A Culturally Relevant Inspiration

1. CULTURALLY
RELEVANT
INSPIRATION
By: Windescence A. Brogan

2. A CLOSER LOOK AT THREE
DIFFERENT CULTURALLY
RELEVANT SCHOOLS
1. Toledo School for the Arts
grades 6th-12th
http://www.ts4arts.org/
2. Sudbury Valley School
grades K-12th
http://sudval.org/
3. Brooklyn Free School
grades K-12th
http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/

3. 1. TOLEDO SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
• Located in Toledo, Ohio
• Urban setting, located in a downtown converted warehouse
• School population consists of about 65% Caucasian, 20%
African American, 5% Hispanic, and 10% other.
• 35% of the student body are eligible for a free or reduced
lunch

4. SUMMARY OF TOLEDO
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS AND
WHY IT IS UNIQUE…
Toledo School of the Arts is a public charter school
that offers students an opportunity to study core
academic subjects while intergrading the arts into
every subject. Classes in music, dance, theatre, and
visual arts are offered along with core academic
subjects.
www.facebook.com/ts4arts

5. YOU TUBE VIDEO
Toledo School of the Arts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhw0KZ10GQ
(Double click the picture above to start
the attached video)

6. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS SUPPORTED
AT TOLEDO SCHOOL OF THE
ARTS…..
• Hands on activates involving the learning into the arts.
• Students encouraged to act out history with skits allowing for creativity
in the way subjects are taught and gaining a deeper understanding.
• Collaborations with local artist who support the school and encourage
involvement within the student body.
• Students are encouraged to critically think how to act out or express
learning through the arts.
• Communication between students is encouraged.
• Students showcase, sell their art, and preform every month on the first
Friday reaching out to the community and involving the community.
Students built these penguin puppets and
performed on opening weekend of the
new penguin exhibit at the Toledo Zoo.
www.facebook.com/ts4arts

7. How the learning
experiences reflect
culturally relevant
pedagogy…..
Learning experiences expose
the arts that are culturally
relevant to the students who
attend.
Toledo School of the Arts…..
How the school and
promotes creativity in
the classroom…..
Students are encouraged to
intergrade the arts into core
academic subjects allowing for
creativity and deeper
understandings of subjects.
How the school
encourages teachers
to be more creative in
their approach to
teaching…..
Teachers encourage the
students by intergrading the
arts into the lessons.
Students who attend this
school have a desire for the
arts and have cultural
relevance to the arts.
www.facebook.com/ts4arts

8. 2. SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL
• Located in Framingham, Massachusetts
• Suburban setting, located on 10 beautiful acres
• Private school with a $8200 a year tuition fee
• Unable to find school demographic information due to being a
private school, they do not have to report like public schools
are required to do.

9. SUMMARY OF SUDBURY VALLEY
SCHOOL AND WHY IT IS
UNIQUE…
This school is very unique and offers students the freedom to
explore the school how they want. They hold no traditional
classes and students explore things that they find interesting
throughout the day including video games, knitting, cooking,
playing, and just exploring. Students can attend as they want
and they have no set hours, although they are open 8:30-5:30
daily and students must attend at minimum of five hours daily
within these hours.
www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool

10. YOU TUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOAmTaZ4XI
Sudbury Valley School
(Double click the picture above to start
the attached video)

11. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
SUPPORTED AT SUDBURY
VALLEY SCHOOL…..
• Students are encouraged to create and spend their day
doing whatever they want to do and learn.
• Collaborations between students happen as they explore
the grounds of the school, learning, making mistakes and
learning from their mistakes.
• Critical thinking happens when the students in this school
research and complete lessons of their choice.
• Communication is happening in this school as students
communicate with each other as they explore.
• Problem solving is encouraged and students discipline each
other when the need arises, taking votes and deciding best
way to address concerns.
Students working together to complete a
project. www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool

12. How the learning
experiences reflect
culturally relevant
pedagogy…..
The learning experiences at
this school are culturally
relevant since each student
decides when and what they
wish to learn.
Sudbury Valley School…..
How the school and
promotes creativity in
the classroom…..
The creativity happens in this
school as each child explores
and decides how to spend
their day. Students create
the education they want
individually with no instruction
form teachers.
How the school
encourages teachers
to be more creative in
their approach to
teaching…..
This school does not carry the
traditional ways of thinking
and learning instead each
student decides what they
want to do in the learning
process. Teachers are there
merrily to supervise and watch
as students explore.
www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool

13. 3. BROOKLYN FREE SCHOOL
• Located in Brooklyn, New York
• Located in an urban setting
• School enrollment averages 30- 55 students a school year
with a 1:12 student teacher student ratio, this is a private
non-profit school with a $9500 a school year tuition fee.
• School population 46.6% Caucasian, 36.2% African
American, 10.3% Hispanic, and 6.9% other.

14. SUMMARY OF BROOKLYN FREE
SCHOOL AND WHY IT IS
UNIQUE…
Teachers at this school follow the interests of each student
and instruction is often given through play. Students have an
equal part in the choices made throughout the day and they
help decide what they are going to learn and when in the day
they are going to do it.
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool

15. YOU TUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igobUY5yG9I
Brooklyn Free School
(Double click the picture above to start
the attached video)

16. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
SUPPORTED AT BROOKLYN FREE
SCHOOL…..
• Collaborations between students are encouraged and older
students often are working with the younger ones building
collaborations as they explore and learn.
• Creativity is encouraged and students are engaged in the
learning.
• The students have daily meetings using critical thinking
skills to decide and problem solve options throughout the
day they will plan.
• Students communicate their interests to the other
students and teachers to collaborate plans for leaning.
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool

17. How the learning
experiences reflect
culturally relevant
pedagogy…..
Because each students
interest is followed and taken
into consideration when
planning this school
intergrades what is culturally
relevant to each student.
Brooklyn Free School…..
How the school and
promotes creativity in
the classroom…..
Creativity is promoted when
each student has the ability
to create a plan on what he or
she wants to study or learn.
Students create games to
learn things like numbers and
intergrade play to learn.
How the school
encourages teachers
to be more creative in
their approach to
teaching…..
This school encourages the
teachers to think of the
students as equal parts in the
learning process. Students are
encouraged to make choices in
what they learn and what
interests them. Teachers
incorporate and follow the
students interest.
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool

18. CONCLUSION…..
Teachers who understand their student’s cultural relevance to the
lessons have a greater chance of giving successful lessons. When teachers
connect the culture of the students to the lessons, then connections
between home and school happen, giving that student a stronger
understanding of the lesson and making it relevant. All educators should
understand that by integrating the student’s cultural background into the
education, the demands of curricular lessons can still happen. Students’
successes depend on how the instruction is given, and by using relevant,
creative, and knowledge understandings, higher success can and will
happen in the classroom. All three of the schools investigated have their
own individual and unique way of intergrading the students cultural
relevance into the lessons taught or learned, but have one common theme,
cultural relevant inspiration to the student.

19. REFERENCES…..
Retrieved November 2, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool
Retrieved November 2, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool
Retrieved November 1, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/ts4arts
The Brooklyn Free School on BCAT News [Video file]. (2007, June 11). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igobUY5yG9I
Brooklyn Free School | where children are free to be themselves. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from
http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/
Framework for 21st century learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework
Sudbury Valley School • The View from inside. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2014, from http://sudval.org/
Sudbury Valley School [Video file]. (2009, April 2). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOAmTaZ4XI
Toledo School of the Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.ts4arts.org/
Toledo Schools for the Arts: What Makes It Special? [Video file]. (2013, May 13). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhw0KZ10GQ