1. Reducing Disproportionality in Special Education: The Role of Cultural Self-Awareness
Facilitator: _______________________
A project of the Minnesota Department of Education, Division of Special Education and the Office of Continuing Professional Studies, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota
Once a project title has been determined for each project group, you should feel free to change the title on this slide. Also, this powerpoint is not designed to be the definitive content of your facilitation sessions; feel free to adapt it as you see fit. If you do adapt it, however, please keep copies of how you adapt it so that CPS/MDE can keep track of all the different versions that facilitators use.

2. Agenda
Overview of Project
Learning through a Cultural Lens
Module 1

3. Project Purpose Primary goals:
To increase success of African-American students and
To reduce special education referral rates
To improve prereferral practice

4. Professional Development Plan
Session One Module 1: Strengthening the Circle: Empowering the African-American Learner
Session Two Module 2: History, Heritage and Schooling: The African-American Experience
Session Three Module 3: Culturally Sensitive Classroom Assessment: Assessing Social and Academic Engagement
Next year: Modules 4-7 (dependent on school participation)
Refer participants to Professional Development Chart

5. Module 1 Learning Objectives
At the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
Discuss the background of disproportionality and its impact on educators and students
Articulate a working definition of culture and culturally responsive pedagogy
Identify characteristics of a culturally responsive teacher
Discuss the role culture plays in teaching and in the prereferral process

6. Exploration of Culture: “I AM” Introductions Activity
This activity takes place in silence.
Draw 5-6 pictures that represent who you are.
Find one partner. Don’t show them your picture until asked to do so.
Hold the picture up at chest level so your partner can see it.
Examine your partner’s picture (No talking!!)
Each round lasts 1 minute; there will be 3 rounds.
This is a nonverbal activity that you may find useful as an opening activity (schedule minutes start to finish). The goal of the exercise is to give each person an opportunity to “try on” a different way of being who they are as well as providing a discussion forum about perception. Most people are very verbal so this can be frustrating or simply interesting. Don’t give too much time for people to draw their pictures because you can use their (potential) frustration later when you talk about how we routinely don’t have adequate time to really get to know someone before we interact/work with them.

7. “I AM” activity, cont.
On a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:
What did you like/dislike about the activity?
Was it easy to communicate what you wanted to?
What do you think are the learning goals of this activity?
Each individual should complete these questions in silence (for those participants whose learning style requires quiet when thinking). Give them 3-5 minutes. Once everyone has completed the activity, ask for feedback on each question in turn. Concentrate on helping them discover 1) that people represent themselves differently—some use concrete pictures, some use more abstract examples. Discuss if they were able to depict in pictures what they wanted to; if not, what made it difficult? Explore this concept—that it’s almost impossible to know more than superficial information about other people and that this is especially true for culturally diverse individuals. I like to tie the discussion into how this can make culture learning (and learning about others culturally different from yourself, especially) very challenging. Especially if the audience is primarily of one cultural background, this helps them to see how culture plays a role in their lives but in a way that isn’t threatening.

8. Diversity Awareness Scale

9. In Minnesota…
Special educators are concerned about disproportionality.
Some facts:
African-Americans and American Indians are more likely to be in special education
English Language Learners (ELL) are less likely

10. Special Education Benefits Challenges
Individualized small group instruction
Challenges
Less access to regular classes and curriculum
Stigma
Lower(ed) expectations

11. Causes of Disproportionality
Research in Minnesota:
Special ed system issues—assessment practices, criteria, lack of parental understanding
Community and environment—health issues, overall racial bias, poverty
General education—lack of options for struggling students, teacher knowledge and attitudes, student attitudes

12. National Research
Prereferral problem-solving is a very important part of efforts to reduce special education rates
Classroom teachers are critical

13. Disproportionality in IDEA 2004
If district has “significant disproportionality,” it must review and revise policies, practices, and procedures
Each state must set level of significance that will trigger this review
Training on prereferral will be one option for districts

14. Pilot Site Districts Factors for selecting pilot sites:
Some problem with disproportionality
Size of minority community (at least elementary level students)
Existing interest and efforts related to diversity
Existing interest in disproportionality and/or prereferral practices

15. Culturally Appropriate Teaching
Objectives
1. What is it?
2. How do we do it?
3. How do we know when we’ve done it?

16. What is Culture?
Take a moment to think about what the word “culture” means to you.
Write a brief definition of “culture” on a piece of paper.
You will be asked to share your definition but sharing is optional.
You can choose to have “but sharing is optional” in the last line. The key is that they know ahead of time that you will ask them to share their thoughts in a large group.

17. What is Culture? What do you think? Objective vs. subjective culture
The Iceberg Analogy
How we define culture
A few examples: National origin, race/skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, language, other (for example, rural/urban)
What is your culture?

18. Definitions of Culture
No one agreed upon definition of culture exists
One definition is… “culture is a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” (UNESCO, 2002)
Remove slide?

19. Definitions, cont.
Cultural self-awareness means understanding culture in general and one’s own culture in particular. It means understanding your own culture with the added ability to describe it to others.

