CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHERS NEEDED 1

Research Paper: Culturally Responsive Teachers Needed

Alicia Duran
Salt Lake Community College
April 2018
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Culturally Responsive Teachers Needed

Anybody who has attended school at any point in their life has had to deal with

teachers. Students tend to rate their teacher to determine whether they are good or bad.

Surprisingly, more than often these so-called “bad” teachers are the ones who are never

forgotten; but what makes them so bad? Often times, these are the ones that did not

connect, engage, or made instruction relevant to their students. As a response to this

issue Culturally Responsive Teaching was introduced to schools. This concept has been

described as a pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally,

and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes

(American Indian College Fund, 2016). This is important for every students, but more so

for Native American students.

Native American students have the highest dropout rates in the nation. With only

sixty-nine percent of students graduating from regular public schools, and fifty-three

percent of students graduating from Bureau of Indian Education schools. These

numbers are even more alarming when they are compared to a national average of

eighty-two percent of students graduating from public schools (Oliff, 2017). While there

are many contributing factors for this issue, lack of cultural inclusion in off-reservation

schools is one of the main factors. As research has proven that these numbers are even

higher in areas where Native American children and parents complain of a major lack in

understanding of native culture (Oliff, 2017).

It is essential for native youth to feel culturally empowered at schools, however,

most teachers lack the ability or the interest to make this a reality; which has led to an

even bigger problem. At the moment there is a shortage of culturally responsive

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educators in our schools; this issue leads to teachers including dehumanizing myths and

misconceptions within their classes, which then hurts Native American

students. Moreover, education analysts have noted that when educators don’t

acknowledge Native American culture with their Native student body, the students

begin to feel disconnected from school, their teachers and classmates (American Indian

College Fund, 2016).

This is a big issue that our students are facing nowadays. Fortunately, there are

two solutions available; education before entering the teaching force and training while

in the teaching force. The first option is to include a Multicultural Education course in

undergraduate schools’ curriculum and to make it a pre-requite course for anyone

majoring in the field of education. This option would have no extra cost to the future

teacher nor to the schools they will be working at soon. The cost it would have to the

universities that offer the class would be minimum; as they already professors who are

trained and experienced to teach the class and adding a new course would only increase

their earnings.

While it would be ideal to train all educators before the enter the field, it would also be

unrealistic. There are many teachers that already got their degree and it would be

unreasonable to require them to go back to school to take a single class, while they are

working full time. So, the other option is to train teachers after they have entered the

teaching force. There have been a number of schools that have successfully implemented

programs that teach educators and staff about Native culture, giving them a better

perspective on how to interact with Native students (Ellwood, 2017) .

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The schools that have trained in these culturally sensitivity classes, have seen a

noted decline in the amount of disciplinary actions they take against Native American

students. This a very important skill for educators to master because acknowledging and

understanding the historical and cultural foundations of those being educated, are

essential in the shaping of their educational needs. In respect to Native American

education, this means empowering and training teachers, so they can gain an in-depth

understanding of their communities, their history, and subsequently, teach about this

unique cultural to their students.

Both of these solutions would allow for a major change in our schools, by

teaching Native students to embrace their cultural heritage, rather than adapt and

suppress their tribal identity; as they had been taught, for many years, that it was the

right things to do. it is important to note that Native youth are not the problem, and that

sending to schools within the reservation is not the solution. Instead the focus needs to

be on changing the erroneous beliefs many educators have, because these students need

institutions that support tribal identity. Schools and its teachers should seek to tackle

the lack of quality education experiences and the sense of displacement tribal students

often feel when living and studying far from their communities and homelands; increase

their likelihood to remain in school.

While there are many ideal solutions to the Indians’ lack of culturally sensitive

education, they come with a price. As it was previously stated, training prospect teachers

while they are still in school would be the most viable and cost-efficient option;

however, this would exclude a vast majority of educator that are already in the field; the
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active teaching force. As short-term solution teachers would have the opportunity

receive training to learn how to be culturally responsive.

There are two preparation programs available; the first one is an online training

titled Culturally Responsive Teaching: Connecting with Students and Parents of

Different Cultures by the Teach Away Professional Development Organization. It is a

two-hour course that will cost ninety-nine dollars per teacher. The second option is a

four-day conference titled Culturally and Linguistically Responsive by The Center for

Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. The conference is held at different

location including Orem, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, all in Utah. The program is

available during the summer and costs between five-hundred and six-hundred dollars

per teacher.

