Up Close: Inside Cultural Proficiency

Vol. 37 No. 5

To create schools where every student is successful, educators must address relationships, especially with students and families who have been historically disenfranchised from the educational system. To develop such relationships, educators must be culturally proficient to help them know and understand students and families from backgrounds different than their own. Two foundational premises of cultural proficiency are that cultural understanding matters and that teacher beliefs matter in improving student performance. #1: Cultural Understanding A primary function of schooling is to transmit culture. In our society, this means teaching students the democratic values of independence, equality, autonomy, initiative, and individuality so they become productive citizens. For students who acquire these cultural values at home, schooling is about learning knowledge and skills, and these values are reinforced

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This article is an excerpt from “Cultural Proficiency,” a series of columns by professors Sarah W. Nelson and Patricia L. Guerra that appeared in JSD. Here, Nelson and Guerra describe why learning leaders should advocate for a culturally proficient school system.

Restorative Practices: A tool kit for educators

According to the International Institute for Restorative Practices, restorative practices are processes that build healthy relationships and a sense of community to prevent and address conflict and wrongdoing. In schools, restorative practices are emerging as tools used to change a disciplinary culture that too often disproportionately affects students of color. Broadly speaking, restorative practices maintain that there be a shared responsibility between teachers and students to create an environment of safety, trust, and respect — and to hold each other accountable for this.

The Schott Foundation in 2014 produced a guide for educators called Restorative Practices: Fostering Healthy Relationships and Promoting Positive Discipline in Schools. The foundation hopes the tool kit can illustrate how restorative practices can be “seamlessly integrated into the classroom, curriculum, and culture of schools, and how they can help transform schools to support the growth and health of all students.”

Find more information on restorative practices in the classroom and download the guide at www.schottfoundation.org/restorative-practices.

References

Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.

Baron, R., Tom, D., & Cooper, H. (1985). Social class, race and teacher expectations. In J.B. Dusek, V.C. Hall, & W.J. Meyer (Eds.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 251-270). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Delpit, L. (1996). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, NY: New Press.

Love, A. & Kruger, A. C. (2005). Teacher beliefs and student achievement in urban schools serving African American students. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(2), 87-99.

Pohan, C.A. (1996). Preservice teachers’ beliefs about diversity: Uncovering factors leading to multicultural responsiveness. Equity & Excellence in Education, 29(3), 62-69.

Rist, R.C. (1970, September). Student social class and teacher expectations: The self-fulfilling prophecy in ghetto education. Harvard Educational Review, 40(3), 411-451.

Valencia, R. (1997). The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice. London, England: Taylor & Francis.

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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

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