The importance of culturally responsive pedagogies

Jim Cummins highlights vital reasons for the practice of culturally responsive pedagogies. Cummins points out that the societies’ ideas and power relations greatly influences our classrooms. Often the social power relationship is reflected in the curriculum and our teaching practices. And often it is subtle and undetected. As teachers, unknowingly we expose our students to such social power relations, deepening the social statuses that may stand.

For example, many of our classroom have students from first nations yet, very little is taught about their languages and cultures in the classrooms. Its only recently the curriculums are calling for teachers to incorporate first nations knowledge’s in different subject areas. Even than teachers are not given appropriate training and recourses to do so. And because teachers lack the knowledge about first nations, they steer away for incorporating it in the classrooms. Or when they do it is done very superficially. This subtle neglect of first nation’s cultures sets and strengthens an idea that first nations’ knowledge and cultures are somehow inferior. Thus leaving the first nation student devalued and disengaged with his/her culture and raised to believe their culture is not important.

Cummims, ideas has made me wonder about how many ELL students are usually from different cultures and/or low-socioeconomic backgrounds and often seen in society as of lower status. Neglecting their languages and cultures in the classroom, we are setting a precedent that their cultures are not important and in a way 2nd class to the dominant Canadian culture. Doing this, we are unknowingly reaffirming the social idea of lower status in our students. These students grow up with believe that they are of lower status and if they continue to practice their culture they will remain in this statues or they will have to neglect their culture and assimilate to break out of the lower social standings.

The Ontario’s human rights code stats that, “Ontario recognizes the dignity and worth of every person and to provide equal rights and opportunities without discrimination. The aim is to create a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of each person, so that each person feels a part of and able to contribute to the community.” In order to achieve this, as teachers, it is important we challenge the social norms and as Cummins suggests, “Empower” our students. This empowerment done through engaging students with their learning, by using students first languages and cultures as a starting point to plan lessons. As ESL teachers we should build on students’ prior knowledge, expose them to relevant topics. We can collaborate with parents to help develop literacy skills in both their first languages and English. The resources and displays in the classroom and school should reflect all students’, their languages and their cultures and values. In doing so we can empower our students. Especially for our new comer ELL we can give them a sense of belonging. By employing culturally responsive pedagogies we not only engage our students with learning we are also setting and strengthening a social norm that everyone is equal and our diversity is a strengthens our community.

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