It cost for these preparation programs may seem high, but it needs to be seen for what it

actually is; an investment. An investment to, not only improve our teaching force, but

also to provide better learning experiences to our native youth; or any student from a

minority group for that matter. As these programs will train teacher on things like how

to teach a version of history that doesn’t whitewash what happened to native people and

demonize them for being on the land first. They will also provide resources and teaching

strategies that will make instruction time more significant to Native students by

incorporating their culture into the lectures (Ellwood, 2017). Basically, making teachers

culturally responsive, sensitive, and competent; all of which are skills needed to

effectively teach Indian students.

There are many people who see the value in these programs and supports their

implementation, but there are many others that do not see it that way and oppose the
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efforts of creating socially responsive classrooms. These group of people includes some

of the teacher themselves; this includes those who either do not care or do not see the

value of multicultural education and being responsive to such culture, and those who do

not want to invest their time on the training (Schwarts, 2016). The later is an

understandable concern, as it would take away from them their planning time, but it

would be a paid training that would give them with life-long benefits.

Another group that might oppose are school administrators who see the programs as a

waste of money; because they are to expensive and will not benefit anyone. Claiming

that having teacher attend the training will not guarantee that they will learn, nor that

the training itself will be beneficial to their staff (Schwarts, 2016). While it is

understandable that schools have a limited budget and that its administrator need to be

selective when it comes to additional expenditures, they must also think of it as a long-

term solution to an educational problem.

Lastly, there will most likely be some opposition from member of majority groups who

will argue it is unfair that minorities get a special treatment. It is an expected

misconception that majority groups will call equity a ‘special treatment’ (Schwarts,

2016), because their culture has always been the dominant one and the one that it is

talked about in schools. But this shows the importance of multicultural education and

cultural responsiveness, because we also need to teach students from majority groups

that maybe their parents beliefs are not always right. Educators need to teach all

students to be inclusive regardless of race, culture, or socioeconomic background, which

can be achieved through culturally responsive teaching.

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Some things are easier said than done, so I decided to find out if my solutions to

the aforementioned problem would be attainable and realistic. As I started to seek out

support for my ideals, I figured the best way to know if they would work, would be by

going into the schools and asking its staff their opinions on the matter. So I decide to

interview an administrator and a teacher from Mana Academy Charter School.

As part of the administrator team at Mana Academy, I contacted the school’s

principal, ‘Anapesi Ka’ili. I asked her what she thought culturally responsive teaching

meant, and whether she considered her staff was culturally responsive or not, to which

she answered: [culturally responsive teaching] means that teachers are aware of the

students’ cultural heritage, they celebrate it, [and] they want their students to learn

about their classmates’ culture… I think we do a good job teaching our scholars to be

proud of their culture. But I also think we are forgetting to look deeper… I think [our

staff] needs to learn how to work with cultures different from their own.

I also asked her if she would be willing to provide the training to the staff? Her

reply was: not at this moment, simply because it is very expensive, and we don’t have

enough money in our budget to pay for the training. I may consider paying for one

online training and making it a who staff training though.

Her answer with respect to implementing the training were not surprising. Even

though she was very interested in the material that would be covered, the high price of

the preparation programs was not something she was willing to do; given that the school

had more urgent needs.

Ms. Garcia is a first-grade teacher at Mana Academy. She has been teaching for

over twenty-five years and has a lot of experience working with a diverse group of
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students. I asked her what culturally responsive teaching meant to her, and whether she

considered her coworker as culturally responsive educators; to which she responded: to

me it means that, as a teacher, I am responsible for teaching my students about different

cultures. They must learn to respect them, and to be proud of their own heritage… I

think many of [the teachers here] are culturally responsive, but because we must always

follow a very specific curriculum we can’t always show it. Think about it, when you have

to get students ready for a test, culture is not a priority. Which is sad to think about, but

it is our reality.

I also asker her if she would be willing to assist the training, if she thought the

price was worth the content, and if she would be willing to pay part of the cost. To this

he replied: yes, [I think] anything to make education better for these students is worth

that money… I would love to learn more about culturally responsive teaching… [but] no,

[I would not part of the cost] because a teacher’s salary is not very good, besides, it’s the

administrators’ responsibility to seek funding to train their teachers.

The teachers’ response was very similar to that of the school’s principal. She

wanted to learn more about being a culturally responsive teacher and she thought the

rest of the staff should learn as well. Even though she thought the price was fair, she was

not willing to pay for part of the cost. Which is understandable, she has other

responsibilities and, like she said, teachers do not get paid much for what they do; so,

paying for the training would take a significant portion of her check.

