education

How to Talk About Race T H E S K I L L F U L T E A C H E R 39 PART ONE | ESSENTIAL BELIEFS | CULTURAL PROFICIENCY AND ANTI-RACISM CHAPTER QUICK GUIDE Essential Beliefs: Racism in our society and a dearth of cultural proficiency in our classrooms exerts a downward […]

LEARNING MORE ABOUT RACISM AND WHITE PRIVILEGE Deepening white people’s understanding of the actual experience of people of color within our country is fundamental to the forward motion we can and must make toward an integrated and fair society. This is particularly impor- tant for educators. Our teacher workforce is predominantly white, and our stu-

BIAS AND RACISM You can be moving toward cultural proficiency with actions such as visiting students’ homes, and by studying other cultures, but still inadvertently act towards your students with implicit biases (see the “Implicit Bias” online as- sessment at www.implicit.harvard.edu). Sometimes messages based on implicit biases—that individuals of a particular gender, ethnicity, or race

WORKING ON CULTURAL PROFICIENCY Consider that over half of the children in American schools today are children of color. Some of their families have come from central and south America, Asia, eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Like all chil- dren in all schools, they need to feel known and valued to

CULTURAL PROFICIENCY/IMPROFICIENCY Cultural Proficiency is first a mindset that says, “I have to be curious about my students’ cultures and learn about them. If I don’t, my students can’t make adequate connections to the content I am attempting to teach because I won’t be able to embed the learning in culturally relevant examples.” Zaretta Ham-

Let us start with a couple of postulates Let us start with a couple of postulates: cultural proficiency is not the same as anti-racism, and racism is not the same as cultural improficiency. It is im- portant for us, as teachers, to understand what is similar and what is different across these two concepts, for

This belief is of such significance that we have devoted an entire chapter to it This belief is of such significance that we have devoted an entire chapter to it. The topic invites us all to climb a big hill. It is foreign territory for many of us, confusing and intimidating for others, and a

Cultural Proficiency and Anti-Racism Racism in our society and a dearth of cultural proficiency in our class- rooms exert a downward force on the achievement of students of color that must be met with active countermeasures. To achieve our espoused goal of educating all children to a high level, we need to become culturally proficient

Essential Beliefs About Teacher Efficacy: p Children’s learning is primarily determined by their effective effort and use of appropriate strat- egies. “Intelligence,” or the ability to learn, is not a fixed, inborn trait. All children have the raw material to learn rigorous academic material at high standards. p We can get underperforming, low-confidence students to

Essential Beliefs About Teaching Knowledge and Skill: p Teaching is intellectually complex, difficult, and demanding work. The knowledge and skills required to teach successfully are on a par with that required for proficient practice in architec- ture, engineering, or law. p The nature of professional knowledge is defined by “areas of performance,” “repertoire,” and “matching,”