building bridges and creating a community of learners chapter 6

Building Bridges and Creating

a Community of Learners

Chapter 6

Beyond Differences

• Instructing for success

• Assessing students in diverse contexts

• Classroom management in diverse contexts

• Combating prejudices and discrimination

• Teachable moments

• Modeling behavior

• Teaching social justice

Overview

To create a community of learners in diverse classrooms engagement is particularly important (Cummins, 2000; McLaren, 2007)

The most important strategies for creating a community of learners is establishing positive group dynamics in the classroom (Jones and Jones, 2004; Kronowitz, 2008)

No fool proof way of establishing positive group dynamics

Method#1: Group students on the basis of mixed ability

(To help minimize isolation and labeling of students)

Method #2: Group students based on the peers that they know the least or would like to know better

Creating a community of learners• Creating a community

of learners








Activity #1 (5 minutes):

In a diverse classroom, how can teachers create a sense of community when doing the following:

1. Choosing materials

2. Establishing rapport with students

3. After the lesson has been taught

Instructing for success• Creating a community

of learners








Includes all activities prior to instruction

In creating a community of learners, check activities for the following:

- Language Bias- “us” and “them”

- “these people”

- Check that the language is at an appropriate level used for instruction is culturally sensitive

- Material Bias- Example: If Korean students are in your class, try to

include materials related to the Korean culture

- Check that materials used for instruction is culturally relevant

- Applying inclusive pedagogy- Try to include a variety of pedagogy

Pre-instructional activities• Creating a community of

learners

• Instructing for success• Pre-instructional

activities• Instructional activities• Post-instructional

activities







Still awake? Hang in there, we are one-third done.

At the beginning of a lesson

- Establish rapport through small talk with students

- Acknowledge students are valued participants even through nonverbal communication such as a smile

Differentiated instruction

- Gives students multiple options that reinforces diversity (in learning styles) without compromising the quality of what students learn

Monitoring for comprehension

- Body language instead of questions (questioning may not always be effective in a diverse classroom)

- Deliberate monitoring of participation and leadership roles

Cooperative learning

- Keep groups small (avoids isolation)

- Jigsaw II, STAD, TGT, TAI (p161-162)

Instructional activities• Creating a community of

learners



activities







Reflecting immediately after a lesson while areas of strengths and weaknesses about the lesson are still fresh

Post-instructional activities• Creating a community of

learners



activities







Activity #2 (5 minutes)

Discuss the following:

Why are multiple methods of assessment more of a necessity in ethnically and culturally diverse classrooms?

In a diverse classroom setting, your assessments of choice would be…

a. Criterion-referenced (measuring student performance based on criteria)

b. Norm-referenced (measuring student performance against their peers)

Assessing students• Creating a community of

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No assessment tool will achieve the same result across all ethnic or cultural groups!

Balance the use of different forms of assessment

Criterion-based referencing is preferred over norm-based referencing because it is individually oriented

Use of authentic assessment (debates, experiments, making videos etc.) is advantageous in contexts of diversity because it draws on students’ experiences and focuses on students’ unique strengths that motivate them to perform

Have high but realistic expectations (stay in the zone of proximal development)

Assessing students• Creating a community of

learners








Activity #3 (5 minutes):

Discuss the following questions:

1. What is the goal of classroom management?

2. What do we need to be aware of in order to be successful at managing a classroom of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds?

3. How can the physical classroom be altered to enhance our success at managing a diverse classroom?

Classroom management• Creating a community of

learners








Goal of effective classroom management is to spend less time on distractions

Be aware of culture and language related miscues that serve as conflict triggers

Recognizing miscommunication and conflict sometimes arises through cultural differences rather than personal intentions

Dispelling a teacher’s own unfavorable perception of minority students (if any exists)

Proactive management (being well-prepared) to diffuse any issues before they begin

Manipulating seating arrangements, physical artifacts (such as posters) that are in different languages or reflect heritage are also forms of proactive management

Collaborative management (Students and teachers should share the responsibility in making the classroom a positive learning community)

Classroom management• Creating a community of

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It is a long slide but we are more than two-thirds done!

Banks (1999) provides several guidelines for reducing prejudice among students

1. Include positive and realistic images of ethnic and racial groups in materials in a consistent and natural manner

2. Students of different ethnic backgrounds involved in cooperative learning activities

3. Teach the consequence of prejudice in authentic ways

Combating prejudice• Creating a community of

learners








Don’t ignore them!

Use them to dispel any misconceptions!

Teachable moments• Creating a community of

learners








Students learn through observation

Model the kind of behavior you expect from your students!

Modeling behavior• Creating a community of

learners








If I can stay awake, you can stay awake!

Incorporate social justice

into your classroom rules

Teach students how to respect people, appreciate people and value diversity

Teaching social justice• Creating a community of

learners








DONE!

building bridges and creating a community of learners chapter 6

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