How culturally responsive is my practice?

Do I demonstrate a culturally responsive pedagogy?  Have to admit I wasn't completely sure what this truly meant.  After watching a Ed Talk on Cultural Responsive Pedagogy - Russell Bishop I believe it refers to having a "relationship centered education" focus where the relationship is based on both caring for the individual and caring that they are learning. I love the fact that it is all about relationships, it shows how true the quote below really is.

A common theme among the research around cultural responsive pedagogy by Gay (2002); Bucher (2008), Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh & Teddy (2009) is that relationships are the key.  Teachers need to commit to knowing their students: "the teacher who acknowledges, respects and values students' identities and cultures is best prepared to build on these diverse perspectives" (TKI Senior Secondary).

Looking at the Six elements of Te Kotahitanga Effective Teacher Profile, I want to see how culturally responsive to Maori students my learning activities actually are:

1.       Manaakitanga – teachers care for their students as culturally located human beings above all else.

2.       Mana motuhake – teachers care for the performance of their students.

3.       Nga whakapiringatanga – teachers are able to create a secure, well-managed learning environment.

4.       Wananga – teachers are able to engage in effective teaching interactions with Māori students as Māori.

5.       Ako – teachers can use strategies that promote effective teaching interactions and relationships with their learners.

6.       Kotahitanga – teachers promote, monitor and reflect on outcomes that in turn lead to improvements in educational achievement for Māori students

Reflecting on these questions and the fact that I have a total of 5 Maori students across all year levels in my department, it becomes apparent that asking yourself these questions in terms of all learners will be beneficial to their learning. "Meeting the needs of individual students, regardless of whether they happen to belong to a particular ethnic or cultural group is the cornerstone of current thinking in education" (ERO: Priority learners in NZ schools)

I believe I strongly demonstrate aspects 2 through 6 of the Effective Teacher profile.  Where I need development is on the first point.  Yes I care for my students, I am deeply committed to their well being and academic performance in my classroom or homeroom.  But do I really see them in their cultural context?  Looking at the questions posed by  Te Toi Tupu's resource, "Pasifika: Participation Engagement, Achievement tool,"  am I using meaningful instructions that link to the students' prior experiences and backgrounds.  Unfortunately the answers are, not really.

So what can I do about this?  We have a growing number of international students coming to our school.  I need to invest time into getting to know all my students cultural backgrounds.  This knowledge will then need to be integrated into my teaching material.  Yes it will take time, but if I do truly care about each student it is an investment worth making.

If relationships are the key in the classroom, what about the school organisation as a whole? Do our vision, mission and core values reflect this?  Taking a look at our guiding principles from the strategic plan it would seem so:

Global connectedness, inclusive and collaborative community, and recognise the value of the Treaty of Waitangi are all mentioned.  Does this mean we are a culturally responsive school?  I believe in terms of the Mauiri Mode of self evaluation  we are Te Taunga o te Mauri Moe - State of Being of Mauri Oho.  We are being proactive: we have begun to participate, engage and interact; but we have some way to becoming E kokiri ana, where cultural responsiveness is at the forefront of all that we do as a school.  

We have a dedicated Director of International students; a dean of international students; a community prefect whose focus is on celebrating and showcasing the variety of cultures of our students; we start the school year with a Powhiri and a Hui for Maori families; have a dedicated Kapa Haka group - but Te Reo is only taught in years 7 and 8.

As a school we need to ensure that all our students "buy into the school" as well as the teacher.