Culturally responsive teaching is a relatively simple concept, yet many educators

do not master what it truly means. This is resulting in Native students feeling

disconnected from school, which leads to high dropout rates. Something as simple as
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preparations programs could be the solution to this issue, however, administrators

debate whether the high costs will reap the expected rewards. It is unfortunate that

many do not give cultural responsiveness the importance it deserves. As many studies

have proven that teacher who are culturally responsive teach in a way that students can

understand. To do this, they incorporate relatable aspects of students' daily lives into the

curriculum. Which result in more interest and willingness to participate from the Native

students.

It is crucial that we start focusing on the educational needs of our Native youth,

and that we incorporate their tribal heritage into our schools’ curriculum; because they

deserved to be recognized as this nations’ original people. Therefore, their culture

should also be treasured.

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References

American Indian College Fund. Helping Native Youth Succeed with Culturally Responsive

Education. 21 Nov. 2016, collegefund.org/blog/helping-native-youth-succeed-with-

culturally-responsive-education/

Ellwood, Lisa J. Native American Students Face Ongoing Crises in Education. 3 Sept.

2017, indiancountrymedianetwork.com/education/native-education/native-american-

students-face-ongoing-crises-education/

Oliff, Helen. “Graduation Rates & American Indian Education « Native American /

American Indian Blog by Partnership with Native Americans.” Native American /

American Indian Blog by Partnership with Native Americans, Partnership With Native

American, 16 May 2017, blog.nativepartnership.org/graduation-rates-american-indian-

education/.

Schwarts, Katrina. “Why It's Vital for Native Students to Learn with a Culturally Relevant

Lens.” KQED, 5 Oct. 2016, www.kqed.org/mindshift/46138/why-its-vital-for-native-

students-to-learn-with-a-culturally-relevant-lens.
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Appendix

The Interview Process

I interviewed an administrator and a teacher at Mana Academy Charter School
1) Administrator: School Principal: ‘Anapesi Ka’ili
a. What does culturally responsive teaching mean to you?
It means that teachers are aware of the students’ cultural heritage and they
celebrate it. It also means that they want their students to learn about their
classmates’ culture as well.
b. Do you think the school’s staff is culturally responsive?
Yes, but only for the cultures that they are comfortable with. In this school
teach our scholars about 4 cultures (Tongan, Samoan, Marshallese,
Latinos), and I think we do a good job teaching our scholars to be proud of
their culture. But I also think we are forgetting to look deeper; we have
students who are either part Native American, white, or African American
but we haven’t taken the time to learn from those cultures.
c. Do you think your staff would benefit from these training?
Yes, I think they need to learn how to work with cultures different from
their own.
d. Do you think it’s worth it; to invest all that time, money and
effort?
Yes, it’s always important to learn and grow; so if possible, I think it would
be a great opportunity.
e. Would you be willing to provide your staff with the training?
Not at this moment, simply because it is very expensive, and we don’t have
enough money in our budget to pay for the training. I may consider paying
for one online training and making it a whole staff training though.
f. What would you hope they learn from it?
Hopefully they’ll learn the dos and don’ts of working with certain cultures.
That they learn and implement inclusive skills that they might learn, and
that they are prepared to truly embrace every culture in their classrooms.

2) Teacher: 5th grade: Nayibe Garcia

a. What does culturally responsive teaching mean to you?
To me it means that, as a teacher, I am responsible for teaching my
students about different cultures. They must learn to respect them, and to
be proud of their own heritage.
b. Do you think the school’s teachers are culturally responsive?
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I think many of us are, but because we must always follow a very specific
curriculum we can’t always show it. Think about it, when you have to get
students ready for a test, culture is not a priority. Which is sad to think
about, but it is our reality.
c. Do you think teachers would benefit from these training?
Of course, our schools are more diverse now than they were 10 years ago,
and teachers need to catch up and learn about these cultures. I think the
best way for us to learn is by having a diverse group of students, and
trainings would guide us and teach us h what is the best way work with
them.
d. Do you think it’s worth it; to invest all that time, money and
effort?
Yes, anything to make education better for these students is worth that
money.
e. Would you be willing assist the training?
Yes, I would love to learn more about culturally responsive teaching.
f. Would you be willing to pay part of the cost?
No, because a teacher’s salary is not very good, besides, it’s the
administrators’ responsibility to seek funding to train their teachers.
g. What would you hope to learn from it?
Ways to create connections, get the parents involved and excited about
their student’s education; I think that would be the most important thing
for me.