Rachel Othersen

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Inquiry to Curriculum Project Part 2
Mini-Literature Review:
As stated in my last review paper, the author Thomas Poetter mentions how effective it is
to be a culturally competent professional. He says in his book Teacher Leadership, Reflective
teachersknow there are many ways to teach well. Reflective teachers always believe they are
capable of reaching their students; they look for new ways to approach them. (Poetter 2014)
As I reflect on my question, how can I relate to students of different cultures effectively and
professionally, I have myself been searching for resources to help me be more aware of my
internally burning question. As I was searching, I found many other resources that have derived
me to a new perspective in my thinking as an educator. As I read the article, Why cultural
competence, To help educators close achievement gaps, it mentions that cultural competence is
an open window to empowering educators to be supportive and aware of other students from
cultures other than their own. The article says, Cultural competence is having an awareness of
ones own cultural identity and views about difference, and the ability to learn and build on the
varying cultural and community norms of students and their families. It is the ability to
understand the within-group differences that make each student unique, while celebrating the
between-group variations that make our country a tapestry. (NEA)
In finding the answers to my own question, I believe this article allows me to arrive at an
answer that although before I was unaware of my ignorance, that the first step in being more
open and culturally competent is allowing myself to open to different people and their cultural
norms. I mentioned a lot in my last paper about how in my cooperating classroom, the students
were like having a rainbow full of students in the classroom. Although this is true in perspective
of the childrens color of skin, I think this article made me realize that this was just my first step
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in being culturally aware. Now the next step is to find the child within the students I work with,
while not looking at the outer shell of the childs being.
Another resource that I found to help me see the inner child is also a resource that helps
me look from with-in. In the article, The heart of the Teacher by Parker Palmer he says, When
I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. (Palmer 1993) When you take the
time to look from the outside to the inside, you see a whole new perspective of life you have
never seen before. Just as we discussed in class intently, to be more culturally aware we have to
take steps. First we take the step to realizing that people have different traditions, meaning in
life, live differently and love the life they live. In seeking myself through the steps we discussed
in class, I have found that not only am I aware that I see things from a specific perspective, but I
am also in-between steps in truly celebrating who people are. When I say I am in-between steps,
I mean that I have taken the time to evaluate my thoughts about certain cultural differences
besides my own. I have taken the time to understand that, being different from what I know is
NOT wrong. Now through this research, I am in the stage of accepting that before, I had biases.
However, now through this research it has opened the door to not just knowing. Knowing and
understanding are two different concepts. I knew before that people were different than me, but
now I understand that people are different than me and I have a sense of respect for their values
and beliefs just as I would expect from them. As said by Aristotle, Those who know, do. Those
that understand, teach. (Quotes about Understanding) Now that not only do I know to be more
culturally competent in my teaching, I understand that if I do not continue to grow in this aspect
as an educator, I will never be able to reach all my students, this is what it is about, my students.
Now that I understanding and have taken the leap to being more competent in my
classroom, now I need to find the foundation that I will build as my teaching platform. Although
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I do not have a philosophy set in stone because I believe it can change through learning and time,
thats the whole point in finding my cultural competence as an educator. Through reading the
book, Black and Ants and Buddhist by Mary Cowhey, I have come to realize that teaching,
especially when you have many different little beliefs in your classroom, is what makes your
classroom. Although we are required to read this book for another course, I feel a deep
connection with this teacher when she runs her classroom according to the inquiry of the
students. The part in this book that resonates with me to my ending answer to my overall
question is how the teacher handles ants in her classroom. Ants are all over the place in this
classroom, and every student is trying to chase and kill all these ants except one student in the
class. This student happens to be Buddhist, and explains to his peers that these ants are living
beings and deserve to live, rather in the classroom or not. Of course this is a religious aspect to
this student, however how the teacher handles the situation is remarkable. She ask the students,
instead of killing a living being, why dont we consider how our friend, the Buddhist student,
feels and respectfully take the ants back outside. Just by this course of action a chain of events
began to happen in this classroom. Soon the students were having guest speakers come in and
talk about their religion, jobs, and things that are important such as recycling etc. Not only did
the students get a sense of unity in the classroom, but the teacher taught exactly what I am
looking for, a higher respect for those who may not believe the same as we do, or being more
culturally competent and aware of myself and my teaching techniques.
In a sense being more culturally competent starts with the man in the mirror, yourself. If
you can look at in that mirror every day and know you did the best you could to open yourself a
little more, this is how you can professionally and effectively be more culturally competent
within yourself and in your classroom. As the song Man in the Mirror sang by Michael Jackson
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says, If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself, and then make a
change. (A-Z Lyrics)
Content
According to the schools website, Miller Ridge Elementary School serves approximately
461 children from kindergarten through fifth grade. There are 24 classrooms, including three full
day kindergarten sections. Miller Ridge provides special education services to meet the needs of
students in an inclusive environment. Teams of special education teachers and regular education
teachers serve students with identified special needs. Speech, occupational therapy, and physical
therapy are offered to those students. Outside counseling agencies provide counseling to
students. A nurse provides medical attention to students who need it. The district was also
provided with a grant to provide all free breakfast and lunch to all students in the district
regardless of their socioeconomic status. Some demographics of the area are as follows as
according to city-data: Middletown median household income is $35,607 in 2008-2012 and has
shrunk by 1.68% since 2000. The income growth rate is much lower than the state average rate
of 17.80% and is much lower than the national average rate of 26.32%. The median year that a
house in Middletown was built is 1959, which is older than the median year for a house built in
the state which is 1966 and is older than the median year for a house built in the USA which is
1975.
