Building Cultural Competence Activities for Educators

1. Building Cultural Awareness
Myrna L Skeen
Professor Torres
Secondary Teaching Methods
6 March 2017
Activities for Building Cultural Competence
in Your Classroom

2. Paul C. Gorski ND
This presentation includes five activities for building
Cultural Competence, taken from edchange.org. The author
Of the activities is Paul C. Gorski.

3. Getting Started
Respect Activity
Ice Breaker
Paul C. Gorski ND
Ask everyone to find someone in the room who they do not know.
Instruct them to introduce themselves to that person, and spend five to ten minutes talking about respect.
What does it mean for you to show respect, and what does it mean for you to be shown respect?
After the allotted time, ask the participants to return to their seats, and open the discussion. What ideas did people discuss?
Common responses include the "Golden Rule," looking somebody in the eyes, being honest, and appreciating somebody's ideas
even when you do not agree with them. Each of these responses offers interesting points of reflection.
They each are informed culturally and hegemonically. So once people have returned to the big group for processing the activity,
be sure to inquire where people's notions of "respect" come from and who those notions serve and protect.
Does everybody really want to be treated the way you want to be treated?
Is it respectful in every culture to make eye contact with whomever is speaking?
What if somebody's ideas are oppressive--should we still respect them?

4. Paul C. Gorski ND
And to whose benefit? It is important to mention that respect is a
crucial ingredient in any discussion, but especially in a discussion
of often-controversial issues such as racism, sexism, and economic injustice.
The point is to learn from our differences--to understand each other's understanding.
The point is not to agree. But the point, as well, is
to reflect critically on our assumptions and socializations around the concept of respect.
This activity touches many bases.
First, it starts the crucial path toward building a community of respect.
This is the first step in maintaining a constructive exchange regarding issues
related to equity and social justice.
At the most basic level, participants meet someone
they did not know and exchange ideas with that person.
Second, the community is built through an understanding of
how the group perceives respect and how we negotiate its meaning.
Third, the similarities and differences in participants' ideas about
respect begin to show the first signs of similarities and differences
within the group on a larger level, often in ways that reflect power and privilege.

5. Paul C. Gorski ND
Knowing the Community
Sharing Activity
Objectives:
(1) Participants will learn the names of each person in the class,
group, or community, as well as something about each person's
background.
(2) Participants will have a greater understanding and appreciation
for the diversity within the group, while realizing that they have
things in common with some of the people from whom they might
have felt most distant.

6. Paul C. Gorski ND
Activity Description:
Participants should sit in a circle for this exercise if possible.
The facilitator should hand out a list of items
for each participant to share with the group.
Items could include name/nicknames,
ethnic background,
where they are from and
where their parents were born,
which generation they represent
in the U.S. for their family,
and one custom or tradition their family practices.
Give participants time to record some of their initial thoughts on these items.

7. Paul C. Gorski ND
Before you begin the exercise, instruct the participants to identify one or two people
in the group who they do not know and to think about what answers they expect from those people.
This part is not to be shared among group members,
but can help people realize how they formulate ideas about people based on appearance.
Now you are ready to begin.
It is important to tell the group that each person will be limited
to about two minutes in order for everyone's voice to be heard.
Once everyone has had an opportunity to share their information,
ask the group to discuss what they have learned from the exercise.

8. Paul C. Gorski ND
Facilitator Notes:
(1) I would suggest that the facilitator begin this exercise in order to model
the kind of information that should be shared.
(2) This activity can be emotional for certain people.
The participants who find this emotional are often those who don't know a lot about their heritage,
including those who been adopted.
If someone seems to be getting emotional remind them that they only have
to reveal what they feel comfortable revealing.
If this doesn't come up organically in the conversation,
raise it as an example of "privilege"--that the ability to trace one's ancestry is an example of privilege and
the inability to do so often is a reflection of repression, oppression, or more systemically, imperialism.

9. Paul C. Gorski ND
(3) Certain themes usually emerge:
Even members of the same identity "groups" have very different backgrounds.
Often members of different "groups" have more similar backgrounds than they had assumed.
Diversity transcends "black and white."
Many people find out information which allows them to connect somehow with someone else in the group.
(Last year, a member of a group I facilitated revealed that her mother's maiden name was "Gorski" which
is my last name.
We're still exploring the possibility that we're related.)
(4) Ask participants why this is an important activity.

10. Paul C. Gorski ND
Who Am I Poems
Preparing and Assigning:
This activity begins an active introspective process while continuing to provide opportunities
for individuals to make connections with each other.
Participants write short poems, starting each line with "I am," encouraging them
to describe in their own words who they are and what's salient to their identities.

