Culturally responsive education must be highly valued among educators, policy-makers and families. This slide-share comes from an assignment at Western Governors University as an undergraduate in their Special Education (K-12) and Elementary Education (K-8) program.

1. Judah Rister
Student ID # 422014
BA Special Education (K-12) and Elementary Education (K-8)
Western Governors University
Mentor: Alison Lowry
January 2015
JudahRister@yahoo.com
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2. The following will cover program competencies by
discussing inclusive cultural perspectives; analyzing social
influences; working through cultural differences through
respect and value; and building a culturally responsive way
of life and teaching practices.
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4. Culture is a social description of a group or individual’s
behaviors, ways of knowing, values, and ways of living
(Bucher, 2012; Macionis, 2006). Culture may be observed
through body language, passing down knowledge, raising
children, daily routines, communication techniques,
habits, appearance and traditions. Culture is also not
easily observable and less obvious such as expectations,
personal application of ethics, assumptions, personality,
universal connection, perception, unwritten rules, gender
roles, and many more.
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5. Diversity in social and cultural studies refers to difference, uniqueness, or
unlikeness between and within individuals and groups (Bucher, 2012;
Macionis, 2006). Diversity is used to describe tangible and observable
demographics in populations such as traditions, race, education level,
income and age. Diversity also describes differences in unobservable
cultural traits including assumption of family and gender roles, religious
beliefs, and values. Every organism has differences, but humans in
particular, having complex and remarkable abilities to think and reason,
have a wide array of differences; these differences can be concrete (e.g.
phenotypes and genetic mutation) as well as abstract (e.g. perception,
religion, and interpretation). Human diversity describes who is different
and the list of diversities is as long as the list of things we consider
different among us.
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6. 1. Religion and Ethics  
2. Devotion to Sports 
3. Rural Logging Town 
4. Education and SES  
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8. Religion – Examples of observable characteristics of culture regarding
religion include: proper dress (e.g. removing hats while in a building,
wearing your “Sunday-best” to religious services), gender roles and
behaviors (e.g. masculine traits are for males, feminine traits are for
females), and appropriate ways to act came from seeking biblical counsel
rather than peer-reviewed studies and scientific research. Religion also
influences how societies prioritize what is important for the well-being
of the individual, families, and community as a whole. For example, for
some, getting a secular college education may be discouraged because
their pastors feel the bible has all the wisdom needed to ensure a good
life; while other religions may heavily encourage seeking the most
prestigious careers requiring doctorate degrees and, in theory, will bring
them more influence to “win souls” and advance their faith.
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9. Religion - When driving into the rural town of Castle Rock, Washington
with a population of just over 2,000, one will find large wooden signs
with a list of about 15 churches; for many in my hometown religion was
a valued way of life and many assumed that believing in the Christian
god was very common both locally and nationally. Although the
interpretation of the Christian bible is diverse in itself (e.g. multiple
Christian denominations globally), the pressures to conform to elder
and pastoral interpretation was evident when we discussed political
issues such as LGBTQ rights, gender roles, abortion, education,
corporate practices, consumerism, and our environment; all of whom
tended to lean towards very conservative views. These religious
expectations, values and assumptions (non-observable diversity)
constructed my personal identity and thought processes.
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11. Rural Logging Community-In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), specifically west of
the Cascade mountain ranges, very wet and mild year-round climates provide
a great opportunity for flourishing forests, full of rich green tress. While the
aesthetics of these forests are valued in their stature, many others have found
generational livelihood in their exploitation. Logging trucks traveling north
and southbound on the I-5 corridor was an observably normal way of life for
the economic well-being of residents in the rural PNW. Another observable
aspect of diversity in the rural life is the dynamics of relationships within the
community. For example, in a high school of just under 400 students, it’s not
too difficult to memorize the names of all of your graduating class, and most
of the students within the entire school. But in a school of over 3,000
students, students may not even recognize who is in their graduating class (as
I learned when helping coach wrestlers at Dobson High in Mesa, Arizona).
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12. Rural Logging Community- Oregon and Washington produce more wood
products than any other state in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007).
Those who rely on the income from logging timberland have typically
done well financially, owning nice homes and large garages and enjoy
simple pleasures of strong relationships with family and friends. On the
other hand, with environmental concerns causing a rise in political
ecology movements, questioning the ethics of the logging industry have
stirred great emotions in community members from all view points.
These different perceptions are non-observable characteristics of culture
that can only be conceptualized and distinguished through conversations
and critical investigation.
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13. Personal Experience- My wife, daughter and I moved from a small rural community on the west
coast of Washington to the fifth largest metro area in the U.S., the valley of Central Arizona.
