Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium- October 24, 2003 Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment for Students of Color Dr. Mary F.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium- October 24, 2003Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment for Students of Color

Dr. Mary F. Howard-HamiltonAssociate Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate ProfessorW.W. Wright School of EducationIndiana University – BloomingtonEmail: [email protected]

Reflection Questions What is the racial/ethnic make-up of your

class this semester? Does your syllabus, goals and/or course

content connect with the type of students in your class?

Have you thought about how your own growth and development (from a cultural, racial, and gendered perspective) influences your teaching methods?

Reflection Questions How have you infused information related

to race, culture, and gender into your course content?

How comfortable are you with the statement “Teachers cannot transform schools until they transform themselves”

Have you come to terms with your own racial, cultural, ethnic, gender identity?

Purpose of PresentationUnderstanding the importance of recognizing diverse

groups for personal empowerment and societal transformation

Understanding the importance of personal reflection with regards to race, culture, gender, and ethnicity

Understanding the importance of engaging students in dialogue about multicultural issues regardless of the academic discipline

Understanding the importance of adapting teaching practices to create a culturally responsive learning environment for students

Implications and Recommendations – Where do we go from here?

Multicultural Competence

Knowledge

Awareness

Skills

Multicultural CompetenceKing and Howard-Hamilton

Research project brief overview: Visited four campuses, interviewed and distributed instruments to 200 faculty, administrators, students who were enrolled or teaching in student affairs programs. Administrators supervised the graduate students (internships and assistantships)

Instruments: Multicultural Competency Questionnaire and Multicultural Competencies for Student Affairs Preliminary Form

Multicultural CompetenceKing and Howard-Hamilton

Overall findings: Participants reported a high degree of intercultural contact in collegiate settings, however outside the collegiate settings contact diminished significantly. Participants of color reported much higher frequencies of multicultural contract both within and outside collegiate settings.

Multicultural CompetenceKing and Howard-Hamilton

Persons of color think about their racial/ethnic background on a daily basis and Whites think about their race fairly infrequently.

Significant differences by gender were found for multicultural knowledge and awareness with males rating themselves higher than females on both components of the MCQ

Graduate Students’ Perceptions to DiversityFlowers and Howard-Hamilton (2001)

Purpose: To assess the quality of life for students of color in graduate preparation programs

Findings: The barriers to gaining admittance are the stringent GRE Score requirements, lack of financial assistance, peer support lacking.

Graduate Students’ Perceptions to DiversityFlowers and Howard-Hamilton (2001)

Some of the issues faced by students of color are lack of minority faculty, few students of color in the programs, lack of external validation from faculty, pressure in classroom to be the minority expert.

Program issues were the lack of diversity courses in the curriculum and sparse discussion of multiculturalism in all courses.

All students should be required to have a multicultural practicum experience.

Graduate Students’ Perceptions to DiversityFlowers and Howard-Hamilton (2001)

All faculty should exhibit a level of multicultural comfort and competence.

White Identity DevelopmentHelms and Cook (1999)

Contact Disintegration Reintegration Pseudo-Independence Immersion Emersion Autonomy

Howard-Hamilton and Hinton Multicultural Competence Behavioral Model

Howard-Hamilton & Hinton Multicultural Competence Model

Curious with the acquisition of knowledge

Anticipatory anxiousness/anxiety

Epiphany/Acceptance with privileged statusComfort with self & others

Multicultural competence –A lifelong process

Behavioral Patterns of Multicultural Competence

Anticipatory Anxiousness/Anxiety: Students exhibited a sense of positive anxiousness or normal anxiety, wanting to delve into the topics planned for the semester and learn more about themselves as well as other multicultural groups.

There were also some students who were not excited about the course or the content and they exhibited a tremendous amount of anxiety about how others viewed their culture. This is neurotic anxiety.

Some feelings of anxiousness were excitement, hopefulness, joy, and openness. Other feelings of anxiety were anger, frustration, fear, guilt, and shame.

