TRIPLE ENTRY JOURNAL
AS I READ AS YOU READ OR AFTER YOUR READ
In order to ensure that all students feel safe,
welcomed and accepted, and inspired to succeed
in a culture of high expectations for learning,
schools and classrooms must be responsive to
culture.
. There are three central tenets underpinning this
pedagogy: (1) holding high expectations for all
students, (2) assisting students in the development
of cultural competence and (3) guiding students to
develop a critical cultural consciousness. In this
student-centred framework, the uniqueness of
each student is not just acknowledged, but
nurtured.
Culturally responsive pedagogy is not about
“cultural celebrations,” nor is it aligned with
traditional ideas around multiculturalism. It
involves careful acknowledgement, respect and an
understanding of difference and its complexities.
AFTER YOU READ
It is imperative to nurture the uniqueness of each
student. Academic success is directly correlated to
a student feeling safe and accepted as well as
being engaged.
I have always promoted high learning expectations
in my classroom as I fully believe in using every
ounce of your brain power/talents.
This was an eye-opening statement for me as I
realized that often when we discuss “culture” it is
all about a celebration of sorts around food,
clothing, music etc.
That is only one small facet of the “cultural”
component in a classroom. One must also consider
learning styles, cooperative vs individual work,
behavioral expectations, gender roles.
I must create an environment that is
FAIR
INCLUSIVE
RESPECTFUL
Creating a new space that is for everyone not
trying to bring everyone into a space that already
exists, and that space will look different because
it’s based on the individuals in the space.
So the “culture” in my grade 9 class will not be
identical to the grade 10 class and nor should it be.
With ELLs it is imperative to establish a baseline as
their progress will be different from regular
students. It’s also important to acknowledge that
there is progress being made even during the
“silent period.”
It takes extra time to establish the ELL student’s
baseline, but one cannot effectively assess
progress without it.
When possible again, I need to continue to travel
the world so that I can have a firsthand experience
of more cultures. Teaching abroad would help as
well.
I need to investigate my community and find
people who were raised abroad and have them
come and share their knowledge and experiences
with my students.
Involving my student’s parents by inviting them to
class to present would also help educate everyone.
Across the province, it is strongly believed, and
well supported by research, that there is a strong
correlation between school leadership and student
achievement. According to Leithwood et al. (2004),
leadership is second only to teaching with regard
to impact on student outcomes.
Characteristic #1- Socio-cultural consciousness
Self-reflection is foundational to the examination
and identification of one’s own biases
Characteristic #2- High expectations
Culturally responsive educators hold positive and
affirming views of their students and their ability
to learn and achieve academic success.
Characteristic #3 -Desire to make a difference
Culturally responsive educators are committed to
being agents of social change, ultimately working
to remove barriers and creating conditions for
learning that are beneficial for all students
(Ministry of Education, 2009).
Characteristic #4 -Constructivist approach
Constructivist approaches promote inquiry-based
learning – they support students asking questions
and creating new knowledge based on their
natural curiosity about their own experiences
Characteristic #5 -Deep knowledge of their
I believe that school administrators do not fully
understand that they are important stakeholders
in the overall success of every student most
especially ELLs.
” Teachers will be unable to fully do the work of
culturally responsive pedagogy if they do not first
investigate their own attitudes and beliefs about
other cultures (Rychly & Graves, 2012, p. 46).”
Teachers should maintain high expectations of all
students and not let their various needs or
backgrounds prevent factor into their ability in the
classroom (Capacity Building Series, 2013, p. 4)
Making sure to integrate a student’s background
knowledge into their everyday learning tells them
that they are equal to their peers and that their
story and who they are matters
As an older teacher I have had to do a lot of work
in the area of inquiry-based learning as it is not the
type of learning that was taught when I studied in
university.
This is an important point that was also mentioned
It is imperative that I as an older teacher as well as
one who is working on their ELL certification that I
work to educate my administration of their role in
welcoming/supporting ELL students. Because we
are a rural community many administrators have
had little to no experience with ELLs so quite
honestly, they just don’t know how to most
effectively help them.
It is essential that as a teacher I do some self
reflection to identify the biases I may have in my
teaching practice. Any preconceived ideas of other
cultures may affect how well I teach and connect
with students. This is especially important for me
to do as I am privileged and white.
As a teacher, I need to provide supports for
students who have experienced trauma or come
from an ELL background. Ensuring that the learning
environment has extra supports both academic
and emotional will help them to succeed to their
fullest potential as they are just as capable as
other students, they just need a bit of extra
assistance.
Be mindful of those who believe in assimilation
over cultural relevance and appreciation. Be
prepared to counteract such divisive attitudes with
knowledge and continue to promote/protect
multiculturalism at all cost.
With careful planning and an open mind to a new
delivery model one can create lessons that meet
the curriculum but also honour the students’
personal interests and strengths.
The lack of funding in most school districts makes
 students
Deep knowledge, not just of content, but of one’s
students as individual learners, enables educators
to integrate lived experiences into the daily
Characteristic #6 - Culturally Responsive Teaching
Practices
As Villegas and Lucas observe about culturally
responsive educators, “they use what they know
about their students to give them access to their
learning” (2002, p. 27)
in the previous reading
Instead of considering what an ELL doesn’t know
this type of practice focuses on finding out what an
ELL can do/knows and building their new learning
from that starting point rather than from a start
point of zero. Incorporating parents, the student
and other teachers in this process also benefits the
student as well.
this difficult as classes are often overpopulated
and ELL specialist and LRTs have onerous
caseloads. One can simply encourage this process
and hope that classroom teachers can do this even
a little bit because anything is worth more than
nothing.
Inquiry based learning goes a long way in helping
establish this type of learning structure of
students, but one must always be aware that in
certain cultures the expectation of parents and
students will be for a more traditional approach.

REFERENCES:

Capacity Building Series. (2013). Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Ontario: Student Achievement Divisions.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_ResponsivePedagogy.pdf

Rychly, L. Graves, E. (2012). Multicultural Perspectives. Teacher Characteristics for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, 14(1), 44-49.
https://onq.queensu.ca/content/enforced/536583-CONT939001S21/Readings/Teacher%20Characteristics%20for%Culturally%20Responsive%20Pedagogy.
%20Multicultural% 20Perspectives.pdf