therefore my future classroom with look very welcoming and be very accepting. I want it to sound like support. Supporting one another’s culture, goals, education, dreams and aspirations. It is important to me that within my classroom I am able to hear every student support one another and help guide each other in their educational journeys. After evaluating the position of these factors in my classroom, I will be able to adjust how I teach and present the material throughout the year. This will allow for additional growth and improvements to be made, so each individual can feel accepted and encouraged to learn in order to better society.

2) How will you, as teacher, contribute to the sense of place for your future students?

A sense of place is a very critical concept to include within the classroom. I hope to be able to do this through positive actions and allowing students a voice, to provide their valid perspectives, opinions and previous knowledge on topics being discussed. A sense of place will provide students an outlet to self-develop and grow their identity, which there is a continued “increasing awareness of the importance of place in developing caring, global citizens” (Brook 2013). I feel as if a sense of place in the classroom in newly being discovered and adjusted to work in our always changing society. I hope to create a sense of place for my students by being a listening ear for their issues and concerns and then working with them to get to their educational goals. If students are comfortable in the place of learning, then they will be more likely to reach out, focus, and aim towards succeeding in their schooling. I think that is essential for students to not see me as their ‘boss’, but rather someone with the ability to help guide and work with. I want them to know that if we are able to work together, instead of work against, then we will be more likely to reach their goals. This will create a sense of place for my future students, which hopefully allows them to feel comfortable to be themselves and promote education in a positive manner. Having a place that allows this feeling will only guide and support students into their own identity, which will in result help create a more accepting society.

Amber Smith

Brook, J. (2013). Placing elementary music education: a case study of a Canadian rural music program. Music Education Research, 15(3), 290-303.

Lopez, A. (2011). Culturally relevant pedagogy and critical literacy in diverse English classrooms: A case study of a secondary English teacher’s activism and agency. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 10(4), 75-93.