RM Winter 2017

Practice a Culturally Responsive Teaching Pedagogy. This theoretical practice embraces the idea that social justice and equity should exist among all students in the classroom and should be practiced by teachers. This means“providing a way for students to maintain their cultural integrity while still being able to succeed academically”(Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 476). One way to do this is to invite a student’s funds of knowledge into the classroom content through their dialect usage. It has already been stated that students and teachers bring their own, often differing, cultural beliefs and values to the classroom. Oftentimes, teachers simply overlook the differences between themselves and their students. However, instead of being ‘color-blind’to the differing cultural beliefs and values of students, culturally responsive teachers celebrate and accommodate the cultural values and beliefs of all students. Balancing a classroom that has the requirement of standard English with non-standard dialect students is often a challenge many educators face. Brady (2015) recommends the use of transformative practices that utilize a collaborative relationship among the teacher and students. Through this collaboration, both teacher and students are able to work together to achieve the common goal of social justice and acceptance of all students in the classroom. Collaborative practices may include: student-led instruction, project-based activities within groups, and a focus on the student’s diverse communities or funds of knowledge that they bring to the classroom (Brady, 2015). These transformative practices embody the culturally relevant pedagogy and may empower the dialectal diversity students bring to the classroom. Improve the Student/Teacher Relationship. All students are entitled to a quality education regardless of background, ethnicity, beliefs or socioeconomic status (Anyon, 2014). With this in mind, it is usually minority students who are left behind in their education (Anyon, 2014). The reasons these students fall behind are endless, but if they do not feel an authentic connection to the classroom through a solid student/teacher relationship, then there is no motivation to continue learning. A strong student/teacher relationship, increases the motivation of students, especially minority students (Delpit, 2006). This promotes feelings of acceptance and emotional closeness; which ultimately influences the motivation of student’s academic achievement level. One way to improve the student/teacher relationship is to allow students the opportunity to express themselves in their own preferred method and medium in order to show true ownership of their language development (Ushioda, 2011). This includes allowing NSD students to use the language or dialect they feel most comfortable with in the classroom freely without judgment. A close student/teacher relationship allows all students to feel more accepted in the classroom community and gives themmore opportunities to succeed. Improving Literacy Practices with Minority Students Students need to see themselves through their reading. Connecting students to what they read in the classroom would benefit those students who have an aversion to reading. Culture influences a reader’s identity (Alvermann, 2001), so teachers should draw upon the identities of their students while identifying books

have to be for school or even academic in nature, it can also be used to gain life-related information. By forcing a student who already has an aversion to school or school literacies to read only academic texts, teachers are essentially creating a struggling reader (Alvermann, 2001) instead of helping one. What to do: Practices to Accommodate All Dialects Discard the Deficit View. It was once thought that standardization, particularly language standardization, was the ‘fix’for diverse students and an attempt to bring all students to the same learning level. However, now the norm is diversity (Genishi & Dyson, 2009), which implies a need to embrace all students’cultural and linguistic practices. Teachers should not assume that there is something wrong with a student when their dialect is not what is considered SE (Fillmore & Snow, 2000). Non-standard dialects should not be viewed as a deficit of a student; rather, they should be celebrated and considered part of a student’s personality. It is the job of teachers to understand the ways their students communicate and accommodate their dialects in the classroom without correcting, or worse, shaming them. Ladson-Billings (2016) reminds us that all students have different upbringings, so teachers should alter their teaching to best accommodate these students. Allow Students to Construct Identity Through Their Language Use. It is clear that language and power are closely related. In fact,“non-standard language practices [could be] associated with ‘bad’morals and a myth arises [that] bad language signifies bad people”(Brady, 2015, pp. 150-151). However, for teachers to put a ban on non-standard dialect use in the classroomwould be infringing upon a student’s freedom and prohibiting them from establishing a group and cultural identity (Brady, 2015). It is imperative to allow opportunities for NSD students to explore their identities through their use of language and dialect. Introduce Code-Switching to NSD Students. Oftentimes, the dialects students bring from home are extremely different than the SE used at school (Fillmore & Snow, 2000). It is often misconceived that only SE could be used in the classroom; however, the language practices students bring from home can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom. Code-switching refers to switching from one language (or dialect) to another - depending on the situation. This could be an extremely valuable tool for NSD students so they can still keep their dialectal/cultural identity. Teachers should encourage NSD students to use their own dialect during informal, social conversations in the classroom, but provide themwith standard codes for the writing and speaking that is expected in academia and in the workplace. Additionally, allowing NSD use in the classroomwill help students feel more comfortable through oral expression, further encouraging participation and engagement. Communicating to students that even though the language that is expected in formal environments may not match their familiar/ cultural dialect, they are not ‘wrong’for using their dialects in social/ informal settings such as group work or discussions is critical to developing inclusive classrooms. This practice lets NSD students know that their dialects are valid and can be valued in the classroom.

Reading Matters Justice Matters

| 14 | Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 | scira.org

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