20. Intercultural competence encompasses a range of factors including:
Cultural self-awareness
Understanding of cultural differences
Knowledge of two or more cultures
Skills and ability to behave appropriately in multiple cultures
Culture-learning skills
Intercultural competence emphasizes culture learning and adaptation skills that can be applied to any situation. Interculturally competent individuals tend to be more effective when dealing with culturally diverse others of their own and other culture groups.

21. Intercultural Competence and Being Culturally Responsive Means…
Understanding the meaning and importance of culture in your life as well as in students’ and their families’ lives
Being an effective culture learner
Recognizing different cultural patterns
Helping students understand and deal with cultural identity issues, when appropriate

22. A few considerations about learning about culture…
Requires self-reflection of learners about personal experiences with cultural difference
Requires process-oriented learning versus solely fact-based learning
Requires exploration of worldviews that differ from one’s own
…and all of these can be challenging

23. Turn to your partner…
What does it mean to be culturally responsive?

24. Cultural Responsiveness involves…
Reading the cues of another and reacting
The ability to meet another individual’s needs
The ability to empathize and react in a supportive manner

25. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Teachers who make instructional variations in response to:
Culture
Race
Gender
Class
Other cultural variables

26. Cultural Variables Diverse Learners and Key Cultural Variables
Learning styles
Communication styles
Non-verbal communication patterns
Cultural values
Cultural identity
Issues of cultural adaptation

27. Why is culturally responsive teaching important?
Changing demographics
Standards-based reform and Accountability (No Child Left Behind)
Individual Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) 2004
Economic challenges
We need interculturally competent individuals who have the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to create inclusive, welcoming, supportive, and successful learning communities.
Get this information to facilitators

28. Cultural continuum Bicultural Assimilated to dominant culture
And various points in between
Strongly identifies with a group that has a cultural world view and experiences that are different than the dominant group

29. The Achievement Gap Closes When…
Educators…
1) are aware of their own cultural filters
2) hold positive attitudes and beliefs that nurture student motivation
3) Support students’ efforts to adapt to culturally diverse environments
Holly: Create doc with terminology (relativist, constructivist, etc.)

30. Cultural Acculturation Process
Process of cultural change that occurs in individuals when two cultures interact
It leads individuals to adapt elements of another culture, such as values and social behaviors.
Culture is not static
It naturally changes over time and distance

31. Effects of Acculturation
Normal effects of acculturation may look like disability
Heightened anxiety
Withdrawal
Response fatigue
Distractibility
Disorientation
Confusion in locus of control
Silence or unresponsiveness
Code-switching
Resistance to change
Related behaviors

32. Gloria Ladson-Billing’ “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy”

33. Propositions Academic Achievement
Teachers must place student learning at the center of all classroom activity. Students must achieve regardless of how good the “fit” between home and school.

34. Cultural Competence
Teachers must help students develop a positive identification with their home culture – an identification that supports student learning (students don’t have to “act white”)
Holly: What of term “intercultural”? Also, this quote could potentially be problematic

35. Sociopolitical Consciousness
Teachers must help students develop civic and social awareness, enabling them to work toward equity and justice beyond their own personal advancement.

36. The best teachers of economically disadvantaged children know how to do a specific set of skills :
Carole: Haberman; Johanna Eager prefers “economically disadvantaged”

37. Protect learners and learning
Put ideas into classroom practice
Challenge external labels given to students such as “at-risk,” “EBD”

38. Develop a professional-personal orientation toward students
Know how to satisfy school bureaucracies without compromising teaching quality
Recognize their own fallibility
Have emotional and physical stamina

39. Have good organizational ability
Focus on student effort rather than a vague notion of ability
Focus on teaching students rather than sorting them
Convince students that they are needed in the classroom

40. Serve as allies with students against challenging material
Source: Haberman (1995)

41. Turn to your partner
What do you think makes it so hard for teachers to implement these culturally responsive instructional models in their classrooms?

42. Let’s take a look at beliefs…
Gloria Ladson Billings’ research

43. BELIEFS TOWARD ACADEMICALLY AND CULTURALLY AT-RISK STUDENTS
Assume Responsibility
Share/shift Responsibility
Seek Excellence
(1) Conductors
(2) Coaches
Seek Improvement
(3) Tutors
(4) General Contractors
Maintain the Status Quo
(5) Custodians
(6) Referral Agents

44. REFERRAL AGENTS
Referral agents do not believe that much can be done to help their students improve either, but they shift the responsibility (for maintaining students at these low levels) to other school personnel, by sending them off to the school psychologist or the special education teacher (or other support personnel).

45. CUSTODIANS
Custodians do not believe that much can be done to help their students but they do not look for others to help them maintain the students at these low levels.

46. GENERAL CONTRACTORS
General Contractors believe that improvement is possible, but they look for ancillary personnel (aides resource teachers, and son on) to provide academic assistance rather than take on the responsibility themselves.

