From: Susan Erickson
Columbus
The front page of Monday’s newspaper headlined the “Dialogue on Diversity” being held between community ministers and our school officials. I applaud the desire and need to have more minority educators; our students need to have good role models and people with whom they can identify. But the deeper issue of student achievement will not be addressed by increased minority hiring alone.
Underachieving students of any race, ethnicity or language need to be taught by good teachers who are culturally responsive in their approach to education. Being culturally responsive does not mean that we add more lessons about different cultures and ethnicities. Culturally responsive teaching means engaging students in a way that moves them from being dependent to independent learners.
Zaretta Hammond, in her book “Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain,” states, “In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk about the reasons behind the low performance of many students of color, English learners and poor students. Rather than examine school policies and teacher practices, some attribute it to a ‘culture of poverty’ or different community values toward education. The reality is that they struggle not because of their race, language, or poverty. They struggle because we don’t offer them sufficient opportunities in the classroom to develop the cognitive skills and habits of mind that would prepare them to take on more advanced academic tasks.”
All educators need to look at they ways in which we educate our children and be prepared to instruct students so that each one can be successful. In today’s climate, we are going to have to teach students of different races, languages, economic backgrounds and from homes broken by the opioid crisis. We as educators must be ready to connect with students where they are at, and we have to learn about how the brain is affected by childhood events. We must teach students in ways that develop independence and ownership in their educations. Schools have to wrap services around the students and sometimes their families. It can feel overwhelming. Some days it is. But the rewards are so great.
The purpose of this letter is not to give a dissertation on teaching pedagogy, just to bring another perspective to the conversation about educating our children. For those interested in the research on brain development, culturally responsive teaching and trauma-informed schools, here is a list of resources.
- Documentary video: “Paper Tigers”
- TedMed (TedTalk) video: “Childhood Trauma Lasts Forever” by Nadine Burke Harris
- Books: “Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain,” by Zaretta Hammond; “For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood … and the Rest of Y’all Too,” by Christopher Emdin; “Teaching with Poverty in Mind,” by Eric Jensen; “The Trauma-Informed School,” by Jim Sporleder and Heather T. Forbes; “Help for Billy,” by Heather T. Forbes.