11. Paul C. Gorski ND
Objectives:
In any attempt to increase awareness and encourage self-development,
it is crucial to engage participants in activities
that call for introspection and self-reflection. It is also important to provide opportunities
for participants to make connections across, and even within, identity borders.
The "Who I Am" activity can provide a non-threatening starting point for
encouraging self-reflective thought and introspection.
It is a safe way for participants to think about and share the influences that have shaped their identities.
Also, it continues the connection-making process as participants find
unexpected similarities and differences between themselves and others in the group.
This activity also can be an excellent closing activity,
allowing folks to re-connect at a self-defined and
human level at the end of an experience in which they are discussing difficult issues.

12. Paul C. Gorski ND
Instructions:
Ask participants to take ten to fifteen minutes to write a poem called "Who I Am."
Instruct them that the only rule is that each line should begin with the words "I am...“
Leave it open to their interpretation as much as possible,
but suggest that they can, if they wish, include
statements about where they're from regionally, ethnically, religiously, and so on;
memories from different points in their lives; interests and hobbies; mottos or credos;
favorite phrases; family traditions and customs; and whatever else defines who they are.
Be sure to let them know that they will be sharing their poems.

13. Paul C. Gorski ND
Facilitator Notes:
In order to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to share her or his story, you might
consider breaking the group into diverse small groups of 8-10 if necessary.
Give participants the option either to read their poems or to share parts of their poems from memory.

14. Paul C. Gorski ND
Points to remember:
1. Because some individuals will include very personal information,
some may be hesitant to read their poems, even in small groups.
It is sometimes effective in such situations for facilitators to share their poems first.
Consider sharing your poem before asking students to write their own pieces.
If you make yourself vulnerable, others will be more comfortable doing the same.
2. Be sure to allow time for everyone to be able to speak,
whether reading their poems or sharing them from memory.

15. Paul C. Gorski ND
3. If you're using this as a final activity, not much processing is necessary.
Encourage applause and thank folks for sharing their poetry.
4. If you use this activity in the middle of a class or workshop,
have some process questions ready. When everyone has shared,
ask participants how it felt to share their poems.
5. Ask what, if any, connections people made with each other from this activity.
What were some commonalities across poems? Did any of these surprise you?
6. You might also consider asking people to get up and talk to someone
with whom she or he felt a connection through the poetry.

16. Paul C. Gorski ND
Sample - My Personal "I Am From" Poem:
I am basketball on a snowy driveway.
I am fish sticks, crinkle-cut frozen French fries and frozen mixed vegetables.
I am primarily white, upper-middle class neighborhoods and racial diverse schools.
I am Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, Atari 2600 and sports video games.
I am football on Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
I am "unity in diversity" and "speaking from your own experience."
I am triple-Wahoos, earning three degrees from the University of Virginia.
I am diversity, multicultural education, identity, introspection, self-reflection, and social action.
I am Daffy Duck, Mr. Magoo, Hong Kong Phooey, Foghorn Leghorn, and other cartoons.
I am Tae Kwon Do, basketball, the batting cages, a soccer family, and the gym.
I am a wonderful family, close and loving and incredibly supportive.
I am films based on true stories and documentaries
I am the History Channel, CNN, ESPN, BRAVO, and Home Team Sports.
I am a passion for educating and facilitating, personal development and making connections.

17. Paul C. Gorski ND
Exchanging Stories: Names
Preparing and Assigning:
Ask participants to write short (one or two page) stories about their names.
(You may have to assign this prior to the class in which you want to use it.)
Leave the assignment open to individual interpretation as much as possible,
but if asked for more specific instructions,
suggest some or all of the following possibilities for inclusion in their stories:

18. Paul C. Gorski ND
Who gave you your name? Why?
What is the ethnic origin of your name?
What are your nicknames, if any?
What do you prefer to be called?
Encourage students to be creative. In the past, some have written poetry, included humor,
listed adjectives that described them, and so on.
Also be sure to let them know that they will be sharing their stories with the rest of the class.

19. Paul C. Gorski ND
Facilitator Notes:
In order to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to share her or his story,
break into diverse small groups of five or six if necessary.
Give participants the option either to read their stories or to share their stories from memory.
Ask for volunteers to share their stories.

20. Paul C. Gorski ND
Points to remember:
1. Because some individuals will include very personal information in their stories,
some may be hesitant to read them, even in the small groups.
It is sometimes effective in such situations for facilitators to share their stories first.
If you make yourself vulnerable, others will be more comfortable doing the same.
2. Be sure to allow time for everyone to share, whether
reading their stories or sharing them from memory.
3. When everyone has shared, ask participants how it felt to share their stories.
Why is this activity important? What did you learn?

