Prompt 3 Shor, Goldenberg, Delpit

Prompt #3 The culturally competent teacher should be able to use a variety of assessment techniques appropriate to diverse learners and accommodate sociocultural differences that affect learning.

Every student learns differently. Some are visual learners. Others are auditory. Still others are tactile (touch or hands on). Others learn by various combinations. Some learn best by participation (Shor), while others by interaction (Goldenberg). This is true even within the same culture. One of the problems with standardized testing is that the tests fail to take into account these different learning styles.

Different cultures have different rules and codes. These different rules and codes affect both learning and ultimately assessment. Lisa Delpit says in her article that some cultures require more explicit directives than other cultures. I call this “using the direct approach’. This is juxtaposed to other cultures, Delpit says, that couch the directive in the form of a question. In order for cross cultural communication to be effective, it must take into account how the listening culture hears what is being said. They screen it through their cultural glasses or lenses. We all do, because we all have a cultural background and mindset.

Therefore, teachers need to be aware of how assessment test questions are worded and the different ways that various student cultural groups understand them to mean.
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. There are gender differences in hearing and understanding, and these gender differences must be taken into account in both teaching and assessment.

Another cultural difference that Delpit points out is the attitude and understanding of the parents may be different than the attitude and understanding of the school/teacher regarding the different roles of the various stakeholders. For example, the student’s culture may believe that it is the school’s job exclusively to teach and not the parent’s job. This different understanding of roles and responsibilities can affect parent-teacher conferences, particularly when it comes to grading and report card reviews. The culture in power may believe in parent-teacher/school partnership while the student’s culture may believe in a strict separation in educational roles.

Linguistic differences are huge when it comes to teaching and assessment. Effective communication requires understanding. Goldenberg says that we need instructional modification for English language learners (ELL). One modification he says is teachers need to use culturally relevant stories, themes and ideas in both our instruction and assessments. This will help bridge the cultural gap. According to infoworks less than 10 students at my school are ELL’s.

In conclusion, by observation, research, and experience, it does not appear to me that ethnic, culture and linguistic differences are a major factor in this particular classroom. Perhaps many of the students are second or third generation? As I moved about the room helping tutor different students, I have not encountered any communication difficulties, with the possible exception of the generational/age difference. After all, I’m not 12.