According to existential therapists “we pay a steep price when we short-circuit anxiety” (Corey, 2001, p. 152).

Anticipatory Anxiousness/Anxiety

Furthermore, anxiety is a potential source of growth. “…anxiety is associated with the excitement accompanying the birth of a new idea. Thus, we experience anxiety when we use our freedom to move out of the known into the realm of the unknown” (Corey, 2001, p. 152).

Anticipatory Anxiousness/Anxiety

Last, “If we learn to listen to the subtle message of anxiety, we can dare to make the steps necessary to change the direction of our lives” (Corey, 2001, p. 152).

Behavioral Patterns of Multicultural Competence

Curious with the acquisition of knowledge:

Students are shocked and appalled when they discover that there is so much more to learn about the history of diverse groups and that their current level of education is woefully inadequate.

Students want to read and learn more about the history of culturally diverse people. They do not know as much as they thought and there is a readiness to learn more.

Behavioral Patterns of Multicultural Competence

Epiphany/Acceptance with Privileged Status: Students realize that they have been the beneficiaries of unearned privileges. This pertains to people of color who are from a high SES (Hinton states that we should not assume that all POC from high SES have received unearned privileges, many have worked very hard to achieve this status) women, as well as men from the dominant culture. White heterosexual males are not the only persons who have unearned privileges. However, they do note that there are varying degrees of privilege that give some more power than others.

Behavioral Patterns of Multicultural Competence

Comfort with Yourself and Others: There is a sense of peace with who you are as a racial/ethnic individual. There are multicultural differences and everyone has a meaningful story.

Behavioral Patterns of Multicultural Competence

Multicultural Competence is a Lifelong Process: There needs to be a sense of social consciousness and personal passion to continue the fight against oppression. The students need to maintain a level of normal anxiety, be willing to connect with others not like themselves, and increase their knowledge base.

Journal ExcerptsAnticipatory Anxiousness/Anxiety: “During

class I became excited by the upcoming content of the course. I need to confront any problems or hesitations I have regarding speaking about diversity openly and areas that I have little knowledge or experience with. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to grow in this capacity with a group of diverse peers…I look forward to continually expanding my use of a “multicultural lens” to improve my interactions with others and my perceiving of encountered multicultural issues”.

Journal EntriesAnticipatory Anxiousness/Anxiety:” I have a good feeling

about this class. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a class where I felt the content was detrimental to my life…I hold diversity close to my heart however, when my beliefs are challenged, I feel I struggle to back them up. I want to be armed with knowledge!”

“I’m not sure what to expect out of this class. I know that I have a lot to learn about different minority populations and about my own perceptions of those populations which may be incorrect.”

“This class should be interesting. I am not sure about spending a whole semester discussing diversity topics, but it should turn out alright.”

Journal EntriesCurious with the Acquisition of Knowledge: “The reading for

today in Bridwell sort of irritated me and also opened my eyes. The guy was talking about how he was having a discussion with his White friend and that friend insisted that he understood discrimination and prejudice. However, the author believed that he had a better, more operative understanding than the White man. In fact, he went on to say that Whites say that they understand discrimination as a form of denial of injustices. What a crock of shit! I understand discrimination because I have seen it. I have been a victim once or twice, but more often than not I have seen discrimination imposed on someone else. I suppose the author is right that I do not understand what that particular person feels at that particular time, but then again no one does. But for him to say that I cannot or will not ever be able to understand discrimination or exclusion is absurd. What is the point?”

Journal EntriesCurious with the Acquisition of Knowledge:” I don’t want

to be American anymore. I think that this class is going to be very depressing. We watched the video in class to day about oppression in America. Watching the history of oppression, hatred, and violence in America is difficult and makes it hard to be proud to be an American. It’s no wonder they don’t teach the true history of America in grammar school. They can’t. It is rated R. I feel really ignorant about historical facts and oppression in our country, I feel like I might offend people around every corner with every discussion. And NOT EVEN KNOW IT. How sad. I don’t even know the people around me.