21. Paul C. Gorski ND
Sample--My Personal Name Story:
According to my mother, "Paul" means "small".
When I say that to other folks, they tell me it doesn't mean "small," though no one seems to know what it means.
My parents wanted to name me "Cameron." "Paul" goes back three or four generations, I'm not sure which.
My father and his father and his father are all named "Paul."
But my mother liked "Cameron," so "Cameron" it was.
But then I was born...five weeks prematurely. I was a tiny baby.
I was the itsy-bitsiest baby in the new baby room at the hospital.
According to my mother, that was a sign. Remember, "Paul" means "small".

22. Paul C. Gorski ND
So I am Paul Cameron Gorski. My father is Paul Peter Gorski.
The exception, of course, is when someone calls my parents' home for one of us.
At that point we become Big Paul and Little Paul,
the father Paul and the son Paul, or the older one and the younger one
(my Dad doesn't appreciate that one too much).
Sometimes people call and
I'm too exhausted to explain to them
the whole idea that there are two Pauls living in one house,
so I just pretend to be Paul Peter, and give my Dad the message later.
He doesn't seem to mind that, especially when the caller is trying to sell us something.
Still, I hope he doesn't do the same thing.

23. Paul C. Gorski ND
Paul lends itself well to rhyming nicknames. Bill, a good friend of mine, calls me "Tall Paul".
He does so sarcastically, usually after blocking one of my shots in a basketball game.
I often have to remind him that the whole irony of that nickname is that, according to my mother,
"Paul" means "small," which is very nearly the opposite of "tall.“
In high school, I was often called "Paul Mall" in reference to a brand of cigarettes,
because, as they said, my ball handling skills were smokin'.
And again, the irony is that generally the small players have better ball handling skills.

24. Paul C. Gorski ND
The truth of the matter is that I really don't know whether or not "Paul" means "small.”
Perhaps it means "Jedi warrior" or "sunflower" or "career student".
No matter. I've never looked it up, and never will.
According to my Mom, "Paul" means "small." That sounds good to me.

25. Paul C. Gorski ND
Inclusion/Exclusion
This activity requires 30-45 minutes.
Purpose:
Participants share their experiences as students, exploring different ways
people are made to feel "included" in and "excluded“
from the learning process.
Topics emerging from this activity include
(1) the range of learning styles and needs in any group of people,
(2) the importance of reflective practice and understanding one's own socialization, and
(3) the power teachers have through both implicit and explicit actions.
Preparation:
Divide participants into small groups of four or five.

26. Paul C. Gorski ND
Instructions:
1. Ask participants to do a five-minute free write based on two prompts:
(1) Recall a time from your own schooling
when you felt especially included, engaged, appreciated, and validated in the learning process; and
(2) Recall a situation when you felt especially excluded, alienated,
and invalidated from the learning process.
Without being too directive, let students know that the reasons for their feelings
of inclusion and exclusion could vary broadly,
from the way a certain teacher taught to a lack of feelings of support to social reasons.

27. Paul C. Gorski ND
2.In their small groups, ask participants to share the parts of their stories they feel comfortable sharing.
Once everybody has shared both stores,
ask them to reflect upon the similarities and differences in their stories.
3. Return students to the big group and ask a few people to share their stories with the whole class.
4. Request a volunteer to record brief notes about both categories of stories.
(What makes students feel included? What makes them feel excluded?)

28. Paul C. Gorski ND
5. Facilitate a discussion about the notes, examining consistencies and differences
in individuals' stories and learning needs.
Often I ask participants how many of them
found it easy to recall both an inclusion and an exclusion story.
Most participants respond that it was easy.
This allows me to make the point that we, as teachers,
have tremendous power--that even when
we don't intend to do something wrong, we might do something
that has a lifelong impact on one of our students.
This is why developing reflective practice skills
is critical to anybody committed to educational equity.
Other sample questions to guide the conversation:

29. Paul C. Gorski ND
What similarities do you observe among the situations
in which people felt especially included in a learning process?
What consistencies do you notice in the situations in which people felt excluded?
Knowing that we have students with various needs and learning styles,
what can we do to ensure we are including, engaging, and validating all learners?

30. Paul C. Gorski ND
Facilitator Notes:
It is always important when activities call for participants to share
their own stories and make themselves
vulnerable to remind the group about active listening.
Consider starting the activity by sharing your own set of stories to ease the tension.
This activity provides a perfect opportunity to challenge teachers
to reexamine their own teaching practices.
Challenge them to think about their own teaching as they engage
in this activity and hear each other's stories.
You might even reframe this activity to have teachers consider ways in which they
unintentionally realized they were alienating or excluding one or more students.

31. References
Gorski, P. C. (n.d.). Multi-Cultural Activities. Retrieved March 06, 2017,
from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/activity1.html