[Culturally relevant pedagogy and critical literacy in diverse English classrooms: A case study of a secondary English teacher’s activism and agency]: What will culturally relevant pedagogy look like, sound like, feel like, in your future classroom?
“Diverse student populations are now one of the distinctive features of schools in North America” (Lopez, 2011, p. 90). It does not take this article for us to realize that. Multiculturalism has always been, and likely will always be, a major aspect of Canadian culture. Because of this, racism is not seen as a problem in Canada and is constantly dismissed. Lopez (2011) mentions this in her article. “Multicultural education within the Canadian context often has come to mean a superficial response to diversity and equity, based around topics such as dances, dress, dialect and food without looking at power relations” (p. 83). Schooling and education is the best place to address this issue, but it needs to be done properly. As Lopez (2011) says, “curriculum and teaching practices cannot continue to exclude the experiences of students of colour if we expect all students to be successful” (p. 90).
All students deserve an education that is relevant, inclusive, and engaging—not just students that are in the dominant category. That is why current education practices need to change. In Lopez’s article, I enjoyed the way that discussion was used to promote culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom. Students in the classroom engaged in discussions that were often uncomfortable and difficult to talk about, but these discussions took place in an open, safe space where their thoughts and ideas were encouraged. This is what I would like to do in my classroom. To encourage uncomfortable, yet safe, discussions about the power dynamics, such as race, that are prevalent in our society. I will also promote culturally relevant pedagogy by moving away from presenting all topics in a Eurocentric matter. For some topics, it is relevant and important to teach from this perspective, but it is not necessary for all topics. Teaching more from a First Nations perspective is just one, of the many ways, this can be done.
[Placing elementary music education: a case study of a Canadian rural music program.]: How will you, as teacher, contribute to the sense of place for your future students?
Having a sense of place is important in having an identity, an understanding of who you are. And since I live on Treaty 4 territory, and will likely teach on Treaty 4 territory, I think it is important to provide a sense of place that focuses around that. Brook (2013) says that “our educational system should facilitate the development of positive relationships with the land as well as with others” (p. 293). It would be easy to do that while teaching more from an Indigenous perspective since the connection between people and land is of utmost importance in Indigenous culture. I would love to take my future students to a pow-wow or some other First Nation celebration. It is one thing to learn about First Nation culture through a lecture, but it is a completely different experience to go and learn other peoples’ culture by experiencing it for yourself. In Brook’s article (2013) she found that middle students enjoyed partaking in a Ghanaian drum and dance even though they were not of Ghanaian descent (p. 292). I think this would be the case in Saskatchewan schools as well, and this type of experience would provide a lot more depth than just sitting in a lecture and watching YouTube videos. If I had the power, and time, I would also like to take my students to other cultural events. Saskatchewan has many rich cultures of those that came from Europe many years ago, like Ukrainians for example, and I think it is important that we embrace their cultures and traditions as well.
Works Cited
Brook, Julia. “Placing Elementary Music Education: A Case Study of a Canadian Rural Music Program”. Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada, 2013.
Lopez, Ann E. “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Critical Literacy in Diverse English Classrooms: A Case Study of a Secondary English Teacher’s Activism and Agency”. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 2011. PDF.
One Comment
Randi Paulhus
Hi Branden,
I like when you said “All students deserve an education that is relevant, inclusive, and engaging—not just students that are in the dominant category”. This was a powerful statement which stood out to me the most when reading your post. When you mention, how you want to encourage uncomfortable yet safe discussions about the power dynamics that are prevalent in our society, do you have any specific suggestions on how you would approach this? Thanks for the post it was very well written.