47. TUTORS
Tutors believe that students can improve and they believe it is their responsibility to help them do so.

48. COACHES
Coaches also believe their students are capable of excellence, but they are comfortable sharing the responsibility to help them achieve it with parents, community members, and the students themselves. Coaches understand that the goal is team success. …They do need a sense of how to blend the talents of the players to form a winning team.

49. CONDUCTORS
Conductors believe that students are capable of excellence and they assume responsibility for ensuring that their students achieve that excellence. …Critics describe the quality of the performance in terms of the conductor’s performance, even though the conductor did not play a single note.

50. Turn to your partner Do beliefs change? If you think so…
What facilitates this process?

51. Personal Cultural Identity Revisited

52. White Identity Status Stage 1 Conformity
Preference for dominant cultural values over own
Ethnocentric attitudes and beliefs
Minimal awareness of self as racial being
Belief in universality of values and norms governing behavior
Limited knowledge of other groups
Believe they are not racist
Believe minority inferiority justifies discrimination
Denial & compartmentalization

53. White Identity Status Stage 2 Dissonance
Forced to deal with inconsistencies
Forced to acknowledge whiteness and examine own cultural values
Conflict between upholding humanistic values and own behavior
Risk ostracism from family and friends
Tendency to retreat into white culture

54. White Identity Status Stage 3 Resistance and Immersion
Complete endorsement of minority view
Dedicated to reacting against white society
Rejects white social, cultural and institutional standards
Desire to eliminate oppression
Questions and challenges own racism
Sees racism everywhere
Anger at family, friends, institutions
Zealous

55. White Identity Status Stage 4 Introspection Stage
Intensity of feelings draining
Resistance is reactive, not proactive
Doesn’t allow personal growth
Discomfort with rigid group views
White identity cannot be defined by external forces
Need for greater individual autonomy
Independent research fro goals beyond reacting to racism
Reduction of defensiveness associated with being white

56. White Identity Status Stage 5 Integrative Awareness
Self-fulfillment with regard to racial cultural identity
Nonracist white identity emerges

57. Minority Identity Status
Stage 1 Conformity
Self
Self-deprecating
Own cultural characteristics negative
Physical characteristics source of shame
Same Minority
Group deprecating—internalized white stereotypes
Use of denial “I am not like them.”
Other Minority
Share dominant attitude and beliefs toward other minorities
Dominant Group
Appreciating attitude
White culture, social and institutional standards better

58. Minority Identity Status
Stage 2 Dissonance
Self
Conflict: Self-deprecation & self-appreciation
Feelings of shame and pride
Why should I feel bad about who I am
Growing personal awareness that racism exists
Considers positive attributes of minority culture
Same Minority
Conflict: Group deprecation & group appreciation
Questions dominant views—aspects of own culture appeal
Finds members of own group attractive as friends or lovers
Different Minority
Conflict between dominant view and shared experience
Questions stereotypes—sense of comradeship
Dominant Group
Awareness that dominant values do not benefit self
Growing suspiciousness & distrust

59. Minority Identity Status
Stage 3 Resistance/Immersion
Self
Self discovery of own history and culture
Self esteem is raised
Same Minority
Strong sense of commitment & identification with group
Minority value accepted without question
Restrict interactions with own group
Different Minority
Conflict between empathy & culturo centrism
Dominant Group
Perception of dominant group as oppressor
Withdrawal from dominant culture
Anger, hostility, distrust and dislike towards whites

60. Minority Identity Status
Stage 4 Immersion
Self
Conflict between allegiance to group and personal independence
Same Minority
Concern with unequivocal nature of group
Sees own group taking extreme positions
Different Minority
Uneasiness with culturo centrism
Desire to understand other group experiences
Movement to understand differences in oppression
Dominant Group
Conflict between trust and selective trust
Recognition that many elements of majority society are desirable
Is it a sell out to accept certain White values?

61. Minority Identity Status
Stage 5 Integrative Awareness
Self
Positive self-image
High sense of autonomy
Bicultural or multicultural without a sense of selling out
Autonomous unique individual
Member of own group and larger group
Same Minority
Pride in group without unequivocal acceptance
Empathy with group experience
Empathy towards members functioning less adaptively
Different Minority
Group appreciating
Desire to understand values and traditions
Support for all oppressed people
Dominant Group
Selective appreciation of those who seek to eliminate oppression
Open to constructive elements of dominant culture
Racism is seen as a sickness in a society where white people are also victims

62. Ask your partner “Dreamkeepers or Gatekeepers”
In light of what you have just learned, what does this phrase mean to you?
After participants have shared their interpretations of this phrase, ask them to read through the handout “Bilding me a fewchr.” Ask for some final thoughts or personal experiences that relate to these notions.

63. Turn to your partner
Summarize one or two points from this presentation that you think are the most critical to your understanding of culturally responsive teaching.
Congratulate yourself on taking on the important task of being culturally responsive in your teaching!

64. References UNESCO, 2003 (def of culture)
Definitions of culture (Paige)—add citation to slides 19-20
Slide 27: NCLB; IDEIA, 2004
Slide 32: Gloria Ladson-Billings CRP
Slide 40: Haberman, 1995