Journal Entries

Curious with the Acquisition of Knowledge: “I thought I might experiment with racism today. I was going to list each racist comment I heard. Every really listened? Here are my totals…Race/ethnicity,12; Class, 6; Nation, 1; Sex/gender, 2; GLBT, 18… it started just as racist comments but quickly expanded just walking across campus, in the union, etc. I heard the previous horrifying number of comments.”

Journal EntriesEpiphany/Acceptance with Privileged Status:

“As a White female, I feel little discrimination and I am afforded most, if not all, the privileges of White males. I rarely wonder about the looks given me on the street, where I can walk and park, why someone is uneasy around me (generally its just because they don’t like me and not because they don’t like me because I am a White female). I can see people like me in the cafeteria, stores, movies… I recognize this. I haven’t always but I do now.”

Journal EntriesEpiphany: “When I was interviewing the Asian international

students for my action plan, I realized something, I have a certain racism towards non-White people due to fear. I think that this is a fear based largely on my pride. This fear is a fear that I won’t understand, that my ignorance about language, culture, or world events will come to light. As I stepped out of my comfort zone to meet with not one but two international students, I began to question why I don’t have more interactions with students similar to them. I thought about how I have little patience or free time to try to understand someone who struggles with language…As I was meeting with the students, I was surprised to understand how easily my privilege allow me to ignore those around me who are different and not only perpetuate racism but also stand in my way of becoming an effective professional.”

Journal EntriesComfort with Yourself and Others: “I think so many times

that when we talk about diversity, people think that you have to know what it is like to be someone else to understand them. Yes, that would help but I cannot change my race or gender, therefore I will never know what it is like to be anyone but me. All that I can do is appreciate who I am, and be respectful of those who are different than me. It is not about trying to feel every feeling that someone else feels or saying I completely understand because you know that I will never know what it is like to be discriminated against because of my race…We just have to understand that people feel and react the way they do for a reason, there is always history behind everyone’s actions, and we must always keep in mind, there is always a history!!!”

Journal EntriesMulticultural Competence is a Lifelong

Process: “ I don’t know if I am ready for this responsibility. The responsibility of changing society. I am scared that it will be hard. And that people will not be receptive. And that it is a sensitive issue. And race is a heated, emotional topic. Because there are millions who live within the bounds of their racial identities everyday. The concern I have is that there are millions of privileged idiots leading their happy lives everyday without an idea of why this issue might be important to them.”

Journal EntriesMulticultural Competence…: I am ignorant. Please don’t be angry with me.I am White. Please don’t be angry with me.I see an understanding of your perspective. Please don’t

be angry with me.I want to know you. Please don’t be angry with me.I want to learn history. Please don’t be angry with me.I want to learn your stories. Please don’t be angry with

me.I want you to feel accepted. Please don’t be angry with

me.I want to be accepted. Please don’t be angry with me.

Recommendations

Use journal exercises Group activities and projects Share personal accounts of grappling

with issues related to diversity Include diversity topics in course

materials, lectures, activities, and projects

Use case studies

Recommendations

Find ways to actually change the system or policies (engaged and action oriented projects)

Become comfortable with the discomfort of disagreement and dissonance

Find a colleague who understands your journey and mission

Implications Be prepared to experience personal

transformation Be prepared to received hostile or negative

feedback (verbally, written in journals, and evaluations)

Be patient because many students “don’t get it” for several months or semesters after your class. When they do have an epiphany, the reward is having them communicate how important your class was in their growth and development

ConclusionWhat can you do to transform your course content,

syllabus, teaching methods?What will you do to become a reflective teacher?Share what things you are currently doing that creates a

classroom dynamic that is inclusive of all voices?Have you noticed forms/dynamics of White privilege in

your classroom?

Reactions, comments, suggestions, recommendations…