Blog Post #7

 What to Look for in a Classroom by Alfie Kohn and "Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy"

Connections:

While the "Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy" video was short, I found that it had numerous connections to previous pieces of media we have discussed in class, especially Lisa Delpit's article. In the video, a discussion was held on the cultural filters through which we perceive the world, and how these filters are applied in schools. Students analyze what an instructor says through their own cultural lens, not necessarily the instructor's. We expect kids to inherently know the school's culture, though, and so look down on or punish them when they do not adhere to it. However, there is no way for them to automatically know a given culture. These ideas align closely with what Delpit has to say about the Culture of Power and the Silenced Dialogue.  Instructors and students each applying their cultural filter to an interaction and arriving at separate conclusions is a prime example of the "communication dissonance" that Delpit discusses. Furthermore, the assumption that students will inherently fit into the school's culture exemplifies the Culture of Power, as it is assumed that the school's authorial culture is superior. The idea that teachers, instead of forcing this adaptation, serve as "cultural translators," aligns with Delpit's claim that acquiring power is easier when the culture's rules are explicitly stated. After all, it is easier for students to behave if they know what is expected of them. 

The discussion about the challenge of separating a student's culture from their entire identity also seemed to serve as a companion to Precious Knowledge, albeit counterintuitively. As the video states, a student's connection to their culture can vary depending on their circumstances and does not provide a complete picture of who they are. I found that the classes in the film reflected that. While they certainly did primarily focus on culture, they were also about the individual students. Some of the students in the film said that the classes helped them discover who they are, and some of the lessons shown focused on personal development. When a teacher serves as a "cultural translator" for their students, they support their individual students by learning their individual stories. 

While not something we watched in this class, the video reminded me of a film I saw at CCRI called Starting Small (I could only find a trailer, not the full version). The film followed classes with an anti-racist curriculum, which really focused on exposing kids to people different than themselves. One class brainstormed ways to make their building more accessible for a guest speaker in a wheelchair, and another class had the opportunity to meet a local Native American leader and ask him about his culture. Although the focus of those curricula was a bit different than what was discussed in this video, they had the basic idea of cultural exchange in common.

Question to Share:

I agree with most of the points in Kohn's chart. However, I found myself a bit hesitant about his classification of sticker charts as a negative, as it indicates that students are ranked. I follow his basic idea, since it unfairly humiliates students, but I have seen charts like these for classes as a whole that work well. For example, in a program I volunteer in, we give classes charts for anonymously recording both altruistic and "mean" behavior. While we do get some tattletales regarding the poor behavior chart, the altruistic behavior chart seems to work wonders in encouraging more of that behavior. So, my question is, are charts always negative, and I am just defensive about my program, or can they be used effectively? 

The charts I refer to are the green and red ones hanging on the whiteboard ot the left. The green ones (Green Poison Darts) are "mean" behavior, and the red ones (Warm Red Smiles) are altruistic behaviors.