Week 31 – Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

What?

Using Rolfe, et al (2001) model of reflection, I would have to say that as a young Scottish girl growing up in an area where there was a definitive Catholic and Protestants divide. However, during the 80’s diversity became the norm, from Romany Gypsy, Indian families, families from Pakistan, Mormon, Jehovah’s witnesses along side Catholic and Protestants. I was fortunate that the primary and secondary schools that I attended were inclusive and celebrated the diversity of the students and local community, while still thinking of ourselves as truly Scottish. When I started teaching in England this became a fundamental part of my practice: the students saw me as other/different. So I endeavored to accept all differences in my classroom, celebrate them and use them to my advantage.

When I moved to New Zealand and began learning about culturally responsive pedagogy, it really made sense. The concept of “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”, Gay (2001, p.106).

So what?

Using Bucher’s (2008) concept of cultural intelligence and the nine mega skills that contribute to cultural intelligence, what do I do well and what could I improve on?

Mega skill	Regularly use effectively	Needs developing
Understanding My Cultural Identity	√
Checking Cultural Lenses		√
Global Consciousness	√
Shifting Perspectives	√
Intercultural Communication	√
Managing Cross-Cultural Conflict		√
Multicultural Teams	√
Dealing with Bias	√
Understanding the Dynamics of Power	√

For me this means stepping back and asking how student’s cultural backgrounds can add to the topic and therefore learning. This may mean actively asking the students and ensuring that assumptions are not made, to allow students to drive the design of topic/learning medium. For managing cross-cultural conflict I need to remember that many people do not see the other cultures around them and in need to create a learning culture in my class room of genuine acceptance, to minimize any opportunities for conflict. This would mean applying Milne’s (2017) ‘Action continuum – eliminating the white spaces’:

At the moment I feel I sit between the purple and green depending on the class and the topic. I need to actively change my practice to sit consistently in the “Authentically as Māori” by further developing my application of the Kaupapa Māori philosophy.

What next?

For me I need to actively engage more, in conversations with my students and their whanu about what works and what is not working. Only when I have this information can I improve my practice and do better. Additionally I could have observations conducted to have this as the focus for feedback.

References:

Bucher, R. (2008). Building cultural intelligence (CQ): Nine Megaskills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Freshwater, D., & Rolfe, G. (2001). Critical reflexivity: a politically and ethically engaged research method for nursing. NT Research, 6(1), 526-537.

Gay,G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.

Milne, A. (2017).Colouring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.