In education 350 this week, we came up with a mission statement for our class. The mission statement we all decided on states that in education 350, we will become better educators by immersing ourselves in diverse populations in order to better meet the needs of our students by creating a sense of community inside and outside the classroom. I thought this was a great mission statement not only for this class, but continuing as an educator as well. It is so extremely important for educators to realize the impact of the community and culture created in the classroom. We also created goals for our class this week as well. Some of our goals were to learn how to create a class culture, to become confident in embracing all cultures, to learn how to differentiate lessons, and to be aware of biases and keep them from affecting the classroom.
The classroom mission statement and goals we created relate directly to the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards, specifically standard two, element b, which states that "teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world." As an educator, I must take this standard very seriously, and strive to meet the goals that my class created that coincide with this standard. My future students deserves to have a teacher that works hard to understand them as a person, which includes their cultural background. They deserve a nurturing school culture, which is included in the goal created by my classmates and I to learn how to properly create a class culture, and also relates to standard two element a of the NCTCS, which states that "teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults."
In relation to education 410, we must not only establish a classroom culture, but integrate the culture of our students into our teaching. "Choosing texts that reflect classroom demographics and following the readings with discussions or reflective writing assignments can provide teachers with powerful information about their students’ hopes, concerns, strengths and life circumstances" (link at the bottom). Integration is all about connections, and although this is typically thought of in relationship to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS), this tactic can be used to intertwine educational subjects with cultural understanding and acceptance in the classroom. This relates to standard three element c of the NCTCS, which states that "teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines." This standard goes on to say that "teachers promote global awareness and its relevance to subjects they teach." Integration is a major skill that I must work on in order to prepare for my future classroom. It is vital to make connections for students between subjects in order to help them have a deeper understanding of their learning, but it is also vital that they make connections between their learnings and the cultural diversity found not only in the classroom, but the world they live in. I hope to give my future students a broader outlook on life by integrating cultural understanding into their everyday learning.
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/publications/critical-practices-for-antibias-education/classroom-culture
I agree completely with the importance of integration in the classroom. I know we stress integration a lot and talk about it all the time, but I feel like it's that important. I know it will be challenging at times, but I feel like we are learning overall on how to do this effectively!
ReplyDeleteIntegrating culture into our lessons is so important, I agree. Learning how to successfully do this will be a challenge. I like the word "interconnectedness" because it is basically another word for integration and integration is something that we must all learn to properly achieve to adhere to NCTCS standards.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for that quote and the link. We need to work hard to look for material that addresses all demographical points. We can't just read books as a class that the setting it set in the south in America. Hence the global awareness in the standard you referenced.
You did an absolutely amazing job recapping our 350 class and tying it all together with the NCTCS Standards! I like how specific you were in relating the elements of this week's class with the NCTCS Standards. Your quote, "My future students deserves to have a teacher that works hard to understand them as a person, which includes their cultural background," REALLY made me take a step back and think for a second. If this realization doesn't make you want to try harder to learn more about diverse cultures and prepare for a diverse group of students as a future educator, I really don't know what will. Even if learning about classroom diversity isn't my favorite thing to study because the classes such as Literacy or Elementary Math or 410 seem more important, the realization that my students deserve a teacher that embraces them for who they are (which includes their diverse cultures and backgrounds) makes me appreciate the importance of taking this class!!
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