The demographics of my cooperating first grade classroom are thirteen boys and twelve
girls. There are ten Caucasian Americans, and three African American boys, as well as nine
Caucasian American, two Filipino Americans and one African American girl. The space within
itself in the classroom is actually more space than I have seen in a lot of classrooms. There is
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plenty of room for twenty-three students as a whole. Family involvement in the classroom is very
important for the classroom teacher. There are often parent volunteers who come in and help the
teacher with things such as making copies and classroom parties.
What the classroom is like in this type of environment is very engaging. The teacher
actively instructs by asking questions, allowing them to come up what they believe the idea is, as
well as lets the students make errors in their learning. The classroom environment is also very
open. The students are allowed to be themselves, and are also encouraged to learn the way they
understand how to learn. If the student needs manipulatives, they are there for them to use.
Nothing is out of reach for the students in this classroom. The way that this relates to my
question is the students are allowed to be who they are. The cooperating teacher taps into her
cultural competence, and allows the students to do, believe, and be who they are. This teacher
understands the importance of allowing them to be active in their own learning of themselves
and each other.
Findings
As stated above in the Cowheys story, the teacher allowed the students to find
themselves through self-discovery but also providing measures for them to learn more deeply. As
I revisit my question, how can I relate to students of different cultures effectively and
professionally, I recall a story from my cooperating classroom of a little girl who is struggling
with her self-identity. The student I am talking about not only has been adopted by her aunt,
but also is struggling with which racial group she belongs to (her words and actions, not my
thoughts). One day we were sitting in the library, and she asked me to read with her. As I am
reading this book with her, there is a picture of a little black girl in the story. She gets to that part
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in the book, looks down at the picture and says, Eww a black girl. Now what I have not
mentioned is this girl is the only African American girl in her class. In complete confusion, I
said, oh no, we shouldnt say things about peoples color, thats not being a very good friend.
She brushed off my comment and kept reading the book.
As I continue to think about the reaction the student had of the little girl in the picture, I
now realize that not only has this little girl been denied to learn who she is, but she has been
taught somewhere that little black girls are yucky. I am not sure who, what, when, where, or
why this was taught to this student, all I know is if I was more culturally competent about the
students situation, and the students background, I would have known how to handle the situation
a little better than I did that day. If I was that students teacher, my job would have been to be
aware from where the student was coming from, teach her that little black girls are just the same
as every little girl, and to help her become more aware of whom she is an individual. As an
educator, it is our job to find out this information and be as competent as we possibly can be with
all our students in our classroom. So, when a situation such as this arises, I will know that
student, I will understand where they are coming from, and I will take a different approach to
teaching them to be more aware of themselves and their peers that surround them.
Discussion
What my findings mean to me is, in order to be culturally aware of whom my
students are, I also need to be culturally aware of who I am as an educator and an individual. As
stated above, I know and understand what step I am on to become more culturally competent,
now what I need to do is go and open myself to those of different cultures and embrace the
moment. In light of education, being more culturally competent is everywhere. We, as a state,
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are taking on new measures to ensure a more rounded and culturally based through the new
common core curriculum. The way this is being implemented in the new standards, you will find
many inquiry based or combination of two subjects into one when presenting it to the classroom.
As I have been using the common core standards in other classes, I have seen many standards in
the elementary setting being about learning of others cultures traditions, fables, myths, and
traditions. This is throughout the language arts, social studies and science curriculum in the new
common core standards. What I perceive these findings of mine to be in education at this time
is, it is a good start. The educational system as a whole still has a wide variety of gaps however,
with this type of implementation in our schools and our teaching, we will all become more aware
of ourselves culturally and competently as well as being more aware of others.
In conclusion, as said by Dr. Phil McGraw, You cant be aware of what you dont
acknowledge, and you cant acknowledge what youre not aware of (Quotes about
Understanding). In finding my culture competency in a professional way, I will have to continue
to find myself, be aware of my surrounds, and go out and make myself aware. Knowing is the
first step to understanding, and understanding is a step closer in a deeper development of what
you seek.





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Resources
Poetter, T. S. (2014). Teacher Leadersip (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Van-Griner Publishing.
National Education Association, Why Cultural Competence. (2014). Retrieved April 11,
2014, from http://http://www.nea.org/home/39783.htm
Palmer, P. (1993). The Heart of a Teacher. Curriculum and Teaching, 2, 66-76. Retrieved
from https://niihka.miamioh.edu/access/content/group/f444ad43-2d4f-45f3-9883-
461d80a160a9/Weekly%20Readings/Palmer_-_The_Heart_of_a_Teacher.pdf
Cowhey, M. (2006). Black Ants and Buddhist Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently
in the Primary Grades. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishing.
A-Z Lyrics. Retrieved April 11, 2014, from
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html
Middletown City School District. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2014, from
http://www.middletowncityschools.com/AboutUs1.aspx
Aristotal. Quotes About Understanding (836 quotes). Retrieved April 11, 2014, from
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/understanding
Dr. Phillip McGraw. Quotes About Understanding (836 quotes). Retrieved April 11, 2014,
from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/understanding