This transition is arguably one of the most extreme cultural changes one can make within the
United States. These changes include: (1) My hometown in Washington is about 98% Non-
Hispanic White while the Phoenix metro in 2010 contained about 46.5% Non-Hispanic
White, 40.8% Hispanic/Latino, 2.8% Asian, 6.5% African American, 2.2% Native American,
and 3.6% interracial (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014); (2) Relationship dynamics changed from
“everybody knows everybody’s business” to the reality you couldn’t know everybody’s
business if someone paid you; while rural residents may feel a sense of being closely knit with
the entire community, urban residents more often come together only in self-interest groups
(Macionis, 2006); (3) The west side of Washington is well known for having abundant
rainfall, getting an average of more than 300 days of rain while Central Arizona is the most
reliable region to catch warm sunshine all year round, typically getting less than 30 days of
rain annually; and (4) My hometown’s population was at a plateau for several years while the
Phoenix metro area has grown exponentially in the last couple decades, becoming a booming
place for new businesses, educational institutions, housing developments and general
construction.
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14. Personal Experience: Business and Social Support – My wife and I both found great
stable jobs after graduating high school that provided a sense of well-being, pride and
generous income; these businesses were relatively young and owned by people we
developed close relationships with. We found ourselves learning the jobs from the
ground up and became highly trusted and respected within the businesses and
community. When we decided to relocate to Arizona we found employment with
corporations, in which the regional managers couldn’t even tell us who the “owners”
were. Because we had no experience with urban settings and the language of
corporate bureaucracy, it was quite difficult to understand why, for example, people
didn’t spend more time developing deep and genuine relationships with customers;
and why management did not appreciate personal expression but only seemed to care
about hitting the weekly/monthly/quarterly projected profit margins.
These misunderstandings of diversity and cultural differences brought us feelings of
insecurity, loneliness, and depression. Over time we found ways to support each
other while we formulated a better understanding of this unique culture.
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15. Personal Experience: By experiencing this “pendulum swing” in cultural
differences I have grown tremendously in awareness, understanding,
appreciation and sensitivity towards diversity, recognizing my tendency
to go on “cultural cruise-control”; especially in business practices,
personal values, and relationship dynamics. My wife and I had to
compartmentalize behaviors, situations, and communications in a way
that allowed us not to be personally offended (a form of
transculturation), although we felt the whole executive staff was out to
get us at times. Spending time with several diverse groups of people, we
have found ourselves less anxious and able to enjoy a wide array of
relationships that we would have never experienced in the little village
of Castle Rock, Washington.
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16. 1. Ethnic Traditions and Beliefs (and its diversity in the
community)
2. Family Values and Social Systems
3. Influence of Socioeconomic Status (SES)
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17. Ethnic and Traditional Beliefs - Religion and traditions have very strong
influence on how people mutually communicate, tolerate or deem
acceptable behavior, and how people treat each other in private and public
matters.
For example, religious beliefs influence how people treat those in positions
of designated roles of authority (police-officers, teachers, pastors, rabbi,
coaches, soldiers, even male to female or husband to wife). Challenging
the claims, ideas and teachings of such authority may be considered
ethically wrong and demeaning, while in other ethnic beliefs,
questioning authority is encouraged to build critical thinking skills.
Although the concept of separation of church and state is a sensitive
topic, the reality is that religion is a large part of diversity consciousness
and the lives of educators.
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18. Family Values and Social Systems – Outside of values derived by religion, families
and communities develop many values which shape how students experience
their academic community.
For example, when families value education, they may be more involved in their
children’s homework, encourage better grades with a reward/discipline
program, and/or get involved themselves through volunteering. As an educator
I would like to help parents understand the implications of achieving academic
excellence as well as find ways to mutually enhance the parent-child education
experience within the school community.
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19. Influence of Socioeconomic Status (SES) – In capitalist societies, social
stratification is inevitable and unfortunately there is a negative correlation
between a low socioeconomic status and several realities such as academic
achievement, physical health, emotional development, highest level of
complete education, incarceration rates, privilege, power, and many others
(American Psychological Association, 2014; Macionis, 2006).
With so many studies done regarding implications of SES, we must do more than
just consider its affects on school communities, but we must couture lesson
plans and class experiences as well as build strong social support systems both
within the school district (i.e. mental health exams and food programs) and
community members (e.g. respected business owners, activist groups, and
family-strengthening groups), which will provide students the opportunity to
reach high academic achievement and personal well-being, regardless of their
guardians’ annual income.
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20. 1) Understanding cultural diversity is essential to offer appropriate education
regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, or SES.
