The Teaching Culture course will help teachers of adults get more out of their students by recognising the additional potential that those with varied cultural backgrounds bring to the room. One of the basic aims of the course will be about how to increase student motivation through culturally responsive teaching. According to Wlodkowski (pdf) such a framework is built on four pillars:
Establishing inclusion: Creating a learning atmosphere in which learners and instructors feel respected by and connected to one another
Developing attitude: Creating a favorable disposition toward the learning experience through personal relevance and choice
Enhancing meaning: Creating challenging, thoughtful learning experiences that include learners’ perspectives and values
Engendering competence: Creating an understanding that learners are effective in learning something they value
Most of the work that has been done on culturally responsive teaching appears to come from the US and to be directed at K12 teachers so the model will need a little tweaking to be useful in the context of European Adult Education. Here is one example where a school makes an effort to validate their students’ way of speaking at home, presenting standard American English in effect as a second language. Could this translate to an adult setting or would adults not need that sort of validation?
How often do teachers use culturally responsive approaches? Rhodes’s research (pdf) into TESOL teachers indicated the following from most used to least used.
Provide rubrics and progress reports to students
Elicit students’ experiences in pre-reading and pre-listening activities
Use mixed-language and mixed-cultural pairings in group work
Make an effort to get to know students’ families and background
Ask students to compare their culture with American culture
Examine class materials for culturally appropriate images and themes
Encourage students to use cross-cultural comparisons when analyzing material
Learn words in students’ native languages
Use peer tutors or student-led discussions
Include lessons about the acculturation process
Spend time outside of class learning about the cultures and languages of students
Supplement the curriculum with lessons about international current events
Encourage students to speak their native language with their children
Use student surveys to learn about students’ classroom preferences
Students work independently, selecting their own learning activities
Ask for student input when planning lessons and activities
Include lessons about anti-immigrant discrimination or bias
Of course this list does not include approaches which the teachers did not want to use or had not yet thought of, so there is room for lengthening the number of strategies. Also it is limited to language teaching whereas the Teaching Culture course is open to anyone working in adult education regardless of subject taught. But at least this list does refer to adults in training and therefore provides a good starting point from which to discuss effective strategies in a European context. I have a feeling for example that some students may initially react badly to being asked for input on planning lessons unless they have been thoroughly primed in self-directed learning beforehand. If you can think of any additional strategies then please add them as a comment.
References
The Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching is presented as a guide to foster participation, learning, and transfer throughout a professional development program for all
participants. Source: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 98, Summer 2003, Wiley. Raymond J. Wlodkowski http://raymondwlodkowski.com/Materials/Fostering%20Motivation%20in%20Professional%20Development%20Programs.pdf
Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices of Adult Education English for Speakers of Other Languages and English for Academic Purposes Teachers, Christy Michele Rhodes University of South Florida, http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5765&context=etd
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