I appreciated this glimpse into the world of my teachers that Ana Maria Villegas and Tamara Lucas' paper Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers gave me. Their recommended method of integrating culturally responsive pedagogy through all aspects of teacher education makes perfect sense to me. Through experience on the learning and teaching side of education, I know the importance of immersion for true lasting learning to take place. Instead of immersion, the authors call this strategy "infusion strategy whereby issues of diversity are addressed not only in specialized courses but throughout the entire teacher education curriculum" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.20). Another way of looking at it would be a sort of integrated curriculum, a philosophy my school and I both believe in. I can very much see my GSU experience reflected in the passage where the authors describe how "teacher educators can cultivate those dispositions [of change agents] by emphasizing the moral dimension of education, guiding prospective teachers in developing their own personal vision of education and teaching, promoting the development of empathy for students of diverse backgrounds, nurturing their passion and idealism for making a difference in students' lives, and promoting activism outside as well as inside the classroom" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.25).
I also appreciate the very pragmatic way this article is laid out, with the 6 characteristics of culturally responsive teachers broken down and explained part by part, and careful attention paid to all of the nuances of each part. I think the authors are sensitive to the weird condundrum many teachers find themselves in trying to conform to the system while simultaneously sticking by the type of teaching they believe in. "Sociocultural consciousness", for instance, requires teachers to critically examine the role schools play to "maintain structures that severely limit the probability of advancement for those at the bottom of the social scale" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.22). Furthermore, the authors assert that "built into the fabric of schools are curricular, pedagogical, and evaluative practices that privilege the affluent, White, and male segments of society" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.22). The necessity to challenge these inequities can put teachers in awkward or uncomfortable situations sometimes where they stand in direct opposition to what their bosses are asking them to do. However, as Villegas and Lucas say, sounding a bit like Bryan Stevenson, "Despite the discomfort involved, prospective teachers must be helped to recognize ways in which taken-for-granted notions regarding the legitimacy of the social order are flawed" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.23). It's a high expectation to hold teachers to just in the first of 6 strands, but so necessary. As Stevenson said in the Mays Lecture, “we have to commit ourselves to be uncomfortable” to bring about real change for society.
Strand 3, "Commitment and Skills to Act as Agents of Change" is also quite demanding of teachers, Villegas and Lucas warning "if [teachers] see schools through the rose-colored glasses of the meritocratic myth, they will unwittingly perpetuate inequities" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.24). "Good" teachers can't just rest on their laurels and spout philosophy about change, they have to actively use their power to pursue it. This is a delicate place we teachers find ourselves in, while at the same time in the practical world, we need to keep our jobs to survive. I personally had an experience where I was clumsy in walking this line, and got into some trouble with administration and parents for sharing my opinion with students concerning a controversial topic (I discussed it in this blogpost here). In many people's minds I overstepped my bounds, but I did so with the intention of being a committed "agent of change". I have mixed feelings about having to tread lightly around issues I find to be so important. My students and I had a wonderful conversation about civil rights last week, yet I felt like it was a mockery to not bring up the obvious relevant issue under our noses and happening right now in our contemporary society (marriage equality). What kind of teacher would I have been in the 60s when the administration didn't want me to talk about controversial issues like racial inequality? I realize that ethnic issues are probably easier for kids to understand and talk about because it's something they can see with their eyes and are surrounded by every day, whereas marriage equality is above many of their heads and beyond most of their personal experiences at this point in their lives. Nonetheless, it seems ridiculous to not bring it up in a conversation about who has power, who doesn't, what does it mean to have a voice in today's world, and what can we do to change the unfair things we see. Obviously, these are moments with my students that continue to surface in my reflections.
Just in strand 2 about "Affirming Attitude Towards Students" I made several connections to other thinkers we have encountered over the last semester. When the authors speak of "adding to rather than replacing what students bring to learning" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.23), Dr. Fisher's invisible backpack, Freire, and Trilingualism by Baker all pass through my mind. It is starting to feel like common sense, and the more I encounter this idea in new words, the more I can internalize it into my own practice. I think I am at a stage in my practice where my head has been successfully filled with lots of lofty ideas and goals, but I have not yet perfected enacting these ideas and goals in my daily practice. I noted a question to myself in the margin when Villegas and Lucas write "a central task of teachers who are culturally responsive is to create a classroom environment in which all students are encouraged to make sense of new ideas -- that is, to construct knowledge that helps them better understand the world-- rather than merely to memorize predigested information" (Villegas and Lucas, 2002, p.28). The question I posed to myself is "Do I do enough 'knowledge constructing' with my Language and Technology students of all ages? Or am I too far on the memorization side of the spectrum at the moment? As so many of these authors and thinkers have shown us, continued reflection on these self-probing questions is the most necessary part of creating culturally responsive teachers. I certainly have a lot of work left to do.
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