Cultural Pedagogy
After reading a few articles on cultural pedagogy, I have a few thoughts to share. I read the Ontario Ministry's information on Cultural Pedagogy, Learning Disabilities and Diversity: A Culturally Responsive Approach, and watched a video on mindfulness and how it supports students.
I am a SERT and teach Special Education so naturally that articles on learning disabilities (LDs) interested me. I enjoyed the article for a number of reasons, the first being that when I was reading it, I felt like they were talking about a group of people themselves. It's interesting to be talking about background and different influences which shape students' knowledge of the world. I recognize and have encountered different perceptions on what an LD is, resistance to being identified, and hearing both parents and students' say- I don't want to be labeled as different. What I liked about this article though, is it reminds me of an inclusive community. Where students with LDs relate to one-another, learn from their shared experiences, and really are some of the most inclusive students' I have had the pleasure of working with.
The video I watched was very neat. In that, it draws upon the medicine wheel of our 1st Nations people, which in itself is cultural pedagogy. I wanted to share it for a number of reasons, the video highlights ways to help students with anxiety, self-advocacy and emotional awareness. The key take away is one which I'm sure many of us have said before "what is necessary for some, is good for all." While this concept of mindfulness and emotional resiliency is essential for some learners (particularly those with LDs) it is good for all students and truly helps teach them life skills. My favourite quote from the video was "They are more compassionate and empathetic with each other, really practicing putting themselves in each others shoes, having more patience and respect for one another." There are so many different ways that different cultures practice mindfulness, it'd be great to have different backgrounds come and speak to these practices.
The thing that was highlighted in all of these articles was "go beyond the curriculum." Which I fully embrace and agree with, our curriculum is there to ensue students are meeting certain requirements and gaining exposure to different strands, but it should not be the "be all and end all." the more we go beyond, take the time to utilize teaching opportunities, bring in guest speakers and connect with our communities, the more engagement and truly experiential learning will occur.
Some characteristics to continue as taken from the Ontario Ministry of Education are:
I am a SERT and teach Special Education so naturally that articles on learning disabilities (LDs) interested me. I enjoyed the article for a number of reasons, the first being that when I was reading it, I felt like they were talking about a group of people themselves. It's interesting to be talking about background and different influences which shape students' knowledge of the world. I recognize and have encountered different perceptions on what an LD is, resistance to being identified, and hearing both parents and students' say- I don't want to be labeled as different. What I liked about this article though, is it reminds me of an inclusive community. Where students with LDs relate to one-another, learn from their shared experiences, and really are some of the most inclusive students' I have had the pleasure of working with.
The video I watched was very neat. In that, it draws upon the medicine wheel of our 1st Nations people, which in itself is cultural pedagogy. I wanted to share it for a number of reasons, the video highlights ways to help students with anxiety, self-advocacy and emotional awareness. The key take away is one which I'm sure many of us have said before "what is necessary for some, is good for all." While this concept of mindfulness and emotional resiliency is essential for some learners (particularly those with LDs) it is good for all students and truly helps teach them life skills. My favourite quote from the video was "They are more compassionate and empathetic with each other, really practicing putting themselves in each others shoes, having more patience and respect for one another." There are so many different ways that different cultures practice mindfulness, it'd be great to have different backgrounds come and speak to these practices.
The thing that was highlighted in all of these articles was "go beyond the curriculum." Which I fully embrace and agree with, our curriculum is there to ensue students are meeting certain requirements and gaining exposure to different strands, but it should not be the "be all and end all." the more we go beyond, take the time to utilize teaching opportunities, bring in guest speakers and connect with our communities, the more engagement and truly experiential learning will occur.
Some characteristics to continue as taken from the Ontario Ministry of Education are:
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ReplyDeleteHello Kristen
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. Especially the part when you talked about compassion and empathy. In my opinion, it is very important to understand how someone else feels and try to understand and be able to help them. Those are very important qualities for me.
Nelli