For example, education systems are set up in a way which depends on the
effectiveness of facilitators, curriculum, and understanding multicultural
diversity; of which all three are equally important in closing the achievement
gap (Johnson, Diann, Gene, Donna, and Victor, 2012). If teachers and
administrators do not couture and develop their students’ educational
experience with cultural diversity as a motivation, one culture will benefit
while many others suffer from the ineffectiveness of a culturally unresponsive,
narrow and biased education (National Center for Culturally Responsive
Educational Systems, 2006).
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21. 2) Diversity continues to grow as transportation and communication technologies increase.
The world and all it contains is always changing and evolving, regardless of opinion or preference. As
Marshall McLuhan asserts, with the increase of technology and efficiency our world has become a
“global village,” which implies that everyone and everything connects; local matters are globally
significant (Bucher, 2012). This concept is given clarity when we consider natural resources (i.e.
water, air, plants, animals, crude oil, etc.) and how some are finite and non-renewable (e.g. fossil and
nuclear fuels, and mountains) while others are regenerated through nature (e.g. trees converting
carbon dioxide into oxygen). While the exploitation of crude oil and utilization of coal-powered
energy plants provide great services (e.g. hot showers and cold beverages), useful products such as
plastics, as well as staggering short-term profits, they are equally disabling the homeostasis of this
unique organism we call earth, through pollution, species disturbance and habitat destruction.
Although there are countless differences between and within nations and communities, it is important
for teachers and humans in general, to continue cultural diversity education and training to bridge
the gap which separates our common unity with each other and nature, by preventing simple
misunderstandings, poor communication and lack of cultural awareness. With continual education
and training, culturally responsive school districts will help eliminate unnecessary limitations and
barriers in the achievement gap.
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22. 3) Standardized testing has brought transparency, clarity and unity for teachers to produce high academic
achievers, requiring teachers to be highly qualified in content knowledge and culturally inclusive
teaching methods.
The academic achievement gap starts at very early stages of child care and development from social
stratification (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2013), and can be found between people of
diverse socioeconomic status, race and cultural upbringing; but these correlations can often
become a scapegoat for educators. Teach For America, an organization established in 1990 to
study, recruit, train and equip teachers in becoming highly effective and has found evidence that
opposes the James Coleman report of 1966, which identifies that schools are only about 10
percent responsible for academic achievement. Students are not destined according to whom and
where they were born but rather high academic achievement can be found in the worst of
conditions when teachers: (1) set high expectations, (2) build intimate relationships with parents
and community members, (3) plan with intention, (4) monitor student progress with intensity,
(5) continually reflect and change as needed, and (6) stay gritty through all obstacles (Farr,
2010). Diversity should be embraced, not ignored; diversity is an asset, not a burden.
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23. Culture and Diversity have greater influence on our lives than we may even be
aware of, so it is important to explore the world with an open mind and an
awareness of the countless ways of living, perceiving and believing that
multicultural diversity provides. Not only become aware, but embrace,
respect and value these differences; they are the key to creating an effective
and culturally responsive education system for success of every student.
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24. References
American Psychological Association (2014). Education and Socioeconomic Status. Retrieved from:
http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/factsheet-education.aspx
Bucher, R. (2012) Diversity Consciousness: Opening our Minds to People, Cultures and
Opportunities (3rd ed). Pearson Learning Solutions: VitalBook file.
Farr, S. (2010) Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the
Achievement Gap (1st ed.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Grant, C., & Ladson-Billings, G. (Eds.). (1997). Dictionary of Multicultural Education.
Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Harvard Education Publishing Group (2013). Richard Rothstein on the many causes of the
achievement gap. Retrieved from: http://hepg.org/hel-home/richard-rothstein-on-the-
many-causes-of-the-achiev.
Johnson, J., Diann L., Gene E., Donna M., and Victor L. (2012). Foundations of American
Education: Perspectives on Education in a Changing World. (15th ed.) Pearson Learning
Solutions: VitalBook.
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25. Macionis, J. (2006). Society: the basics (8th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
National Education Association (n.d.). Diversity Toolkit: Cultural Competence for Educators.
Retrieved from: http://www.nea.org/tools/30402.htm
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (2006). Addressing Diversity in
Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Retrieved from: http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf
U.S. Census Bureau (2007). Lumber Production and Mill Stocks: 2006 (USDC MA321T(06)-1)
Retrieved from: http://www.census.gov/industry/1/ma321t06.pdf.
U.S. Census Bureau (2014). State and County Quickfacts: Phoenix, Arizona. Retrieved from:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04/0455000.html
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